5 future bidding wars we could see between the Mets and Yankees

4) Kodai Senga

Wait, what? If you thought Kodai Senga was under team control for five years, you missed the opt out in his contract following the 2025 campaign.

Senga looks like a massive bargain after his first year in the big leagues. At just $15 million, he’s someone who’d be more than eager to test the open market again with some proof he can handle the big leagues. The only way he doesn’t use the opt out is if he’s terrible in which case we’d be dissatisfied anyway.

When it comes to playing kindly with each other, Senga doesn’t cross a line because he came over as an international free agent. The Yankees aren’t breaking any sacred bond by stealing him from the Mets. He’s fair game.

Familiarity with New York will make the Yankees tempting to Senga if he was to get a better offer from them. When he hits free agency it’ll be right before his age 33 season which won’t earn him a massive deal like Gallen will get, but certainly warrants a higher AAV. If the Mets did let him walk, it would be because they have a replacement. He’s someone we’d already love to see stay, but can understand if he ends up somewhere else. By the time he can opt out, we’d expect the Mets have already signed one of the 2024-2025 free agent starting pitchers anyway.

The Prediction: Kodai Senga opts out and after a lot of speculation ends up pitching for a West Coast team that isn’t the Los Angeles Dodgers. San Francisco Giants? Let's throw them a bone.