NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 3 biggest concerns with the moves David Stearns has made

2 of 3

The New York Mets went into the offseason with concerns as will any team. David Stearns has successfully addressed several areas. He has improved the defense to a level where there’s little to question about any possible ninth inning alignments. The problem is getting there often enough with the lead.

Other concerns linger. Looking exclusively at the moves the Mets did make rather than the ones they haven’t or passed on, these are the three biggest worries.

1) The Mets are banking on more oft-injured players to stay healthy than they already were

The oft-injured players added to the Mets roster this offseason go beyond Luis Severino and Harrison Bader. The latter, in particular, has struggled to stay on the field throughout his major league career. It’s only recently where Severino has become a player where getting hurt has become an annual event.

The worries shouldn’t stop with them. Kodai Senga signed with the Mets with an injury history already from his days playing in Japan. Jose Quintana spent several years hurt and after a fantastic 2022 campaign where health was on his side, missed half of year one with the Mets.

In the starting lineup, we should all be worried about how much Starling Marte will play let alone how productive he’ll even be while in the lineup. There doesn’t appear, at least not yet, to be much of a backup plan if he goes down other than a lot more DJ Stewart and getting to know Tyrone Taylor very well.

Injuries are impossible to prevent and we cannot fault the Mets for signing guys who’ve been hurt. The problem is it seems like they’re stockpiling them onto a roster with major ones already. What’s more, their next rotation addition might fit into this concern as well. Talent is useless if it spends the year on the IL.

2) The Mets bullpen has few sure things

An anatomy class isn’t necessary to find the Achilles heel on this roster. The Mets bullpen is unquestionably the biggest weakness at the moment. Even if you don’t have a concern about Edwin Diaz and believe Brooks Raley will pitch well again, there are six other spots where there should be some major doubts.

Keeping Drew Smith is a wise decision, but he remains in a more elevated spot in the bullpen at the moment. After last year, he needed to move down the depth chart. The Michael Tonkin signing feels like a bargain at only $1 million. He’ll be able to eat up some quality innings and keep the Mets in games. Even the Yohan Ramirez trade addition with the Chicago White Sox should be applauded.

The problem is that Smith, Tonkin, and Ramirez should probably be the three relievers we have the most questions with. Hardly. Compared to the rest of the relief corps, they feel like three of the most trustworthy.

Jorge Lopez is a worthy gamble at the price. Where the Mets bullpen really falls off is with players like Sean Reid-Foley, Austin Adams, and Phil Bickford. Guys who’ve pitched in the league without much consistent success can find their way into the bullpen. They shouldn’t take up nearly half of it.

Severino can win a Cy Young, Bader can grab a Gold Glove, and the rest of the Mets additions they make can click. Troubling thoughts about the bullpen will remain.

3) The Mets have gone short-term with every addition and there’s a problem with this thinking

The Mets aren’t signing free agents for more than a year. They’ve been reportedly disinterested in making any significant trade for a player who’ll be a free agent next offseason. They’ll spend money but not prospects to get better. The plan, as we believed from the start, really seems to be a restart again next offseason. The problem with this is building a team from closer to the ground just adds more work.

Why not pursue a relief pitcher they can sign for two years? Any further major additions either to the rotation or lineup can be a guy with more than a year on his contract. Otherwise he’s already going to be someone the Mets will need to replace next offseason.

It makes sense not to commit too long to anyone. Where’s the rationale in recreating all of the roster holes yet again for the 2024-2025 winter? Even if the free agent class next year is better, we cannot expect the Mets to land everyone they want.

The Mets have been cautious thus far and maybe a little too much. They’re in the camp of not even trading for a player on an expiring deal despite the possibility of an extension. This has limited their options greatly. At this point, outside of the perfect addition, there’s not much point in doing so.

Only major growth from their young players and prospects fix this and even there we have virtually an entire pitching staff to be unsure of. The goal for 2025 to be a year of winning seems a bit too impossible if they aren’t already adding guys they plan to have around.

manual

Home / New York Mets News