PORT STREET LUCIE — When people around here are asked about the Mets’ greatest strength, they obviously say it’s the presence of Pete Alonso, who has hit more home runs than anyone since entering the league. can make it, right.
Or you could mention the all-around play and glory of shortstop Francisco Lindor, who entered rare 30-30 territory last year.
But most of the rave reviews, at least through the first few days of Mets camp, have been reserved for the vastly improved rotation depth, which has gone from the deepest in the league to very solid, perhaps even better than that. Now it’s even better. The reversal is astonishing.
“Without a doubt, the depth is good and definitely better than where we were last year,” veteran reliever Adam Ottavino said. “I think there are more measures in place to deal with when things aren’t going perfectly. There aren’t a lot of so-called certainties. But when the inevitable happens, there are more measures in place.” It has been.”
Things happen to everyone, but especially to the Mets, whose star is in its 70th year. Its enviable depth is a blessing, especially considering its beginnings.
When new baseball president David Stearns began the Mets’ first winter, he had just two-fifths of his rotation — new ace Kouhiro Chiga, who garnered attention as a new talent last year, and reliable veteran left-hander. It was just Jose Quintana. This is just a good start, but obviously it won’t work in the NL East with hitters like Ronald Acuña and Bryce Harper who are 40-70. So Stearns went to work.
“We know that unexpected things happen, especially with starting pitchers,” Stearns said. “The goal is to have enough major league stars to get us through that period.”
It was quite a trick to get there. Despite being severely lacking in proven rotation pieces to get things started, the Mets have “dead money” after trading a pair of Cooperstown-bound Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer for prospects. Thanks to his record, he already has the highest annual salary in the majors. The key was finding people on reasonable short-term contracts. And Stearns did just that, adding three rotation-worthy starting pitchers for a relatively small amount of money (a total of $46.05 million if Sean Manaea doesn’t opt out and stays both seasons — yup, that’s what MLB does these days. So even a small amount isn’t that cheap).
Stearns will come under unfair criticism from fans for not using director Steve Cohen’s big budget when he really needed a break after a year in which he suffered seven months of financial difficulties. right. It’s natural for even billionaires to want to avoid paying $100 million a year in taxes ($101 million in taxes in 2023), especially if that money doesn’t necessarily impoverish them. Not if it’s only paid to smaller billionaires.
Cohen gave Stearns the green light to take a high-profile flyer on free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a big Japanese star who fits into the Mets’ long-term plans because he’s only 25 years old. Stearns loved him, and it turns out other players did too. And no one should be surprised that he chose the Dodgers. The Dodgers offered him the same $325 million, plus a $50 million signing bonus that the Mets didn’t offer, and the chance to play with Shohei Ohtani on their most star-studded team in years. .
It obviously hurt. But considering his overall goals, Stearns still hits grand slams and adds a healthy amount of serious depth while maintaining incredible flexibility. As of today, the Mets appear to have more rotation options than many teams. Maybe even the crosstown Yankees, who have a lot of starting concerns along with their usual World Series aspirations.
Stearns’ first move was to sign longtime Yankees player Luis Severino. He brings great talent, a positive presence and new ideas to help reduce the perceived problem of falling pitches. Severino said he spent the winter watching videos and he believes he found the culprit. It happened on a curveball with men on base.
“This is the big leagues. I have to clean it up,” Severino declared.
Sterns has since been traded to his old team, the Brewers, and from here he looks like a good old-fashioned fleece. Instead of pitching prospect Coleman Crowe (currently Milwaukee’s No. 19 ranked prospect), the Mets get Tyrone Taylor, a solid back-end starter Adrian Hauser, plus great depth for the outfield. did.
“I think the Mets did a pretty good job with that trade,” Hauser said, praising Taylor mostly on his part. “I think David has done a good job of getting that core group. You need an army to get through 162 games.”
To fill out the five, Stearns added left-hander Sean Manaea, who showed signs late last season that he might be able to fulfill his early promise. This came at a hefty cost of $28 million, but he is likely to opt out after 2024 if he is in good health.
Behind the front five, the Mets have four young pitchers with major league experience in Tyler Megill, Joey Lucchesi, Jose Buttto and David Peterson, who will return from offseason hip surgery around June. It should be. All four have minor league options, allowing for more flexibility.
They also have at least three highly rated prospects who could easily fill that gap in Dominique Hamel, Mike Vasil and Christian Scott. It may not constitute a full army, but it’s certainly nice to know they have a long line of reinforcements, especially knowing what they had to start with. I feel safe.
