Where New York Mets Can Pivot If They Miss Out On Free Agent Superstar
With the offseason in full swing, owner Steve Cohen and New York Mets fans around the world are waiting anxiously for the decision of one Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a pitcher who shattered records in Japan and is expected to be an immediate ace for a World Series contender.
However, Cohen and his team will have a lot of competition for the 25-year-old right-hander. Yamamoto has already met with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees and will likely hear from the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs on top of that. Any team that has World Series aspirations will be looking to make a pitch to the phenom, but only one can sign him.
The Mets are in a good spot as they have been recruiting Yamamoto for months now. Mets pitcher Kodai Senga, who also pitched across the pond in Japan before arriving in New York last year, has made it clear that he wants Yamamoto on his team and will do his part to recruit him.
But with so many big teams in the sweepstakes, there’s a chance Yamamoto ends up elsewhere in the coming weeks and Cohen will have to be prepared should this not work in New York’s favor.
Say Yamamoto ends up in San Francisco, where he would be closer to home and has already taken a meeting. Cohen would most likely have to rethink his entire approach to the offseason.
So what are the needs to address should Plan A not come to fruition?
There is no doubt the Mets will need a true No. 1 pitcher at the top of the rotation should Yamamoto slip through the cracks. Blake Snell, an ace coming off his second Cy Young Award-winning campaign with the San Diego Padres in 2023, would be an excellent consolation and a guy that you could count on to go head to head with any ace in the league. Sonny Gray, coming off a season in which he finished top three for the AL Cy Young, is also a name to be on the lookout for, with Jordan Montgomery available as a potential option to bolster the depth in the rotation.
On top of that, New York will be in search of relief pitching and a quality outfielder with injuries to Starling Marte and inconsistent play next to Brandon Nimmo being a major issue for New York. David Robertson is an obvious option considering that he was brought in to be a set-up man for Edwin Diaz and ended up excelling in a closing role after the Diaz injury, logging a 2.05 ERA with 13 saves before getting moved to the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline.
One big name that could vault the Mets’ bullpen into the top half of the league is left-hander Josh Hader. Hader is a five-time All-Star who rediscovered that form with San Diego last year, posting a 1.28 ERA with 33 saves. Hader and Diaz would, without a doubt, be the most formidable one-two punch in any bullpen in the MLB and, while Hader will demand a large chunk of cash, Cohen has shown he is more than happy to spend it on the right guys.
In regards to outfielders, two enticing options for New York would be Teoscar Hernandez from Seattle and Lourdes Gurriel who spent the majority of his career in Toronto. Both are coming off seasons where they hit over .250 at the plate with 20+ homers and both can be relied upon defensively.
Though it would be a massive addition, Yamamoto doesn’t have to be the end-all be-all this offseason for the Mets. If they were to add any combination of the names above and if their young players develop the way they should, there is no doubt New York would take a step forward from their disappointing 2023 campaign.
