3) Pablo Lopez
It would be something if the Mets went after Chris Paddack in a trade as it might be the ultimate hint they’ve moved on from Alonso entirely. The two had a fun feud in 2019 while vying for Rookie of the Year honors.
But Paddack isn’t all that great and would be more of a lateral move than an actual improvement. That’s not the case with Pablo Lopez. Signed for three more years with a salary of $21.75 million in each, the Twins have reached the point with Lopez where they finally have to start paying him.
This isn’t the same guy you may remember the Mets beating up plenty in the past during his days with the Miami Marlins. Despite a .07 point difference in ERA from the Marlins to the Twins, Lopez is much more a rocksteady starting pitcher. He has logged 185+ innings in both years in Minnesota. His dazzling 2023 season earned him, get this, a seventh-place finish in the AL Cy Young vote—the same placement King did last year for the Padres in the NL.
Lopez doesn’t have a single season in his career with more than 3 walks per 9 and he has consistently averaged around a strikeout per inning or more. Not quite an ace in the way we normally look at the term, he’s a very good number one who’d give the Mets rotation the kind of legitimacy they lack with certain players.