Reese Kaplan -- Reach for the Stars But Don't Stop There

Max Scherzer a Met?  

Wow, even the arrivals of Pedro Martinez and Johann Santana and Tom Glavine didn't generate as much deserved raw positive emotion as did the man with a 2.75 ERA since his arrival into the National League since his extrication from the frozen north of Detroit.  That number is better than what Mr. Tom Seaver provided during his career and certainly a one-two punch of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer is going to be pretty gut wrenching for opponents.

For a little point of comparison, Scherzer in the final years of his career has a little pitching catch-up to do.  It seems that a back-of-the-baseball-card look at another pitcher who has a lifetime ERA of 2.50 who just happens to be his new teammate -- Jacob deGrom.  Scherzer may have three Cy Young Awards to go up against deGrom's two, but Jake has actually been the better pitcher.

So with a Steinbrenneresque approach, Mets owner Steve Cohen quickly (and temporarily) took over ownership of baseball in New York.  The media's happy, the fans are happy and optimism has hit levels not seen around Citifield pretty much ever.  

While I hate to be the bearer of bad news, the fact is the signings of Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha, it's not quite time to close the door nor the checkbook.  As it stands right now the Mets are still short in the starting rotation, the bullpen and questions exist whether the roles envisioned for Escobar and Canha were starters or very capable extras.  

Word had been prevalent that the Mets were banking on now-Toronto Blue Jay Kevin Gausman if the negotiations with Scherzer didn't come to a positive fruition.  Had they gone down this road there would have been media hell to pay for what Gausman landed -- $110 million for five years after putting up one decent MLB season after nine in the majors.  Even with this outstanding 2021 season his career ERA is still 4.02.  All of the sudden the $44 million the Cardinals paid for Steven Matz looks like a bargain.  

The Mets very definitely need another quality arm to join deGrom, Scherzer, Walker and Carrasco.  The Mets are hoping Walker's first half was more indicative of what he can do and Carrasco's whole season was a myriad of problems related to health.  That's a lot of hope on your two of your top four starters.  Behind them you still have David Peterson, Tylor Megill and various others recovering from injuries.  One more rock solid starter will enable you to slide Walker and Carrasco down to 4 and 5 which would make for a rock solid rotation if they can pitch to what amounts for an average season based upon their past history.  

Many folks want the team to pursue Robbie Ray who won the AL Cy Young Award this past season.  There's no denying his fine 2021 effort which resulted in a 13-7 record, a 2.84 ERA, 248 strikeouts in just over 193 innings and a league leading WHIP of 1.045.  While the win total is a bit low, deGrom proved that wins are not the only metric that the voters evaluate.  Just as the Mets once parlayed a highly surprising Cy Young Award winner in R.A. Dickey into a nice package of players in return, there's every reason to believe that a man who has only had three healthy seasons in an eight-year career is going to cash in via free agency.  The report is a $115 million five-year deal with the Seattle Mariners.

A career record just barely over .500 with a 4.00 ERA and control problems does not spell high ranking (and soon-to-be-very-wealthy) starter to me.  At $8 million last year and a trophy on his mantle, figure Ray is looking at a Wheeler-like contract. He fell just $3 million short of what the former Met got from Philadelphia. 

If you're going to gamble on health and want projected quality, perhaps Carlos Rodon is a better prospect for return on investment.  He too has had problems staying healthy and even in 2021 only had 24 starts.  In them he finished with a superior 13.5 record and a superior 2.37 ERA.  He has a career record just north of .500 and a career ERA of 3.79 for the White Sox.  

This lefty shouldn't cost half of what Cy Young winner Ray will get and is also younger.  Rodon only earned $3 million in that eye popping 2021 campaign and even if you tripled his pay, it would fall under what the Cardinals paid Steven Matz.  

The trade route is still possible for the Mets as well.  Now with some bench reinforcements it would seem that Dom Smith, J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil could all be had in the right offer of pitching.  Like it or not, Robinson Cano is not going to be a $20 million bench player this year and next. Escobar is here for a couple of years, so there's a bit of a glut on the infield and now perhaps in the outfield, too.  Who is available in trade is anyone's guess.

So bust out the champagne or however else you choose to celebrate good Mets achievements.  No one could have convinced me that the boys in Queens would be able to secure the services of Max Scherzer.  However, please also remember the work is far from over.