Stealthy Cubs continue to be a nag for the NY Mets’ pitching pursuits

The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs are more alike than the blue in the uniform. Last offseason, Chicago took chances on several pitchers who turned out to be magnificent finds.

Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz in the bullpen plus Matthew Boyd in the rotation all seemed to match the kind of strategy David Stearns has had in his 2+ years with the Mets. Favorable contracts with a lower level of risk rewarded the Cubs in 2025. They’ve continued the same game plan, now adding another 3 or 4 pitchers this offseason already who could have been matches for the Mets.

The Cubs are refilling their bullpen with players who seem to fit exactly what the Mets could have gone after

Phil Maton was probably not going to re-sign with the Mets after the team refused to pick up his option for 2025. And on a two-year deal costing over $7 million per season, he’s a little bit different from the others the Cubs have added this offseason.

Hoby Milner, a lefty known for soft-contact and ground balls, is another player the Mets could have viewed as a potential Tyler Rogers replacement. Alas, he joined the Cubs the same way multiple free agent relievers continue to.

Rounding out the foursome of potential Mets options who could have made sense buried in the bullpen are Jacob Webb and Hunter Harvey. Webb is coming off of two good seasons, one with a 3.02 ERA in 2024 and 3.00 ERA last year. Harvey was hurt for most of last season, but has a track record of pitching pretty well. He’d be a good match to take on a role like Reed Garrett, planned for the middle innings.

The Mets haven’t necessarily missed out on any of these arms with several more mid-level relievers still out there in free agency and others surely available in trades. The Mets have landed Devin Williams and Luke Weaver who are considered much better than any of the Cubs additions.

Still, the Cubs have been a nag over the last two years with these semi-fliers. The fact that so many worked out well for Chicago last year might have us immediately thinking these more affordable relievers will once again find success in Chicago. Then again, we saw how sticking with similar thinking backfired on the 2025 Mets with some of the things that worked so well for them heading into 2024.