ANTHONY DASILVA, STAFF WRITER
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The MLB season is just around the corner, and after a disappointing 2023 season, many Mets fans aren’t pleased with how new General Manager David Stearns maneuvered his first offseason in Queens.
Stearns played his first offseason in New York smart, considering this was a below-average free agency class and focused more on the future.
The Mets already have their franchise cornerstones in Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Kodai Senga and Edwin Diaz along with rising young talent. Adding more stars to the team is not needed.
The Mets need solid players that can play their role and help develop young talent.
Going into this offseason, the Mets needed starting and relief pitchers, outfielders and a third baseman. Stearns did a good job filling most of the Mets’ needs while not spending too much money, considering the Mets have an unlucky history regarding big-name free agents.
He was able to sign two solid starting pitchers, Luis Severino and Sean Manea. These aren’t top-tier pitchers but are good third or fourth rotation guys.
Stearns got pitching help for a bullpen that was the ninth worst in all of baseball. In addition to getting star closer Edwin Diaz back from a season-ending achilles injury, Stearns signed Jorge Lopez, Jake Diekman and Michael Tonkin to help the bullpen.
Outside of catcher Francisco Alavarez, the Mets have lots of young talent that could contribute.
This season, we see what the Mets have regarding their third basemen. Mark Vientos and Brett Baty will probably get a lot more playing time, and we’ll see if they can be everyday starters in the MLB.
The Mets could also see more of Jose Butto, who played well down the stretch last season, pitching to a 3.64 ERA after being called up. David Peterson could also see a versatile role this season, being used as a starter or bullpen arm.
Some prospects might get the call this season: Outfielder, Drew Gilbert, who hit .325 with Binghamton last season and shortstop Luisangel Acuna, who hit .294 and stole 57 bases in AA. Some pitchers like Christian Scott and Mike Vasil, who seem to be promising young pitchers, could also make their major league debut.
What upset many Mets fans was the inability to sign Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He would’ve been an almost immediate ace on this Mets team. However, Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers, who offered him a 12-year, $325 million contract, similar to what the Mets offered him.
Since the Mets missed out on the Yamamoto sweepstakes, Stearns decided to take a more future-based approach to the offseason, which is a genius move since the Mets have a strong prospect pool and next year’s free agency class is more talented.
The Mets have a solid core, and David Stearns’ offseason moves filled the holes that needed to be filled. Stearns did a good job for his first offseason in Queens, and if the stars and rookies play well, this Mets team could easily make the postseason.
dasilvaf21@bonaventure.edu
