Abbey Mastracco: Mets showing patience by not deviating from plan this winter despite brutal 2023
NEW YORK — After the trade deadline last August, Brandon Nimmo stood in front of his locker in Kansas City, trying to make sense of the future direction of the Mets. After trading away their two aces and just about every other player that wasn’t under contract past the season, a one-time World Series favorite suddenly looked like it was about to undergo a rebuild.
After talking with owner Steve Cohen and former general manager Billy Eppler, Nimmo felt more optimistic, saying he felt as though the 2024 Mets could surprise people.
However, shortstop Francisco Lindor doesn’t see it the same way.
“Big market teams don’t surprise,” Lindor told the New York Daily News before the season ended. “Big market teams are expected to be there. They disappoint more than they surprise you know. So no, we’re not looking to surprise anybody. We either meet expectations or we won’t.”
It’s tough to know what to make of the Mets as they head into the final month of the offseason. After a few years of bidding for nearly all of the top pitchers on the free-agent market, the Mets lost out on the only ace they pursued, Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Instead of bringing in multiple aces and perennial All-Star candidates, the Mets signed and traded for some supplemental back-end starters.
Right-hander Kodai Senga is the only ace that remains. He will headline a group that includes left-handers Jose Quintana and Sean Manaea, and right-handers Luis Severino, Adrian Houser, Tylor Megill and Jose Butto. Left-hander David Peterson is expected to join that group late in the summer after he completes his rehab from November hip surgery and left-hander Joey Lucchesi will compete for a spot in the rotation this spring.
It’s not for lack of trying; the Mets made an offer to Yamamoto that rivaled the offer the Los Angeles Dodgers made, which probably means that he wanted to be in Southern California all along. Yamamoto might have changed the trajectory of the winter for the club, but without him, the Mets opted to stick to the plan they laid out last year after the trade deadline.
This plan preceded the hiring of David Stearns and the resignation of Eppler. Stearns said the right things about being “competitive” in 2024 at his introductory press conference, but he didn’t say the goal was World Series or bust. He didn’t say, “Come and get us” as former GM Brodie Van Wagenen did a few years ago. He said the Mets will compete for a playoff spot, as a big-market team should.
The Mets won 75 games last season and think that a rotation that consists of relatively solid starters can help them win 10 more in 2024. The Philadelphia Phillies got into the playoffs as an NL wild-card team with 87 wins in 2022 and won a pennant. Last year, two of the three NL wild-card teams won 85 games and one of them, the Arizona Diamondbacks, reached the World Series.
It’s not that the Mets’ ultimate goal isn’t winning the World Series next season, but a 10-game improvement is a short-term goal that still keeps them “competitive.” It’s also a reasonable goal given their current roster and where their top prospects are in their development.
The Mets are not punting on the 2024 season, as former ace Max Scherzer asserted after he was traded to the Texas Rangers. They aren’t about to rebuild from the ground up. But they aren’t taking any half-measures to attempt to cover up for any large-scale problems. The Mets are simply trying to stabilize the operation by signing starting pitchers to short-term contracts with the hope that prospects like Mike Vasil, Christian Scott and Blade Tidwell will be ready to take their places in 2025 and 2026.
A resetting year is necessary for the Mets, though it might not be palatable for fans or players like Nimmo and Lindor, who are over 30 and eager to reach a World Series. It’s what every player strives for, but this group seems to trust Cohen. Cohen trusts Stearns to get those players where they want to go.
The Mets are just about done adding to the starting pitching group. They may make some upgrades around the margins, but they can do that through minor league contracts. They aren’t done adding to the bullpen, but the rotation is pretty much set and there are reasons for optimism.
Manaea’s second-half splits showed significant improvements, especially with the addition of a sweeper. The Mets likely have data that leads them to believe those second-half numbers were sustainable. Severino might have been tipping his pitches and Megill, Butto and Lucchesi impressed last September.
A big-market team like the Mets with an owner like Cohen may not be able to sneak up on anyone, especially in the NL East, but if all goes according to plan, the team will improve enough to reach the playoffs in 2024. After that, anything can happen.
