It may be time for the NY Mets to revisit a trade offer with the Twins

Focus for the New York Mets at the moment is on securing Kyle Tucker to three-year deal with a $50 million AAV. The reported offer from the Mets seems to have pushed Tucker’s free agency into the red zone. A decision feels imminent.

Meanwhile, the starting rotation has gone untouched. No one has been eliminated. No one has been added. Many Mets targets in free agency are still available as are trade candidates. This includes a guy who, back in November and early December, was a hot topic.

Joe Ryan remains with the Twins and despite previous reports of the Twins holding onto him, a few things have changed. Ryan is headed to arbitration over a $500K gap in what the team offered him and what he filed for. Adding onto that behind-the-scenes turmoil, he’s not expected to attend TwinsFest.

The Mets owe the Twins a phone call about Joe Ryan

Controlled for two seasons rather than one like Freddy Peralta and Tarik Skubal, we can see why the Mets would have some sort of preference for Ryan. It’s not the deciding factor. What they have to give up is also a part of the equation as is the talent of the player.

The Mets turned down a 2-for-1 offer from the Miami Marlins for Edward Cabrera. A less accomplished yet more controllable starting pitcher, it does at least give us some idea of what the Mets won’t do. They seem keen to keep Brett Baty. They may also have a lot of interest in A.J. Ewing remaining and becoming their center fielder of the future. It probably depends a lot on the eventual resolution with Tucker.

Minnesota has been dormant this offseason. Their biggest addition was Josh Bell. They’re operating like a team waiting for a trade deadline sell-off rather than an offseason retool. After all, it’s in the offseason when you sell season tickets. They can always regroup next offseason should they choose to. 

Ryan is coming off of his best season yet, logging 171 innings with a 3.42 ERA and his usual brand of high strikeout numbers. He has been healthy and incredibly incredibly consistent outside of his 2023 season when his ERA ballooned to 4.51. In each of his other three full seasons, it has fluctuated between only 3.42 up to 3.60.

Is Ryan the guy for the Mets? He seems close to it. He actually went into September with a 3.08 ERA on the season. Two truly lousy September starts seemed to do the most damage against his season totals. While trading for Skubal or Peralta renting for a more known, adding Ryan might be buying a guy nearing an even better year.