Steve Cohen and his Mets spared no expense in the offseason, adding all the weapons this Mets squad needs to put them over the top.
After a disappointing end to an exciting and successful season, Steve Cohen and the Mets spared no expense this offseason, spending big to try and put this Mets squad over the top.
Notable Additions and Returners:
Brandon Nimmo – 8 years, $162 MM
Edwin Diaz – 5 years, $102 MM
Justin Verlander – 2 years, $86 MM
Kodai Senga – 5 years, $75 MM
Jose Quintana – 2 years, $26 MM
Omar Narvaez – 2 years, $15 MM
Adam Ottavino – 2 years, $14.5 MM
David Robertson – 1 year, $10 MM
Tommy Pham – 1 year, $6 MM
Brooks Raley – Acquired from Tampa Bay Rays
Departures:
Jacob deGrom, LHP – 5 years, $185 MM with Texas Rangers
Taijuan Walker, RHP – 4 years, $72 MM with Philadelphia Phillies
Chris Bassitt, RHP – 3 years, $63 MM with Toronto Blue Jays
Seth Lugo, RHP – 2 years, $15 MM with San Diego Padres
Trevor May, RHP – 1 year, $7 MM with Oakland Athletics
Trevor Williams, RHP – 2 years, $13 MM with Washington Nationals
Tyler Naquin, OF – 1 year, $4 MM with Cincinnati Reds
Dominic Smith, 1B/OF – 1 year, $2 MM with Washington Nationals
Mychal Givens, RHP – 1 year, $5 MM with Baltimore Orioles
Joely Rodriguez, LHP – 1 year, $2 MM with Boston Red Sox
Miguel Castro, RHP – 1 year, $3.5 MM with Arizona Diamondbacks
James McCann – Traded to Baltimore Orioles
Offseason Grade: A
The catalyst for the Mets’ spending spree was the loss of career Met, Jacob deGrom. DeGrom’s departure from Queens was an abrupt one, inking his pact with the Rangers before allowing the Mets to compete for his services. Once the star flamethrower signed with Texas, the Mets front office got to work in short order.
15 days after deGrom’s departure, the Mets had dished out contracts to Brandon Nimmo, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, and traded for Brooks Raley. All told, the Kings of Queens committed $359 MM dollars in just two weeks, seizing the free agent market in a chokehold.
Negotiations with All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa fell through in one of the most memorable free agency sagas in recent memory, but the Mets were prepared to sign the slugger for 12 years/$315 MM. A complete deal with Correa would have brought their total offseason price tag to an astronomical $811.5 MM.
Cohen’s willingness to spend more than makes up for losing Jacob deGrom, which the Mets had little say in anyway.
Opening Day 2023
C: Omar Narvaez
1B: Pete Alonso
2B: Jeff McNeil
3B: Eduardo Escobar / Brett Baty
SS: Fransisco Lindor
LF: Mark Canha
CF: Brandon Nimmo
RF: Starling Marte
DH: Daniel Vogelbach
Starting Rotation:
Max Scherzer – RHP
Justin Verlander – RHP
Kodai Senga – RHP
Jose Quintana – LHP
Carlos Carrasco – RHP
Bullpen:
Brooks Raley – LHP
Adam Ottavino – RHP
David Robertson – RHP
Elieser Hernandez – RHP
Jimmy Yacabonis – RHP
Drew Smith – RHP
Edwin Diaz – RHP
Offensive Outlook
The most notable asset of the NY Mets is undoubtedly the high caliber pitching staff, but the offense is hardly something to scoff at. Resident producers Pete Alonso, Fransisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil remain in good health heading into 2023 and are each playing at the top of their game. In 2022, the Mets finished sixth in baseball in team OPS at .744, outpacing clubs like the Astros, Phillies, and Brewers.
Arrivals of top prospects Fransisco Alvarez and Brett Baty also show cause for excitement for the Queens club. The front office has determined Fransisco Alvarez, baseball’s No. 3 prospect, will begin the year in AAA Syracuse to develop just a while longer. Alvarez is a 21-year-old catcher with tremendous pop who owns a .274/.384/.526 triple slash across all levels of the minor leagues. In 2021 and 2022, Alvarez stroked 24 and 27 homers, respectively and drove in 70+ runs in both campaigns.
While not as highly ranked a prospect as Alvarez, Brett Baty is no scrub. In 2022, Baty posted an impressive .310/.410/.533 triple slash across 95 games between AA and AAA. Even more impressive is that after just six games in AAA, in which he hit .364, the Mets front office decided to give Baty his first cup of coffee at the big league level to end the 2022 season. A solid spring performance and a continued willingness by the front office to promote Baty might find him in Queens on Opening Day, but regardless of when he makes the team his production is leaves much to be excited about.
Starting Five
A pitching staff that improves after losing Jacob DeGrom is hard to imagine, but nonetheless the Mets look prepared to decimate the National League with an even better rotation than last season. Expectations are that Max Scherzer will Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander can continue to dominate at a cool 40 years old.
The biggest concern about this Mets duo is age. It would be difficult to imagine both Scherzer and Verlander will have continued success in the coming years, but both seem right where they need to be for 2023. Japanese star Kodai Senga will occupy the third slot in the rotation behind the two aged aces. Overseas, Senga broke into NPB as a 19-year-old and in 11 seasons has posted a 2.42 ERA in 1,340.2 innings and struck out 1,486. The sky is the limit for the top of the rotation should they all remain healthy, and the Mets look to ride their success through another successful regular season.
Shoring up the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are Jose Quintana, Carlos Carrasco, and David Peterson. The last half-decade has been mediocre at best for Quintana before a long-awaited return to form in 2022, a season in which he posted a 2.93 ERA in 165.2 innings and struck out 137. Carrasco missed time in 2021 but managed 29 starts in 2022 where he posted a 3.97 ERA in 152 innings and struck out 152. The production from Quintana and Carrasco is another big question mark facing the rotation. Quintana has a decent shot to replicate his success from 2022, his first productive season since 2016, but that is far from a sure thing. Carrasco is 35 and since 2019, has owned an ERA+ of 96, so his ceiling is likely an average to average-adjacent starter going forward.
David Peterson has struggled since his debut with the club in 2020, but took a step forward in 2022, posting a 3.83 ERA. If Peterson can continue to progress, he is the heir apparent to the fifth rotation spot Carrasco will leave behind.
Out of the ‘Pen
Edwin Diaz was nigh unhittable in 2022, posting a 1.31 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 62 games. Diaz rocked a K/9 north of 17 and a WHIP of 0.839 en route to 32 saves. A contract extension will keep Edwin Diaz at Citi Field for the next five seasons as the staple closer of the bullpen.
David Robertson and Brooks Raley look to supplement the bullpen after the departure of Miguel Castro and Joely Rodriguez.
