5 best Mets starting pitcher free agent targets who won't cost $100 million

The New York Mets finished the season on a high note after their long run in the postseason in a year where expectations were exceeded. Now, the team sets its sights on free agency to fill the gaps of the multiple players who are free agents and try to achieve a place in the World Series in 2025.

One of the areas of greatest work for David Stearns and the Mets baseball operations department is the starting rotation, for the second consecutive offseason. After the success of last season and the words of Stearns in a previous intervention, it is sensible to think that the team's approach will be similar to that shown in the last season in the search for arms with less financial commitment with upside and the ability to adjust to the new philosophy pitching of the organization. In this sense, these would be the best five options for the team in free agency that won't cost $100 million.

5) Shinnosuke Ogasawara

Shinnosuke Ogasawara requested to be posted by his team, the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, which was granted by his organization. After determining the exact date of the posting, the MLB teams have 45 days of negotiation to reach an agreement with Ogasawara and his team within the rules of the Japanese baseball posting system that requires coverage of a fee towards the team depending on the amount and duration of the futures contract. Otherwise, Ogasawara should return to his team by 2025.

Oagasawara isn't really the most prominent pitcher from Japan this offseason, that honor goes to former Sawamura Award winner (Japan's Cy Young equivalent), Tomoyoki Sugano. However, Ogasawara has aspects that could make some MLB teams more attractive.

The Japanese left-hander is a young man who is also a veteran in his league. At only 27 years old, he already has nine years of experience in the NPB where he has a career ERA of 3.62 in 951.1 innings pitched.

Ogasawara is not a hard-throwing pitcher so his stuff does not generate too much swing and miss but he has an elite command where he posted a walk rate of just 3.7% last season, a profile similar to that of Shota Imanaga only with a level of dominance on the smaller mound. Ogasawara could sometimes be seen as a Thrift Shop version of Imanaga, but the truth is that with his level of command and ability to induce weak contact from his opponents, he is an ideal candidate because he would carry a much smaller contract in money and duration than Imanaga.