Mets should absolutely consider signing Dallas Keuchel this winter

Dallas Keuchel was someone we heard plenty about last offseason for the New York Mets. This winter, they should absolutely consider him, again.

Something happens when pitchers join the Houston Astros these days. They seem to find their best stuff. This is good news for the rest of the league when those pitchers leave town. In the small sample size we’ve seen, those pitchers carry their talents with them. This thought is just the beginning of why I would like to see the New York Mets pursue Dallas Keuchel.

Every team with oxygen in 2019 should have looked to sign Keuchel back in June after the MLB Draft. Likely, regardless of the team you follow, you read some article opining why he was worth a look in 2019.

Keuchel did eventually settle for a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves, making him a free agent again for the 2019-2020 offseason. This time around, he’ll cross his fingers there’s more than one year on his next contract.

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Mets fans certainly wanted to see Brodie Van Wagenen go after Keuchel. Rather than witness another disaster from Jason Vargas, they had their eye on Keuchel as the rotation’s replacement. While rumors did circulate mildly, I don’t think anything ever got too serious.

Things may be different this winter. The Mets, now officially without Zack Wheeler for 2020, have an even greater need to add a starter.

Keuchel didn’t pitch spectacularly for the Braves in 2019. His 19 regular season starts included an even 8-8 record together with a 3.75 ERA. Keuchel struck out a few more batters per nine than he did last year, but also issued walks at a higher rate and allowed more home runs per nine.

In many ways, he was about average. This is all the Mets will need for their rotation. His presence pushes Steven Matz back to the fifth starter role and continues the Flushing Five theme into 2020. I love the fact that he’s a lefty. The Mets haven’t had a really good one of those since Johan Santana.

Keuchel probably won’t put up numbers anywhere close to what Santana did. He’s not going to have a repeat of his own glory days either. He’s a major league pitcher who has some years left.

The one area he may not fit in well is in regards to how he gets his outs. Keuchel is a groundball pitcher and we all know the Mets’ infield defense isn’t supreme. Depending on what they plan to do at third base could change this slightly in 2020.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in this, though. If a pitcher is good then the Mets should grab him. Marcus Stroman turned out well for the Mets in 2019 and he also has the reputation of relying on groundballs for outs.

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In a time of juiced baseballs, it pays to have guys who keep the ball on the ground. This could be especially true if Major League Baseball goes to an extreme to make the baseballs a little flatter and remove the pulp from the juice. Groundball pitchers like Keuchel could have a career year on the horizon.