NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 5 future starting pitcher Christmas gifts we’d like

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Oi, it’s Christmas Day! Before the kiddos wake up for the morning or while you try to avoid eye contact with certain family members today, let’s spend a few brief minutes together thinking about the New York Mets. This story was published at 6am Christmas morning and with good purpose. I want you to have a good day.

The holiday weekend began with Yoshinobu Yamamoto choosing the Los Angeles Dodgers. A wrecker of holiday cheer, the good news is we always have the future to look forward to.

Unlike Scrooge whose Christmas future included a whole lot of headstones, including his own, ours can involve the Mets signing some big name free agent starting pitchers. Let’s get some morning coffee mixed with eggnog into our systems and explore some of those future options to help keep us happy on this holiday. In fact, let’s rank them.

5) Gerrit Cole

We need to put an asterisk on this one because, quite frankly, it’s a little too ambitious to believe Gerrit Cole will initiate his opt out and then come to the Mets. The two ball clubs have played nicely in the recent past when it comes to free agents. While a bidding war between the Mets and Yankees over Juan Soto is to be expected, it’s different with Cole. He has been theirs for a while now. It’ll be a little closer to marrying your neighbor’s ex-wife. In Soto’s case, it’s marrying someone your neighbor dated for a year.

Cole isn’t an ideal match for the Mets because of how familiar it would seem. Signing him would be revisiting the Max Scherzer/Justin Verlander plan. Cole’s AAV should skyrocket even further if he does end up as a free agent. Nevertheless, he needs to be on this dream Christmas wish list because of how good he is.

A perennial Cy Young contender and finally a winner in 2023, Cole is about as good as it gets in baseball. He hasn’t always been appreciated in the Bronx. Would it be different over in Queens?

As appealing as he should be, there are actually four other free agent starting pitchers who’d be a better match for the Mets.

4) Zack Wheeler

If your dream is a Zack Wheeler reunion, we should be worried about the Philadelphia Phillies extending him before he reaches that stage. Wheeler has morphed into one of the league’s best starters since leaving New York. He was already well on his way to showcasing those abilities upon his departure. However, management thought otherwise.

There’s no real need to rehash how excellent Wheeler has been for the rival Phillies. Why ruin Christmas morning? Instead, let’s focus on what could be.

Wheeler becomes a free agent right before his age 35 season which will make him even older than Cole who by this point feels ancient. The Mets would be buying into some of those later 30s or even early 40s years with Wheeler. While relatively healthy with the Phillies, it’s always a concern.

It doesn’t so much matter that signing Wheeler would be a reunion. He’s a superb pitcher any team should want on their roster. Barring some more serious signs of decline in 2024, he’s a Christmas gift we should ask for.

3) Walker Buehler

Going a bit younger now, swiping Walker Buehler away from the Los Angeles Dodgers would sure feel nice. Defending champion Dodgers? We can only hope not.

Buehler is somehow already turning 30 in the summer of 2024. Just 12 starts in 2022 and the entire 2023 wiped out due to Tommy John Surgery, a lot of the interest we’ll have in Buehler will depend on what he’s able to accomplish on his super team in 2024.

In his career, Buehler is 46-16 with a 3.02 ERA. His best and most recent full season in 2021 included a 16-4 record and 2.47 ERA. This is the kind of performance Buehler will get paid to deliver.

Snatching him away from the Dodgers makes him an intriguing available free agent. Of course, he has to first become available. Will they really let him walk? The Dodgers haven’t been afraid to smack sentimentality in the face. For sure, if Walker does leave, they’ll reload somehow either with a trade, different free agent, or a prospect promotion.

Buehler has age on his side when it comes to free agency. He’ll have one year to prove he has completely recovered and should be on everyone’s wish list.

2) Max Fried

It seems like many of these best pitchers are coming over from a rival of some sort. That’s to be expected. The best teams have the best pitchers. Who knew? For petty purposes, this might be the most fun one of all. In recent years, it’s the Atlanta Braves who’ve been the biggest nuisances of all for Mets fans. Signing one of their star pitchers away would feel good. They can make it happen with Max Fried.

The best way to describe Fried is as a winner. Yeah, wins don’t matter much anymore for starters. But his .705 winning percentage from a lifetime 62-26 record is astonishing. There isn’t anything overpowering about him. Fried is the kind of pitcher who succeeds by not allowing home runs or walking batters. The results speak for themselves. His 3.03 ERA adds to the evidence.

When Fried does become available, unless the Braves extend him, he’ll do so as a soon-to-be 31-year-old lefty. Notably, the Braves have extended players early in their tenure and not so much later on. Fried is one season away from free agency. An extended deal isn’t something to expect. Should the Mets strike?

Despite missing about half the 2023 season, Fried went 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA. It was business as usual only with some extra PTO used. Like with any free agent, some bias toward the recent is needed. Good health, too, will be required for the Mets to stir up a deal for Fried.

1) Corbin Burnes

Easily the best fit for the Mets starting rotation, Corbin Burnes almost seems destined to land with the Mets next winter. With no extension insight from the Milwaukee Brewers, Burnes should become available and the Mets need to bring him over.

Among all of the pitchers on this list, Burnes is probably the one most Mets fans will agree is the one to go out and get. Although the length of his success in the big leagues is a little shorter than some of these other names, he is among the younger ones and on the more dominant side.

Burnes has had some interesting league-leading statistics over the last three years. He had the best ERA in 2021 when he won the Cy Young. He had the most strikeouts in 2022. Last season, it was his WHIP that was the best in the National League. How should we interpret this? I take it as Burnes can do different things well enough to put him among the best pitchers in baseball. He is fully capable of winning a Triple Crown for pitchers.

A reunion with David Stearns is an easy story to write. He already showed us by acquiring Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor that he could have a tendency to go after players he’s familiar with already. None would be a bigger free agent splash than doing so with Burnes.

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