2 Cubs free agents David Stearns could desire, 2 NY Mets players Jed Hoyer might like

Aaron Civale can give the Mets length in the bullpen and a sixth starter option

The Mets showed love for depth pitchers this past season. There’s no reason to move off of that lust. If Canning isn’t coming back, Aaron Civale is someone who could be a candidate to do some similar things.

A former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher, but not one with a connection to Stearns, he has been in the league for a couple of seasons and regularly employed by those teams who seem to have a tendency to add pitchers with high promise and not always results. The Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays both had him early in his career. Civale never broke into stardom, but he did have some strong stretches. In particular, Civale finished strong in 2024 with the Brewers, pitching to a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts.

This past year was a wild one for Civale who began in Milwaukee, was traded to the Chicago White Sox, and finished with the Cubs. On the Northside of Chi-town is where he found his best results. Albeit just 13 innings of work, he managed to strike out 14 while not walking a single batter.

The Mets won’t have the luxury of having Tylor Megill around next season, at least to start the year. Civale is a natural fit to take on that sixth starter role or elevate to one of five they begin the year with. The Mets have a lot of questions with their rotation heading into the offseason. Civale, purely as a depth piece, doesn’t look so bad. His limited time in relief for the Cubs was promising enough to consider him a realistic option to be next year’s Max Kranick, used routinely for multiple innings at a time in relief.