NY Mets: Top three positions of need to address this offseason

Mets need some starting pitching

To anyone who followed the Mets’ 2020 season, one of the most glaring issues the team struggled with was getting consistent outings from starting pitchers.

While Jacob deGrom was consistently great and rookie David Peterson had a solid rookie season, the rest of the team’s starters struggled to stay healthy and those who did play for the most part, did not meet the team’s expectations on the mound.

To summarize, Noah Syndergaard missed the entire season due to Tommy John Surgery, Marcus Stroman injured his calf prior to the season and then opted out once healthy, Steven Matz had a career-worst year and was moved to the bullpen, and last year’s free agent signings Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha both struggled in the majority of their starts.

At the time of writing, the Mets combined ERA among starting pitchers is a staggering 5.41, ranked 26th in the league, so needless to say, they could use and upgrade this offseason.

Going into 2021, the Mets will have Jacob deGrom, a healthy Syndergaard and likely Peterson filling out the first 3 spots in the rotation, leaving two openings for new acquisitions.

Luckily for the Mets, this offseason, there are several quality free agent pitchers who the team, under the guidance of new owner, Steve Cohen, could bring into the mix to fill these holes.

Firstly, there are a few younger (and likely pricier) options that the Mets could go after, such as resigning Marcus Stroman or going after other names like James Paxton or Trevor Bauer, both of whom are in their early 30s and have been consistent pitchers the bulk of their careers.

The other route the Mets could go is to go after more veteran players on shorter deals with more of an upside. Veteran pitchers like Jon Lester, Corey Kluber, Jake Arrieta, and Cole Hamels are expected to be on the market this year, and each one of them, despite their each, still have some solid baseball left to play.

The bottom line is, whether the Mets’ strategy is to sign a bunch of young guys long term or some older, quality pitchers on short deals, they will have plenty of options come this offseason.