NY Mets Monday Morning GM: How insane is a reunion with Steve Matz?

Steven Matz went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA this past year with the Toronto Blue Jays. Those 14 wins set a new career-best and came only a win and a half away from reaching the halfway mark of how many total victories he had in parts of six years with the New York Mets.

During his time in Flushing, Matz was 31-41 with a 4.35 ERA. The latter of which is a little misleading. A 6.08 ERA in 2017 added with the 9.68 ERA he had in 2020 obliterate an otherwise closer to average total.

Nevertheless, Matz seemed to find his stuff again in 2021 with his new ball club. Not quite brilliant but more than serviceable, he’s heading into free agency at the right time. He needs a new contract. The Mets need an arm. How insane would it be to reunite?

High school reunions are lame and the Mets reuniting with Steven Matz would be the same

There’s something romantic about a reunion. I blame Hollywood for it. Most reunions are forced and don’t end up the way we’d like them to. I suspect if the Mets did sign Matz to a deal only one season after trading him away for spare parts that things wouldn’t go down as well as we would hope.

Fans aren’t exactly knocking over fences to bring Matz back like they have been in the past with other Mets pitchers. Annually, there seems to be a contingency of those out there who want to see Matt Harvey return to Citi Field and look like his young self again. There are even some who waive their right to a clear mind and make a push for Bartolo Colon to land back with the Mets again.

It’s idealistic to think any of these reunions would work out well for the orange and blue. Matz is a slightly different case. He is younger than those two and is one of the latest Mets to get better after leaving the club.

The Mets starting pitching situation scares me. Carlos Carrasco isn’t the top or mid-rotation guy we thought he was guaranteed to be. At his age and possible decline already underway, the best we can hope for is number five starter material. I can practically say the same about Taijuan Walker. His second half ruined his All-Star beginning in 2021.

Finding arms like Matz this winter would help out the Mets immensely. Probably just because we have been there and done that before, it’s best for the front office to look elsewhere.

Is it insane to think the Mets should target Matz? No. I’m not willing to go that far. I’ve seen much crazier ideas proposed in my own drafts.

The Mets’ attention needs to be on surer things than Matz. For all we know, a trip back to Citi Field results in a trip back to his worse years.

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Don’t be fooled. Matz benefitted in the win column from having a high-powered offense to support him. His other numbers were closer to what he did in his better years in New York. Change is good in sports. And as much as you may like him or have faith he has reached a different level, he’s not the right match for the 2022 roster.