Inside The Mets

Mets Linked to Elite World Series Hurler in Free Agency

The New York Mets could target a pitcher they faced twice this postseason in free agency.

Grant Young

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty (0) reacts after the first inning against the New York Yankees in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty (0) reacts after the first inning against the New York Yankees in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Now that Sean Manaea has officially declined his player option for 2025 and is entering free agency, the New York Mets' need to acquire starting pitchers this offseason has become even more apparent.

Many insiders have made it clear that the Mets will be in play for nearly every top-tier starter available in free agency, including players like Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, and Max Fried.

However, a November 1 article from Fox Sports' Rowan Kavner suggested that Los Angeles Dodgers hurler Jack Flaherty would be a great fit for the Mets next season.

"Flaherty's career didn't unfold the way many expected after he finished fourth in Cy Young voting as a 23-year-old in 2019, but a bounce-back season this year demonstrated what's still left in the tank," Kavner wrote. "A sensational first half in Detroit made him the best pitcher available at the deadline, and while he had a volatile second half and postseason stretch with his hometown Dodgers, he raised his stock considerably.

"The eight-year big leaguer just turned 29 and posted the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career," Kavner added before listing the Mets as one of Flaherty's possible fits.

Flaherty was either feast or famine in the 2024 postseason, as he was rock solid in two of his five starts and produced a brutal stat line in the other three. But the seven shutout innings he threw against the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS showed how elite Flaherty is when he's on top of his game.

New York could certainly do worse than Flaherty when it comes to bolstering their starting rotation this offseason.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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