Insider Predicts Mets to Sign Three Free Agents

This insider predicts that the Mets will primarily focus on improving their pitching.

May 15, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets logo on the sleeve of J.D. Martinez during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

After a "evaluation season" took them all the way to the NLCS, the New York Mets are in the perfect position to build a championship-caliber team.

There are numerous routes for owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns to take, as a massive chunk of money is coming off the books (most notably the contracts of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and James McCann); this allows the Mets to make some serious noise in free agency and offer record-setting deals. New York can aim to further improve their deadly lineup led by Francisco Lindor and the emerging Mark Vientos, or stabilize a starting rotation that is in a state of flux.

That decision is yet to be made, but a former MLB general manager, Jim Bowden, predicts that the Mets will ultimately focus on the rotation by signing a pair of aces; he also expects New York to bring back arguably the face of the franchise to maintain the lineup's production.

"The Mets choose to focus on starting pitching in free agency and manage to sign both Corbin Burnes and Max Fried to long-term contracts while also bringing back first baseman Pete Alonso, dropping more than half a billion in future salary commitments to land the trio," Bowden wrote in his article on The Athletic.

2024-25 MLB offseason: Bowden’s 25 Bold predictions for signings, trades and more https://t.co/pXBIpNdJeN

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) November 1, 2024

Burnes, who spent the 2024 season with the Baltimore Orioles, is projected by Spotrac to receive a six-year, $180.8 million contract, which would give him an AAV of $30.1 million. The 30-year-old right-hander logged an ERA below 3.00 in five of his seven seasons, including a 2.92 mark last season; he additionally won the NL Cy Young Award in 2021. Bringing in Burnes would give the Mets a true ace, something that they lacked in 2024 despite Sean Manaea's second-half heroics.

Fried, 30, has spent his entire career with the arch-rival Atlanta Braves and has been a fixture in their starting rotation since 2019. Over that span, the southpaw has a 3.06 ERA while averaging 8.70 K/9 and 2.34 BB/9. He is currently projected for a six-year, $136.3 million contract and $22.7 million AAV (also via Spotrac); what makes signing him attractive for the Mets is that not only would it improve their team, but it would also drastically weaken the team that has been a thorn in their side for years.

Finally, the soon-to-be 30-year-old Alonso has given the Mets everything they could have wanted over his tenure. The slugger has hit 226 home runs since his debut in 2019, and boasts a .249/.339/.514 slash line and 131 wRC+; Alonso has hit no fewer than 34 home runs in a full season, while playing no fewer than 152 games (even in the shortened 2020 season, he played in 57 of 60 games and hit 16 home runs). Spotrac projects a six-year, $174 million ($29 million AAV) contract for the Polar Bear, who may go down as the best power hitter in team history if he stays.

The only real downside of Bowden's predictions for the Mets is that they would fail to sign outfielder Juan Soto; he was predicted to stay with the cross-town rival Yankees on a $622 million contract (years were not specified).

Nonetheless, an offseason like this would make the Mets instant World Series contenders with one of the most feared lineups in the game and a devastating one-two punch at the top of the rotation.