This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
NEW YORK — Since the postseason ended, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has made near-constant improvements to his team’s roster, bringing in pitcher Frankie Montas and outfielder Jose Siri, plus a slew of others on Minor League deals, waiver claims and the like. The Mets are a better team than they were six weeks ago, but they have yet to complete any sort of truly splashy move.
That stands a solid chance of changing next week at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, where Stearns and top executives from all 30 teams will converge along with an army of agents and other industry decision-makers. Juan Soto may sign at the Meetings. Pete Alonso’s market could take shape. Certainly, some big-name pitchers might fly off the board.
It will, in short, be a crucial week for a Mets club looking to reshape its roster heading into 2025.
Club Needs
Rotation: Even as the Mets continue to pursue Soto, and even after signing Montas to a two-year deal, pitching remains their foremost need. Montas, Kodai Senga and David Peterson are the closest things they have to surefire starters, and all three will carry significant questions heading into 2025. The Mets, requiring a lot more than that, will absolutely pursue rotation help at the Winter Meetings. The only question is whether they’ll go hard after the buzziest names available, such as Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, or continue shopping for starters on short-term deals.
A slugger: The elephant in the room is Soto, who could make his decision in Dallas. While the Mets may not be desperate for offensive help, they certainly could use some after losing Alonso to free agency. If they miss out on Soto, Stearns and owner Steve Cohen could quickly pivot back to Alonso or another top free-agent hitter.
Bullpen: The Mets will also seek relief help, though that’s a market that tends not to blossom fully until January.
Potential Trade Candidates
The Mets’ most obvious trade candidate is Brett Baty, a former Top 100 prospect who has struggled in the Majors and no longer has a clear path ahead of him. Mark Vientos flew past Baty on the organizational depth chart last summer and is now entrenched as an everyday starter at a corner infield spot. Baty hasn’t shown enough to earn a guaranteed job himself, but it also helps no one for him to return to the Minors. The solution could be a change-of-scenery deal.
Elsewhere on the infield, the Mets included Jeff McNeil’s name in July Trade Deadline talks but never came close to trading him. They could peek down that road again now that McNeil has only two years and $33.5 million remaining on his contract, yet team officials still value McNeil’s versatility and aren’t enamored with the idea of losing it, which makes a deal less likely.
In any event, Stearns loves trading and will certainly engage other executives at these Meetings.
Prospects to Know
The Mets entered 2024 hoping someone from the group of Christian Scott, Mike Vasil and Dom Hamel would develop into a long-term rotation answer. Although Scott began to, he subsequently tore an elbow ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss all of 2025. Vasil and Hamel, meanwhile, both struggled at Triple-A Syracuse to such an extent that the Mets left them unprotected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. As a result, the team is instead looking toward its next generation of starters — specifically No. 1 prospect Brandon Sproat and eighth-ranked Blade Tidwell, two college arms who should debut next summer if all goes well.
Offensively, 2024 was a lost season for several prospects who suffered serious injuries. The Mets will need to see more from No. 2-ranked Jett Williams and No. 3 Drew Gilbert before debuting them, but those two are at least on the 2025 radar. So are sixth-ranked Ronny Mauricio and 12th-ranked Luisangel Acuña, both of whom possess big league experience but have lingering questions about their games.
Rule 5 Draft
Most of the Rule 5 intrigue for the Mets surrounds potentially losing Vasil or Hamel. Any player drafted must remain on his selecting club’s active roster or injured list for the entire season or be offered back to his original club.
The second part of that — the IL element — makes Nate Lavender another potential Rule 5 draftee. Although Lavender will miss most or all of next season recovering from Tommy John surgery, a rival team could theoretically draft him, pay for his rehab, then have him available as a lefty relief option in 2026. Mets officials were high on Lavender before his injury, making this an interesting case.
Burning Question: Will the Mets sign Soto?
It may seem unfair to pin the success of New York’s entire offseason on Soto, considering the strong competition from nearly every big-market team. Yet Soto is a unique talent, the Mets are clearly pursuing him with vigor, and if they miss out on him, it will be difficult to excite the fanbase quite as much with any other acquisition. If the Mets can land Soto, it will do wonders to bolster their reputation as perennial contenders. If they can’t, their offseason path will become a bit more complicated. In either case, they stand a solid chance of getting their answer before leaving Dallas.
