5 best Mets starting pitcher additions for next season ranked

The New York Mets enter the offseason with a clear goal to fill roster vacancies with the best possible talent at the best feasible cost. Among these needs presented on the team's roster, pitching looks like the area that will require the most work, especially in the rotation where the Mets could be looking for two to three starting pitchers this winter.

The team's President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns, argued that the organization's priority is pitching. In this sense, the Mets can go to both free agency and the trade market to look for the options that best suit the team, with these five candidates being the ones that best fit Stearns and Steve Cohen's plan.

5) Jordan Montgomery

No pitcher has had a greater spotlight in these playoffs than Jordan Montgomery. The Texas Rangers left-hander led, along with Nathan Eovaldi, the run on the Texas Rangers starting pitching staff to achieve the franchise's first championship.

Montgomery is known to many New York City residents from his time with the Yankees. The 30-year-old veteran has been an efficient pitcher in recent seasons, posting an ERA below 3.50 since 2021.

Montgomery has been a pitcher with good control and command of his pitches, finishing the 2023 season in the top 20% of the league in percentage of walks granted. The recent World Series champion has achieved great results despite not being a pitcher with an explosive fastball thanks to the effectiveness of his breaking pitches, such as the sinker, change-up, and curveball, which he uses almost 70% of the time.

Montgomery has two aspects in his favor that make him attractive to the Mets team. The first is his experience pitching in New York City, and the second is that because he was traded during the season, he cannot be linked to a qualifying offer, so the Mets would not lose a compensation draft pick if they reached sign it, something that fits with David Stearns' long-term sustainability plan.