A financial NY Mets flex fans would love to see Steve Cohen greenlight again

New York Mets rumors continue to suggest they’ll be in the market for a starting pitcher. How exactly would they achieve this? Even with a six-man rotation in place, it’s difficult to field a roster of six different starters every day, particularly when your bullpen doesn’t have too many optional choices.

Many have suggested moving Clay Holmes to the bullpen. This is one possibility. What about an even better one?

Through 6 starts, the Mets haven’t gotten anything close to what they need out of Frankie Montas. Not every appearance has been abysmal, but he’s going as long as Holmes does and getting far worse results. With a 5.46 ERA and a batting average of .292 against him, Montas is someone fans would love to see get Ver-Scherzer’ed at this year’s trade deadline.

Could the Mets actually dump Frankie Montas while paying down a part of his salary?

Starting pitching is in high demand without too many great options out there. It’s mostly rentals or controllable players like Mitch Keller who’ll cost a lot. If you aren’t crying a little bit with your mock trade to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Keller, you’re not surrendering enough.

Montas is making $17 million this season with a player option for the same next year. Bound to accept it, the Mets would be wise to get out from the deal as quickly as they could. Easier said than done. What if the contract isn’t necessarily what the Mets need to get out from under, but rather the player?

Other owners tug at the purse strings and hold back their teams. Not Steve Cohen. He paid for Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to go away in 2023. Montas, at a much lower rate albeit far worse results and ceiling, isn’t so incomprehensible to do the same with. Maybe it doesn’t reward the Mets with high-profile prospects or even require them to pay all of his salary. But for a team not willing to give up much in the form of prospects, Montas is someone they might be willing to take a flier on as long as the Mets pick up a part of the check.

Paying down the remainder of his 2025 salary feels like a given; or maybe the Mets add in some fancy language that he’ll need to combine to pitch a low-ball of 50 innings with the new team between this season and next in order for them to also pay next year’s salary. They’ve already planned out for Montas to be a part of the payroll. And given the rise of several starting pitching prospects, it’s not going to prevent them from having a strong rotation.

Montas could be replaced in next year’s rotation by Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, or maybe even Jonah Tong at a fraction of the cost. Find a Griffin Canning in free agency at an affordable rate if money is any issue. It shouldn’t be. This is Steve Cohen’s team.

There hasn’t been a publicly known rumor about Montas being on the block and we’d have to believe if David Stearns was asked he’d give him a vote of confidence. The most questionable free agent addition of the offseason is feeling like a sunk cost. For the sake of bettering the team now, he’s feeling worth gifting for free to another team, especially if the Mets are willing to go far enough to replace him with someone better.