Have The New York Mets Done Enough This Offseason?
Coming off a disappointing 2023 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs a year removed from a 101-61 season, Steve Cohen and the New York Mets were faced with massive roster gaps to fill to try and get back to success in 2024.
Have they done so? Let’s take a look at how things are shaping up for the 2024 season.
A lot of the reinforcements have arrived in the form of pitchers thus far, with New York in need of some additions in the bullpen and in the rotation. Luis Severino was added from the Yankees on a one-year, $13 million dollar prove-it deal after a poor 2023 campaign that saw him deal with multiple injuries and post a 6.65 ERA. Prior to last year, though, Severino was a mainstay and fan favorite for the pinstripes, making the All-Star game in back-to-back years in 2017-2018, finishing third in the AL Cy Young race in 2017. Should he reach anywhere near those levels with the Mets, Severino will be a huge help behind ace Kodai Senga in the rotation.
On top of that, Sean Manaea, most notable for his time with the Oakland A’s, was brought in to round out the rotation on a two-year, $28 million dollar deal. The lefty has been steady as a starter since being drafted in 2013 and will try to up his production as a part of New York’s starting rotation. With this signing, the Mets' starting staff projects to feature Senga, Severino, Manaea, Jose Quintana and Adrian Houser, who was traded over this offseason from Milwaukee for outfield prospect Coleman Crow, and is coming off a campaign, where he went 8-5 as a starter and had 96 strikeouts. Tylor Megill and Joey Lucchesi will most likely feature in a depth/relief role as well.
A number of relievers have been brought in as well, with Jake Diekman, Jorge Lopez, Adam Ottavino and Michael Tonkin headlining the offseason’s bullpen acquisitions. With superstar closer Edwin Diaz fully healthy for this upcoming year, it will be important to surround him with setup guys like Ottavino and Lopez, who can get through the 7th and 8th innings. Tonkin figures to help out wherever needed, whether in a longer relief role or a one-inning gig.
As for the position player side, Harrison Bader was signed to upgrade the Mets' defense up the middle, as he will man center field, bumping Brandon Nimmo over to left. Bader won a Gold Glove in 2021 and has a reputation for being one of, if not the best defensive center fielder in baseball. But he has dealt with a slew of injuries, missing 199 games since the start of 2021, and has only appeared in over 130 games just once in his career, which was all the way back in 2018. When healthy, Bader has proven to be able to provide production at the plate, but once the injury bug came back on him last season with the Yankees, his bat slowed down.
The Mets also added utility man Joey Wendle, who will replace Luis Guillorme's role with the team. Wendle is likely to plug in as a depth infield option when players like McNeil and Francisco Lindor may need a break.
New York still has some question marks, though. Third base and DH are holes that weren't filled, as Brett Baty figures to get another shot at the hot corner, despite struggling last season. The Mets are still interested in remaining DH options J.D. Martinez and Jorge Soler, but they are likely out of their price range.
The Mets signaled they were going to cut back on their spending this offseason, and they have done just that with no major acquisitions. While they could still add a few more pieces to bolster the bullpen or lineup, it appears that they are all but finished.
That being said, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has put together playoff teams with a lower payroll and less talent. The Mets still have a chance to exceed expectations this year, but the question remains whether they did enough to build a playoff team.
