3 greatest Mets offseason needs

The New York Mets have already had an A+ offseason. They signed Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha in one night. They got Buck Showalter to manage the team. And oh yeah, they got Max Scherzer.

The Mets have drastically improved from the team that imploded in the second half of the 2021 season and finished with a 77-85 record. However, there is still work to be done.

In order for the Mets to become the World Series contender they want to be, they will have to fill in the other holes on this roster.

Certain parts of the team are set in stone. Jacob deGrom will be the leader of the best 1-2 duo of all time. Pete Alonso will be the first baseman. Starling Marte and Brandon Nimmo will make up 2/3 of the outfield. James McCann unfortunately will catch.

Despite the leagues highest payroll there are still many questions the Mets have to answer.

#1 Another Starter

The Mets rotation was the reason they were in contention for the NL East title in the first half. Jacob deGrom was breaking records, Taijuan Walker was an all-star, and Marcus Stroman was delivering quality outings every five days.

In the second half, everything changed. deGrom was injured, Walker was one of the worst pitchers in baseball, and Stroman was really all the Mets had to rely upon. Tylor Megill was really solid when first called up, but struggled to end his season. Carlos Carrasco finally debuted but he wasn't any good.

After Noah Syndergaard signed with the Angels it became abundantly clear that the Mets absolutely had to sign a top end starter. And boy did they deliver.

The Mets signed Max Scherzer to an astonishing three-year $130 million-dollar deal. He is set to slot right in behind Jacob deGrom and be the second member of the best 1-2 punch in a rotation in baseball history. That signing signaled that the Mets were indeed all in.

After the greatest 1-2 punch in a rotation ever the Mets have some work to do. Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco are under contract and will be in the rotation. However, neither of them showed any sort of consistency to be relied upon for a full 162 game season.

Walker has an extensive injury history, and once Carrasco returned from his injury he was disappointing to say the least. The Mets do have Tylor Megill and David Peterson who are guys who can pitch in the major leagues, but I'd feel much better about them as depth arms.

The Mets should acquire another arm to fill out their rotation whether it's through free agency or via trade. My dream target is Luis Castillo, but that's unlikely unless the Mets part ways with someone like Jeff McNeil or some top prospects.

The Mets do have guys like Dom Smith and J.D. Davis who look likely to get moved. They also have Jeff McNeil who very well could be on his way out of Queens also.

Other trade targets the Mets could pursue include guys like Sonny Gray, Chris Bassitt, and Frankie Montas. Or the Mets could sign a free agent like Carlos Rodon, Yusei Kikuchi, Zack Greinke, or Tyler Anderson.

The bottom line is after witnessing a season in which the Mets had to rely upon TBD seemingly everyday Marcus Stroman or Taijuan Walker wasn't on the mound, depth is imperative and if Tylor Megill is relied upon to be in the big league rotation from Opening Day, that's most likely not going to end well.

#3 More Bats

The Mets have done a lot of good work improving a lineup which finished 27th in runs per game in 2021. Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha will provide a lot of much needed power and speed to a lineup which was sorely lacking in those areas.

As it stands currently, the lineup looks solid. However, there is room for improvement. Kris Bryant is still a free agent and vastly improves the lineup. This likely means Jeff McNeil is trade bait as they'd plug Eduardo Escobar in at second base with Bryant at third.

Signing Bryant would be nice, but it isn't necessarily a necessity. The Mets lineup should be good enough as is to win some games, especially if they address the pitching even more than they have. But, you can never have enough depth.

If the Mets opt to not sign Bryant, they should sign a bunch of depth guys. Jonathan Villar gave the Mets more than they ever could have expected this season. Maybe he'll come back in a bench role. Brad Miller hit 20 home runs while playing a lot off the bench. Maybe he'll sign with the Mets.

After the Mets had to run a lineup with an outfield of guys Cameron Maybin, Johneshwy Fargas, and Khalil Lee at one point because of injury, they should know to get as much depth as possible.