NY Mets: Five free agents to return the pitching staff to prominence

With new ownership pending for the New York Mets here is how the team should reload for the 2021 season.

Once again, the New York Mets bullpen finds itself at the top of the priorities list heading into the offseason. This year, however, due to a combination of injuries and free agency departures, the starting rotation also needs a significant tune-up before the team reports to training camp next February.

This is the situation that incoming owner, Steve Cohen will face right as the hot stove season kicks into high gear, and he’ll need to prioritize spending on pitching, first and foremost, before shopping for a catcher and everyday centerfielder.

Luckily for him, there is already a core of young and experienced arms currently under contract who will provide a working foundation from which Cohen and his front office can add to and build around.

Jacob deGrom and David Peterson seem to be the only starting pitchers that can be penciled-in for next season’s rotation while the statuses of Noah Syndergaard (recovering from Tommy-John surgery), Steven Matz, Michael Wacha, and Rick Porcello all have question marks next to their names heading into the winter.

Similarly, the only arms in the bullpen who are expected to return in some capacity are Edwin Díaz and Jeurys Familia, while the rest of the supporting cast are up for further evaluation (i.e. player options, arbitration, a return to the minors, etc.).

As a result, here are the free agent arms that the Mets should look to retain or target for 2021: RHP Alex Colomé, SP Kevin Gausman, RHP Liam Hendriks, RHP Erasmo Ramírez and SP Marcus Stroman.

While the potential return of both Marcus Stroman and Erasmo Ramírez would, I think, contribute an element of swagger to the Mets rotation along with a reliable arms for their bullpen, Gausman, Hendriks, and Colomé would, in turn, bring stability to a pitching staff that finds itself short on talent heading into the 2021 season along with veteran leadership to a bullpen in desperate need of proven Major League talent.

29-year-old SP Kevin Gausman stabilizes NY Mets rotation

Signing RHP Kevin Gausman to a potential three-year, $39 million deal would make sense for a Mets ballclub looking to ‘win now’ for a couple of reasons.

Not only would he bring stability to a pitching staff in need of rotational depth, he would also fill the fifth slot behind LHP David Peterson at a reasonable price and wouldn’t prohibit the team from spending on a premium starting pitcher and position player during the rest of free agency.

And due to Peterson’s role as a lefty arm, the team can shop Steven Matz and finally move on from the fruitless hope that he will find his form again while in Mets colors. The experiment is over. He isn’t going to improve. In fact, since 2018, Matz has allowed the most home runs in the NL, with 66 long balls given up (14 allowed in 2020).

Similarly, bringing in Gausman will make it easier for the team to let Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha look for employment elsewhere if it wasn’t already clear that they did not perform well enough last season to warrant new deals.

In 2020, Gausman pitched on a one-year, $9 million deal with the San Francisco Giants and posted a 3.62 ERA through 12 starts along with 79 strikeouts and a 1.11 WHIP.  While he has never posted a sub 3.50 ERA during his eight-year career, his ability to stay off the IL is more than most of the Mets pitchers in the last two seasons can say.

Overall, signing Gausman would be a smart investment that would help the Mets win now, while also allowing ownership to spend money on additional pitching help and other needed upgrades in the field.

RHP Liam Hendriks, and a homegrown pitcher’s return to the pen

A reliable option for late inning relief has become one of the most elusive assets for Mets fans in any given game. So in the interest of choosing one out of the many available veteran relievers hitting the market this winter (like Shane Greene, Trevor Rosenthal, Blake Treinen, Jose Alvarez, and Luis Avilan), RP Liam Hendriks fits the Mets needs across the board, as a dependable late-inning arm that can get the job done.

Coming off his AL Reliever of the Year honors in 2020, Hendriks would be an upgrade to this area of the roster and elevate the Mets improvements to the bullpen.  Over the past several seasons, has established himself as one of the more dominant relievers in the league.

He earned a spot on the American League all-star team in 2019 before finishing the season with a 1.80 ERA through 75 game appearances. Even more recently, at the end of the 2020 season, he finished with a 1.78 ERA and 0.67 WHIP in 25.1 IP.

Owing to his command of a Four-seam Fastball, Slider, Curve, Circle Change, and Sinker, Hendriks has developed an impressive repertoire that he has been able to wield against AL batters over these past two seasons.

Likewise, Seth Lugo is due for a reassignment back to the bullpen after posting a career-high 5.15 ERA through seven starts and nine relief appearances in 2020. In 36.2 IP, Lugo struck out 47 while maintaining a 1.36 WHIP this season. This was a significant decrease in production from his 2018 and 2019 successes where he emerged as one of the most reliable arms on the Mets pitching staff – primarily as a reliever in 2019 and a spot starter in 2018.

But in a full-season and back in the role where he experienced his highest marks, Lugo can help turnaround the team’s bullpen woes in 2021.

Re-sign RHP Erasmo Ramírez and bring back some of last year’s cast members

Since joining the Mets 40-man roster in early September, RHP Erasmo Ramírez proved to be a welcome addition to a shaky bullpen. Prior to joining the orange and blue in 2020, the 30-year-old reliever had spent the last 8 seasons in the American League.

After coming to the Mets late in early September, Ramírez emerged as a hidden gem for the bullpen in the 6 games he was called in to relieve. Originally picked up on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training last offseason, Ramírez made 6 game appearances toward the end of the season, during which he held batters to a .163 BA in 14.1 IP while maintaining a 0.63 ERA. Not bad for someone management took a flier on last January.

Similarly, LHP Chasen Shreve was another surprise for last season’s struggling Mets pen. And like Ramírez, he can be even more valuable in 2021. In 17 appearances this season, Shreve posted a 3.96 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, and struck out 34 batters while holding them to a .191 BA.

To that end, by bringing veteran LHP Justin Wilson back in 2021 to supplant their left handed relief depth, the Mets could fortify their bullpen by providing manager Luis Rojas with another hard-throwing southpaw to turn to in late inning spots.

Finally, it will also be interesting to see how RHP Miguel Castro will perform after being acquired mid-season last year in a string of head-scratching trades from Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen that did nothing to turn their 2020 campaign around.

However, if Castro succeeds in 2020, then perhaps this particular trade might be looked at favorably in hindsight. He deserves that chance – as do these other under-the-radar relievers the Mets were fortunate enough to find last season.

SP Marcus Stroman returns as the 3rd pitcher in the NY Mets rotation

And the best for last – bring Marcus Stroman back home. The Long Island native brings swagger and an overall winning attitude, which is what this team needs to make the postseason and run the gauntlet.

Forget Trevor Bauer – who, according to some reports, is looking for one-year deals north of $40 million. Apparently he’s also open to signing in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan in addition to several MLB teams he’s hinted that he’d like to play for, such as the Dodgers, Yankees, and several other teams.

While there is no denying his talent, I still think Stroman is the better option for this young, dynamic Mets clubhouse. Entering his age 29 season, he has an impressive track record of success. As a performer, he’s grown a reputation as a groundball pitcher who could fit comfortably in the middle of the Mets rotation behind two strikeout pitchers in deGrom and Syndergaard.

But, more importantly, as a teammate, he seems less troublesome and more supportive of his fellow players as opposed to Bauer who has a tendency to list his frustrations on Twitter when the moment strikes him.

Plus, Stroman pitched well in the small sample size Mets fans got to watch him play during the rollercoaster summer of 2019. Unfortunately, since he opted out in 2020, his 11 starts in Flushing are all we have to judge him by: 3.77 ERA, 59.2 IP, 60 K’s, and 1.47 WHIP.

With Stroman and Gausman, the Mets starting rotation could be retooled to look like: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, David Peterson, and Kevin Gausman. And with the money saved from pursuing Bauer, management will be able to pick up another impact player or two to fill centerfield and/or the catcher position.

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