The biggest thing David Stearns, Steve Cohen, and the Mets have done this offseason is sign Juan Soto to the largest deal in professional sports history, swiping him from the Yankees in the process during what was the team’s most monumental move of all time.
So it’s understandable that pretty much everything else the Mets have done and said this winter has paled in comparison.
But something Stearns said during the Winter Meetings turned some heads, and could portend another big move — either before Opening Day or during the season.
The Mets took some big shots during the 2023-24 offseason (including an attempt to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto) but were otherwise measured, including when it came to their position on trading top prospects. Quite simply, they weren’t open to it. And that was the right philosophy.
That position regarding prospects changed this offseason, which made sense considering the Mets were coming off a run to the NLCS, had a strong nucleus in place, an improving payroll situation, were in the process of landing Soto, and were entering a window of serious World Series contention.
“I think we have to be,” Stearns said about New York’s willingness to trade top prospects this offseason. “In the right deal, we have to look to see whether there are players who immediately make us better or have control and things like that. So I wouldn’t close the door on it at all.
“You’re never looking to trade your top prospects. We like the top of our system quite a bit, we think it’s a good group. Many of them can potentially help us quickly at the big league level, so I can’t say we’re looking to do it. But I’m not going to close the door on it.”
To that end, the Mets had discussions with the White Sox about Garrett Crochet earlier this offseason before he was traded to the Red Sox, who boast one of the best farm systems in baseball. They have also discussed a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. deal with the Blue Jays, as SNY’s Andy Martino has reported.
Crochet would’ve been close to an ideal get for the Mets. He is entering his age-26 season, has two more years of team control, and is almost hilariously inexpensive (he’ll earn $3.8 million this season in his second-to-last year of arbitration).
Stearns has notoriously (and smartly, in my opinion) not jumped into the market for elite free agent starting pitchers over 30 who get long-term deals. That includes passing on Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes, and Max Fried this offseason.
While the above is likely smart for the long-term health of the Mets — since so few massive deals for older starting pitchers work out — it has also left New York a bit light in the starting rotation.
Sean Manaea pitched like an ace during the second half of last season, but has to show he can maintain that level over a full year.
Behind Manaea, Kodai Senga is coming off a year lost to injury, Clay Holmes is converting from reliever to starter, Frankie Montas has really good stuff but has been mediocre lately, and David Peterson has not yet put together back-to-back strong seasons.
The Mets had the right idea when they explored trading for Crochet, who is a legitimate ace when he’s on and has otherworldly stuff. Another good idea would be trying to trade for Michael King.
Along with King, the Padres — who are going through turmoil at the ownership level and have been looking to trim payroll — are dangling Dylan Cease.
Cease would also be a good fit for the Mets, but it can be argued that King is an even better one.
Here’s why…
While King and Cease are both 29 years old and a year away from free agency, Cease has 847.1 career innings on his arm while King has only 421.1 career innings under his belt.
The above isn’t because King has had major health issues recently. Rather, it was because he was used almost primarily out of the bullpen from 2020 to 2023 before transitioning to a starting role late during the 2023 season.
Since moving to the rotation, King has been elite.
After making his full-time move to the rotation on Aug. 24 of the 2023 campaign, he had a 1.88 ERA in 38.1 innings over eight starts through the remainder of the regular season.
Last year for the Padres, King was tremendous, posting a 2.95 ERA (3.33 FIP) and 1.19 WHIP while striking out 201 batters in 173.2 innings — a rate of 10.4 per nine. And King’s advanced stats via Baseball Savant suggest what he did in 2024 wasn’t a fluke.
The idea for the Mets should be to deal for King and either attempt to extend him right away, or do so after the season — once King has had a year to thrive under their highly thought of pitching program that includes pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.
While Stearns has been reluctant to sign starters over 30 to longer-term deals, King is arguably a unique case since he has so much less mileage on his arm than most pitchers who reach free agency around his age.
So what would it take to swing a trade for King?
Former acting Mets GM and current SNY contributor Zack Scott theorized that it could take one of Jose Butto or Tylor Megill, one of Drew Gilbert or Ryan Clifford, and one other player ranked between No. 10 and No. 15 in the Mets’ farm system.
With the Padres trying to contend this year, Butto and Gilbert being in the deal might make the most sense for San Diego since one is an established big leaguer and the other should debut this year.
For the Mets, the potential acquisition cost for King should be palatable, especially if the idea is to sign him long-term.
King would make the Mets’ rotation incredibly formidable, removing perhaps the biggest question mark surrounding them. And if New York trades for him and extends him, he could potentially help anchor the rotation for years to come.
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