PORT ST. LUCIE — When folks around here are quizzed about the Mets’ greatest strength, they could obviously answer the presence of Pete Alonso, who’s hit more home runs than anyone since entering the league.
Or they could mention the all-around game and gloriousness of shortstop Francisco Lindor, who entered the rarefied 30-30 territory last year.
Yet, at least in the first days in Mets camp, the raves are mostly reserved for the vastly improved rotation depth, which has been transformed from the very depths of the league to extremely solid, maybe even better than that. The turnaround is that stunning.
“No doubt, the depth is good, definitely better than where we were last year,” veteran reliever Adam Ottavino said. “I think there’s more in place to handle stuff when things are not going perfectly. There’s not as many so-called sure things. But there’s more in place for the inevitable stuff that happens.”
Stuff happens to everyone, but especially to the Mets, whose star-crossed history is well into its seventh decade. The enviable depth is a blessing, especially when you consider where they started.
When new baseball president David Stearns began his first Mets winter he had only two-fifths of a rotation — just new ace Kodai Senga, who was a revelation last year, plus reliable veteran lefty Jose Quintana. That’s only a nice start, but it obviously wouldn’t cut it in the NL East where hitting stars like 40-70 man Ronald Acuña and Bryce Harper reside. So Stearns went to work.
“We know that unexpected things pop up, especially with starting pitchers,” Stearns said. “The goal is to have enough major league starters to get you through those stretches.”
It was quite a trick to get there. Despite the noticeable lack of proven rotation pieces to start things, the Mets already toted the majors’ highest payroll, thanks to the record in “dead money” following the trades of the Cooperstown-bound pair of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer for prospects. The key was finding talent on reasonable, short-term deals. And Stearns did just that, adding three rotation-worthy starters on a relative shoestring ($46.05M total if Sean Manaea doesn’t opt out and stays both seasons — yes, even shoestrings aren’t all that cheap in MLB these days.)
Stearns is going to take unfair heat from fans for not spending Steve Cohen’s largesse when they did really need to take half a breather after a year that turned out to be a seven-month money pit. Even billionaires understandably like to avoid annual tax bills of $100M — theirs was $101M in 2023 — especially when the money only goes to lesser billionaires, who aren’t exactly needy causes themselves.
Cohen did give Stearns the go-ahead to try one high-profile flyer on megastar Japanese free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who fit the Mets’ long-range plans since he’s only 25. Stearns loved him, but it turns out everyone else did, too, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone he picked the Dodgers, who offered the same $325M, plus a $50M signing bonus the Mets didn’t offer, plus the opportunity to play with Shohei Ohtani on the most star-studded team in years.
That obviously hurt. But considering the overall objective, Stearns still hit a grand slam, reasonably adding serious depth while maintaining tremendous flexibility. As of today, the Mets look like they have more rotation options than most, possibly even the crosstown Yankees, who have their usual World Series aspirations along with many starting concerns.
Stearns’ first move was to sign longtime Yankee Luis Severino, who brings terrific talent, a positive presence and some new ideas about how to curtail his purported pitch-tipping issue. Severino said he spent the winter viewing video and believes he found the culprit: It occurs on his breaking pitches with men on base.
“This is the big leagues. I’ve got to clean it up,” Severino declared.
Stearns then made a trade with his old Brewers team that looks from here like a good old-fashioned fleecing. For pitching prospect Coleman Crow (who’s now Milwaukee’s 19th ranked prospect), the Mets received solid, back-end starter Adrian Houser plus Tyrone Taylor, a nice depth piece for the outfield.
“I think the Mets turned out pretty good in that trade,” said Houser, who mostly praised the Taylor part of it. “I think David did a good job getting a core group. It takes an army to get through 162 games.”
To fill out the five, Stearns then added lefty Sean Manaea, who showed signs late last season he might deliver on his early promise. That was the big cost at $28M, but assuming good health, he likely opts out following 2024.
Behind the front five, the Mets have a quartet of young pitchers with big-league experience — Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi, Jose Butto and David Peterson, who should be back around June after offseason hip surgery. All four have minor league options, providing more flexibility.
Plus, there’s also at least three well-regarded prospects who could easily make it up — Dominic Hamel, Mike Vasil and Christian Scott. That may not quite comprise an army, but it’s certainly comforting to know they have a long line of reinforcements, especially knowing what they had to start with.
