Inside The Mets

Should the Mets Trade for More Starting Pitching Help?

The New York Mets could be one starting pitcher away from a truly elite 2025 rotation.

Grant Young

Aug 11, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo (58) celebrates the final out during the sixth inning against the New York Mets at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Aug 11, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo (58) celebrates the final out during the sixth inning against the New York Mets at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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While the New York Mets have signed Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, and Clay Holmes to bolster their starting rotation this offseason and have at least six current starters who are MLB-caliber, there's an argument to be made that they're still one solid starter away from having an elite 2025 rotation.

Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer alluded to this in a December 31 article when he wrote, "Even after dropping $147 million on Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes, their rotation still looks one card short of a full deck. Depending on whether they go with a five- or six-man rotation, they can do better than David Peterson and Paul Blackburn."

In Rymer's opinion, a great solution could be Minnesota Twins hurler Pablo López, who ESPN's Jeff Passan said the Twins, "have listened" to trades about.

"López fits the bill in general, and one can imagine him working well with Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Mets hurlers leaned heavily on the sweeper under him this year, and López's own sweeper is in need of repair after a down year," Rymer wrote in the aforementioned article.

However, a better option for the Mets could be Seattle Mariners starter Luis Castillo, who New York has already expressed interest in this offseason according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Castillo amassed an 11-12 record with a 3.64 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 176.1 innings pitched with the Mariners in 2024.

If the Mets could manage to secure one of these pitchers without giving too much away in terms of prospects, they could quickly turn their rotation into one of the league's most formidable heading into 2025.

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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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