The Mets shored up their starting pitching staff by awarding a three-year contract to left-hander Sean Manaea this week and adding depth with right-hander Griffin Canning last week. The fact that Corbin Burnes isn’t on the club’s radar will likely rile up a faction of the fanbase that wants to see big moves and big arms.
But no, the Mets aren’t in the market for an ace. By signing Canning to a one-year, $4.25 million contract with bonuses, the Mets added depth to a group that lacked frontline starters, but was high on projects. Clay Holmes is moving to a starting role and Frankie Montas is hoping to keep momentum going from a good second-half of his 2024 season, his first since undergoing shoulder surgery.
Adding Manaea, however, is a different story. It’s a much more imposing rotation with him in it. The lefty will be 33 when the season starts, but with the way he’s managed to reinvent himself by going to Driveline, adding pitches and changing his repertoire, the Mets are confident that he’ll continue to pitch effectively over next year and beyond.
If the season started tomorrow, the Mets’ rotation would look like this:
- Right-hander Kodai Senga
- Left-hander Sean Manaea
- Left-hander David Peterson
- Right-hander Frankie Montas
- Right-hander Clay Holmes
- Right-hander Paul Blackburn
Depth options: Right-hander Griffin Canning, right-hander Tylor Megill, right-hander Jose Butto, right-hander Brandon Sproat
Sproat is the Mets’ top pitching prospect and while it’s unlikely he wins a spot in the rotation out of spring training, if he continues to progress through the minor leagues like he did last season, he’ll get a call-up at some point.
This is a much more formidable rotation than it was a few weeks ago. The Mets have also met with Japanese pitcher Rōki Sasaki, but the team isn’t hinging their hopes on a pitcher that all 30 clubs are after. President of baseball operations David Stearns previously said the Mets would have to operate normally until Sasaki comes to a decision in January.
Still, the fact that the Mets are staying away from free agent pitchers like Burnes and have for the last two winters has been a curious approach to some. The Mets tried to trade for Garrett Crochet and they’ve been linked in other trade talks as well. Awarding Manaea $75 million over thee years should quiet some of that chatter.
“We’re going to continue to evaluate the market,” Stearns said earlier this month at the winter meetings in Dallas. “Where we see an opportunity to bring in players that we think are going to make us better, we’re certainly going to pursue that. But with some of the moves we’ve been able to make and are working on making, I think we’re getting to a level where it’s no longer a necessity.”
The hope is that pitchers like Holmes, Montas and Canning will benefit from working with the pitching group in the lab in Port St. Lucie and in New York in much the same ways Manaea and Luis Severino did last season.
Canning is a perfect candidate. He was traded by the Los Angeles Angels to the Atlanta Braves for Jorge Soler after the season and then waived in what was essentially a salary dump for the Mets’ NL East foes after going 6-13 with a 5.19 ERA and a 5.26 FIP across 171 2/3 innings (32 starts) last season. The former second-round pick out of UCLA has good secondary pitches with a slurve, a gyro-like slider and a changeup with a ton of movement, but he doesn’t throw particularly hard.
The Mets clearly see something in his profile that intrigues them and he appears to be a prime candidate for a swingman role.
The addition of assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel could be a boon for someone like Canning. Druschel will be an asset for Holmes as well, who praised his knowledge and coaching.
“Two things I think that pertain a lot to me, which is the pitch design and workload management,” Holmes said earlier this month on a Zoom call with reporters. “He brings a lot to the table. Super excited to have that familiar face, you know, as I go through this transition, super happy to still be with Desi. It was a great hire for the Mets. And, like I said, he has a ton to offer.”
The Mets will next turn their attention to the bullpen, with only five regulars returning, right-handers Edwin Diaz, Reed Garrett, Dedniel Nuñez, Sean Reid-Foley and Butto. There are various ways to address the bullpen and it’s a group that changes often throughout the course of the season to begin with, so the need for more relief arms isn’t as pressing as the need for a first baseman.
Stearns is adept at building through the margins and without Manaea, the pitching staff looked pretty marginal. But he solidifies the group and gives the Mets more of a punch at the front end. The Mets are looking formidable once again.
