Reese Kaplan -- The Mets Currently Have Only 4 Starters

So if Zack Wheeler indeed chooses to depart, the Mets find themselves in the position of finding someone to take the ball every fifth day.  Obtaining Marcus Stroman mid year was a promising start thinking he would give them one more year of control in 2020, but it's a temporary fix at best and doesn't provide the extra starting rotation arm they need if Mr. Wheeler goes off in quest of greener dollars, er, pastures.

Ever since the Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith days, free agency has become the go-to strategy for procuring the services of the newly freed player resources.  There's a certain shrewdness to this approach as all it often takes is money unless the player has received a qualifying offer from his former team in which case there's draft pick and financial considerations to factor into the equation as well.  

The problem is if you are unwilling to part with the payroll dollars necessary to lock up the for-sale-to-the-highest-bidder Wheeler, then it's equally unlikely you would be willing to plunk down what it would take for his pitching equivalency from another ballclub.  Have a look once again at the list of pending free agents and you can see that warts and all, Wheeler is the 4th ranked pitcher available.  

• Gerritt Cole (29 years old, 7.4 WAR)
• Stephen Strasburg (31, 5.7) -- can opt out of 4 years, $100 million remaining on contract
• Hyun-Jin Ryu (33, 4.8)
• Zack Wheeler (30, 4.7)
• Jake Odorizzi (30, 4.3)
• Jose Quintana (31, 3.3) -- $11.5 million club option for 2020 ($1 million buyout)
• Madison Bumgarner (30, 3.2)
• Homer Bailey (34, 2.9)
• Michael Pineda (30, 2.7)
• Yu Darvish (33, 2.6) -- can opt out of 4 years, $81 million remaining on contract
• Kyle Gibson (32, 2.5)
• Cole Hamels (36, 2.5)
• Adam Wainwright (38, 2.2)
• Tanner Roark (33, 2.0)
• Wade Miley (33, 2.0)
• Brett Anderson (32, 2.0)
• Ivan Nova (33, 2.0)
• Martin Perez (29, 1.9) -- $7.5 million club option for 2020 ($500,000 buyout)
• Andrew Cashner (33, 1.8) -- $10 million club option for 2020
• Jason Vargas (37, 1.8) -- $8 million club option for 2020 ($2 million buyout)
• Rick Porcello (31, 1.8)
• Julio Teheran (29, 1.6) -- $12 million club option for 2020 ($1 million buyout)
• Gio Gonzalez (34, 1.4)
• Jake Arrieta (34, 1.1) -- can opt out of 1 year, $20 million remaining on contract unless Phillies exercise 2-year, $40 million option
• Rich Hill (40, 0.9)
• Dallas Keuchel (32, 0.8)
• Chris Archer (31, 0.7) -- $9 million club option for 2020 ($1.75 million buyout)
• Corey Kluber (34, 0.6) -- $17.5 million club option for 2020 ($1 million buyout)
• Matt Moore (31, 0.5)
• Clay Buchholz (35, 0.1)
• Tyson Ross (33, 0.0)
• Felix Hernandez (34, -0.1)
• Jhoulys Chacin (32, -0.1)
• Jeremy Hellickson (33, -0.1)
• Michael Wacha (28, -0.2)
• Alex Wood (29, -0.2)
• Edinson Volquez (36, -0.2)
• Marco Estrada (36, -0.2)
• Shelby Miller (29, -0.2)
• Clayton Richard (36, -0.2)
• Drew Smyly (29, -0.3)
• Wade LeBlanc (35, -0.3) -- $5 million club option for 2020 ($450,000 buyout)
• Matt Harvey (31, -0.3)
• Ervin Santana (37, -0.4)
• Trevor Cahill (32, -0.8)
• Derek Holland (33, -1.0)
• Edwin Jackson (36, -1.1)

So the question is do you settle for an innings eater of suspect quality (think the average overall output of a Jason Vargas type), do you roll the dice on as yet unproven and unsuccessful minor leaguers, or do you pull off a trade of your limited assets?

Take the once ballyhooed Gio Gonzalez as an example.  He has had a perfectly cromulent career primarily with the Washington Nationals.  He owns a pretty impressive line of 130-99 with an ERA of 3.68.  He settled for a mere $2 million contract last year with Milwaukee and is again a free agent.  He should easily double it or more based upon his 19 starts during which he provided a 3.50 ERA.  So it would appear there’s still something left in the left handed tank. 

Another way to go would be someone at the latter stages of his career – age 35 and up – who would like another chance to start and could bridge the gap until Thomas Szapucki or someone else steps forward for the 2021 rotation.  Think about the old Bartolo Colon 2-year deal the Mets made in 2014 when he was already 41 years old. I’ve suggested Rich Hill as someone in this category, though his health and his current paycheck of $18.67 million by the deep-pockets Dodgers suggests he would come down but perhaps not into the Mets price range.

Then there is the trade route.  Andres Gimenez, Dom Smith, Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo would all be assets that other teams might find desirable.  If BVW is to be believed, then Noah Syndergaard is off the table (for now).  Which way would you want to go?

Finally there’s the option of taking arguably the Mets’ most valuable reliever, Seth Lugo, and stretching him out to become a starter once again.  The real issue with this approach is the rogue’s gallery of weak-armed relievers that cost the Mets way too many games in 2019 which would become even worse if you indeed moved Lugo into the rotation.  He has performed better as a reliever than as a starter, so I would think this option would be the last resort. 

Your thoughts?