Remaining Offseason Checklist For David Stearns And The Mets

It has been a relatively slow start to the offseason for new president of baseball operations David Stearns and the New York Mets. Despite no flashy signings, the team has made a plethora of depth moves and have started to fill out some holes the roster consists of.

With all the moves made so far considered, let’s take stock of how the roster currently projects and what else the Mets still needs to add.

Lineup and Bench

Entering the offseason, the lineup was one area the Mets already had most of the pieces for. That has seemed to be the thought process thus far in the offseason as well with the limited moves made in the area. Below is how that group currently projects:

Lineup

• C: Francisco Álvarez
• 1B: Pete Alonso
• 2B: Jeff McNeil
• SS: Francisco Lindor
• 3B: Brett Baty
• LF: DJ Stewart
• CF: Brandon Nimmo
• RF: Starling Marte
• DH: Mark Vientos

Bench

• Ronny Mauricio, INF/DH
• Joey Wendle, INF
• Omar Narváez, C
• Cooper Hummel, OF

Analysis

As it stands, the lineup and bench is pretty close to set. Earlier in the offseason, president of baseball operations, David Stearns, explained that the Mets are set at third base. This took one potential need off the board.

When analyzing the rest of the group, two main areas stick out. The first is what New York is going to do in the outfield? Is the team going to sign an everyday starter which will push DJ Stewart to more of a designated hitter and fourth outfielder role? Or will the team sign a fourth outfielder and role with Stewart as an almost everyday left fielder? Regardless, the Mets desperately need another outfielder, especially with the risk that is Starling Marte and his 2023 injury and performance woes.

Secondly, will the Mets be content with a designated hitter position that cycles between a couple young guns in Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio as well as potentially DJ Stewart, if New York does indeed add anther outfielder? This is certainly not as pressing of a need as the last outfielder spot, however, the Mets’ designated hitter to begin 2024 will likely be a very unproven commodity if the team do not go externally before the beginning of the season.

Rotation and Bullpen

By far the areas of the roster that needed the most work entering the offseason was the pitching staff. Both the starting rotation and bullpen needed a ton of work. The Mets have already made that a point so far this offseason, signing starter Luis Severino, reliever Austin Adams, reliever Michael Tonkin, and reliever Jorge López to major-league deals.

Rotation:

• Kodai Senga
• José Quintana
• Luis Severino
• Tylor Megill
• Joey Lucchesi

Bullpen:

• Edwin Díaz
• Brooks Raley
• Drew Smith
• Jorge López
• Austin Adams
• Michael Tonkin
• Sean Reid-Foley
• Phil Bickford

Analysis

The Mets still have quite a bit of work to with their pitching staff if the team wants to contend in 2024.

At a minimum, David Stearns should add two more starters. Both Tylor Megill (5.85 xERA in 2023) and Joey Lucchesi (5.44 xERA in 2023) posted extremely subpar underlying metrics in 2023 and have done so for large parts of their respective careers. Each are valuable options to have as depth, however, neither has shown consistently enough to be regarded as strong, bottom-of-the-rotation options. The Mets also have José Butto, who showed flashes in 2023 with a 3.64 ERA across 42 innings, but, once again, a very unproven option.

As for the bullpen, there are probably six relievers who are all but locked in for the Opening Day bullpen. The Mets do have a plethora of internal options to fill the last two slots, but again, for the most part are all unproven. These consist of several who got time with the big club last year; Grant Hartwig, Phil Bickford, Josh Walker, Sean Reid-Foley, and Reed Garrett. However, all but Reid-Foley (7 2/3 innings, 3.52 ERA) posted xERAs over 4.29 last season, with most being close to 5.00.

New York also have some non-40-man roster prospects that may get a look. Examples of these are RHP Paul Gervase (2.05 ERA and 96 strikeouts across 57 total minor league innings last season), LHP Nate Lavender (2.98 ERA and 86 strikeouts over 54 1/3 total minor league innings last season), and the rehabbing RHP Bryce Montes de Oca. Meanwhile, they also signed RHP Kyle Crick (3.56 career ERA) to a minor-league deal and  Cole Sulser (3.87 career ERA) is a non-roster invitee.

Given the largely unproven group of remaining options, and the fact New York only has one stablished left-handed reliever in the bullpen, another addition is likely a must.

Summary of Needs

This quick exercise has pointed out a few key needs the Mets must address the remainder of this offseason through either the free agent market or via trade. At the bare minimum, those mandatory needs are organized below:

• Outfielder
• Top-of-rotation starter
• Bottom-of-rotation starter
• Left-handed reliever

Other, not as pressing needs, is another more-established designated hitter or a second reliever.

As you can see, David Stearns and his staff still have their work cut out for them in ensuring a 2024 season where the team is viewed as a contender. Luckily, the offseason is still extremely young, the Mets have plenty of resources, and the  employ one of the better baseball minds in the game. Given all this, expect New York to continue to add in hopes of fulfilling their remaining team needs and returning closer to the 2022 team rather than the 2023.

The post Remaining Offseason Checklist For David Stearns And The Mets first appeared on Metsmerized Online.