Reese Kaplan -- What Else Besides Soto Needs To Be Done?

It seems almost as if everyone has forgotten that beyond the king worshiping all of that has obsessed everyone inside and a fan of baseball awaiting the great Juan Soto decision, there are 39 other positions on the 40-man roster that need to be evaluated and in many cases improved before the warm-ups begin in Port St. Lucie.

Welcome to my former home state where the 30 MLB teams are convening for the annual feeding frenzy known as the Winter Meetings.  Although technically representatives begin arriving on Sunday, the meetings themselves only start this morning.  As a result, there is ample time for management personnel to mingle, down adult beverages and start laying primitive groundwork for transactions that might help with that much needed roster improvement.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am highly surprised and satisfied by the Mets unlikely ascension to the NLCS against the George Steinbrenneresque Los Angeles Dodgers.  Unfortunately, not only did that effort to make the World Series come to an end, but it also meant the departure of 13 members of the 2024 squad to free agency as well as others who will return to the IL once the season begins. 

So, other than the very surprising contract accepted by Juan Soto, what are the Mets’ other needs that David Stearns and company will need to address directly or at least move the foundational architecture for transactions that will take place from balsa wood to at least reject bin hard wood solidity.

Starting Pitching

Yes, the Mets have made two well headlined but less well received moves in this regard already.  Frankie Montas is apparently a fourth attempt after pillaging the former trio of Oakland starting pitchers that recently gave the Mets Chris Bassitt,Sean Manaea and Paul Blackburn.  Unfortunately of this quartet many have reacted to Montas as if he was less like adding Ringo Star and more like supporting George Best.

Then there is the additional curious decision to take a reasonably successful relief pitcher in Clay Holmes and attempting to do with him what they failed to do with the now very successful former Mets reliever-as-starter named Seth Lugo.  Yes, it’s an interesting move and the fallback position is to return him to his comfort zone of the bullpen, but neither he nor Montas are in the same stratosphere as Corbin Burnes, Max Fried nor the already signed Blake Snell. 

So a lot of the starting pitching options in free agency seem tied directly to the payroll budget which continues to be the great unknown due to the impending decision of you-know-who.  In addition to the other gentlemen at the top of the free agent pool, you also have Nathan Eovaldi, Walker Buehler, Jack Flaherty and a multitude of less-than-exciting others (plus, of course, currently unemployed Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana).  If you really want to turn everyone on their never-saw-it-coming free agents in someone named Max Scherzer and another named Justin Verlander, neither of whom should have any animosity towards David Stearns.  How they feel about his boss, however...

There can also be discussions based upon starting pitchers who might be available in trades.  Obviously Garrett Crochet is on that list as is Luis Castillo (no, not THAT one!)  This Castillo has a career ERA of 3.56 which in today’s pitching market is pretty damned good.  Of course, virtually any player can be had for the right offer.  The problem is that the Mets don’t exactly have many major league players left who they would want to lose except the pair who are overpaid for what they produce.  The alternative would be pillaging the farm system which is what many small market teams would likely prefer. 

Fixing the Bullpen

Let’s just say it.  When it comes to Edwin Diaz you know what you’re getting.  When he’s on, he’s absolutely unhittable.  When he’s not, well, no amount of trumpet playing will make fans feel better about him being in the game.  He earns a lot to be the closer and unless both David Stearns and Steve Cohen have a totally unlikely trade in mind to send him elsewhere, he’s your 9th inning guy in 2025 and beyond.

After that the picture gets a lot murkier.  Is Dedniel Nunez finally healthy?  What about the oft-injured Sean Reid-Foley?  Is Reed Garrett a one-year wonder or has he put it together late in his career and can be penciled in for 7th inning duty reliably? 

Again, there are free agents, many of whom that catch your eye are closers.  Most players know that saves equal payroll dollars, so coming to the Mets with Diaz still there means they are self-limiting earning potential.  That then means moving down to the setup guys who, other than former Met David Robertson, do not command mega bucks.  You could pick other former closers who are solid at what they do but whose days of earning saves have come to a close.  An example would be someone like the former Pirate Aroldis Chapman but the Boston Red Sox already snatched him.

Here is a good example where trades can take place.  Middle relievers don’t generally command the cream of your minor league crop and you have fringe players like Tylor Megill who is out of options who could be offered up in exchange for someone whose ability more closely matches the team’s needs.  Many of these players will require quick reference checks with baseball stat sites to find out who exactly the Mets have obtained, but we’re interested more in quality than in name recognition. 

By Friday the Winter Meetings will be over and the world’s latest near billionaire has found a new home cross town.  Now we can start to address what the Mets need to do next to address hitting baseballs and scoring runs.