3 pitchers that make sense for the Mets with Lucas Giolito off the market

One of the priorities for the New York Mets this offseason has been attempting to rebuild their starting rotation. While they signed Luis Severino several weeks back, they have so far struck out on two of their targets in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Lucas Giolito who have now signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox organizations respectfully.

There are however several pitchers that are still available on the free agent market that could make sense for the Mets in terms of having the ceiling of a pitcher like Lucas Giolito. The Mets could also sign one of these starting pitchers for around the same deal that Giolito received from the Red Sox, which was 2-years and $38.5 million.

1) Mike Clevinger

One interesting option for the Mets to pursue for the starting rotation would be former Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Mike Clevinger. Clevinger posted some impressive numbers with the White Sox last season with a 3.77 ERA over 24 starts with a 110/40 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

When healthy, Clevinger has shown to be a viable top-of-the-rotation option for the ballclubs he has previously pitched for, and the Mets could certainly use a pitcher of Clevinger's caliber in their current starting rotation. It's a low-risk high-reward gamble for the Mets, similar to the Luis Severino signing, although the 33-year-old right-hander is more likely to command a 2-3 year deal.

Clevinger had declined his portion of a $12 million mutual option with the White Sox earlier this offseason, which means he is looking to top that number in some capacity on the open market. I would imagine it would take a $16-$18 million per year commitment from the Mets to get that deal done, almost similar to the Lucas Giolito deal. Clevinger would be my first choice on the current market for the Mets.

2) James Paxton

Another interesting name that is currently still on the free agent market is left-hander James Paxton. Paxton had a mixed bag of results with the Boston Red Sox last season. In the first half of the season, he had pitched to a 2.73 ERA, and that number dropped off completely in the second half of the year as he largely struggled to a 6.98 ERA.

While the splits are unsightly, it was Paxton's first full-season pitching after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2021, in which some of those struggles could be attributed to potential exhaustion. With the state of the current Mets rotation, it would be a worthwhile gamble to take a shot on Paxton to see if those first half-numbers can translate over an entire campaign with a full-year removed from Tommy John surgery under his belt.

I wouldn't anticipate it taking more than a two-year deal to sign Paxton this winter, especially with many teams wondering how his arm will potentially hold up over the course of a full season. While it would be tough to rely on Paxton as a front-line starter, bringing him into the fold and monitoring his innings next year could do wonders for the Mets in terms of unlocking his full potential.