This will be a very interesting offseason for the New York Mets, and one insider believes the main focus will be rebuilding a pitching staff they broke down at the 2023 MLB trade deadline.
The New York Mets are in the early days of an offseason that could go several different ways. During what was a highly disappointing and expensive campaign, the organization saw the righting on the wall in July and took the bold step of being sellers at the deadline and using owner Steve Cohen’s immense wealth to essentially buy elite prospects.
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The chips that earned them the best return were aging aces, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. However, after making those moves, reports from inside the organization claimed the goal in 2024 was to pay off the debt they incurred from those trades and look toward 2025 as the year they would go hard for stars from other clubs.
However, during his introductory press conference this week, the team’s new president of baseball operations David Stearns suggested that the Mets would not be against being movers and shakers in the winter for the “right” players.
New York Mets could use surplus of minor-league stars to make big winter trades to improve rotation
If they do make some notable acquisitions this winter, there is a very clear need for the team and that is to improve the starting rotation around All-Star Kodai Senga — a major addition from the past offseason. In a Wednesday column for SNY, veteran MLB insider John Harper predicted pitching will indeed be the area where the team is most likely to splurge to improve.
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“I think [Stearns will] sign 25-year-old Yoshinobu Yamamoto as a free agent and then dip into the Mets’ newfound surplus of position player prospects to trade for another top starter. There are several potential targets who are a year or two away from free agency for small-market teams, and thus probably available this winter.
“Both Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff of the Milwaukee Brewers fit that category, so my first thought was for Stearns to trade with his old team because the Brewers certainly aren’t going to sign both of those guys. … Other possibilities include Tyler Glasnow of the Tampa Bay Rays, Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians.”
– John Harper
The team has already reportedly been heavily scouting the Japanese ace and is viewed as a leading contender after general manager Billy Eppler used his strong connections in Japan to sign Senga last year.