Harrison Bader, Luis Severino and more: 3 new things to talk about at Mets spring training

During the 2023 season, the Mets front office, led by then-general manager Billy Eppler and owner Steve Cohen, began to chart a course toward the future.

The lavish spending would be curbed and an eye was turned toward bolstering the team's farm system. That put a cap on the amount of star power that will be found at spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., over the next two months.

The Mets still hold Major League Baseball's top payroll, estimated to be at $315 million this season according to FanGraphs, but a sizable chunk of that figure - roughly $65 million - is being doled out to players no longer on the team.

The front office is still hoping the Mets can make a run toward the MLB Playoffs on a collection of shorter-term deals before the next generation of talent is ready to take that next step forward.

As a unique season is being prepared for, here are three new things for Mets fans to talk about heading into spring training:

1. Mets' starting rotation: Boom or bust?

For fans hoping for a splash in the starting rotation during free agency, the bombshell move never happened. Despite a reported offer of $325 million for Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 25-year-old right-hander elected to join Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers on a near-identical offer.

As pitchers and catchers across MLB get ready to report, reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and World Series champion Jordan Montgomery remained unsigned.

Despite trading away Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at last season's trade deadline, the Mets front office went a different route to fill in the voids left by those two three-time Cy Young winners. Instead, Kodai Senga will step into the ace role after an electric rookie season saw him strike out 202 batters in 166.2 innings with a 2.98 ERA and finish seventh in NL Cy Young voting.

The Mets will also be hoping Jose Quintana can return to the dependable, durable arm that enabled him to make at least 29 starts in every full season since 2013.

To round out the rotation, Stearns is hoping Luis Severino and Sean Manaea can pitch to their potential. Severino, who has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, twice finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting in 2017 and 2018. In 2022, he was 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts before laboring to a 4-8, 6.65 mark last season.

More: Is Carlos Mendoza the answer for Mets? Here are 5 questions for their new manager

Meanwhile, Manaea was resigned to a bullpen role in his first season with the Giants after a slow start to the season. After developing an efficient sweeper, Manaea returned to the rotation and closed with a 2-2 record, 2.25 ERA in his final four starts.

Stearns has plenty of knowledge with No. 5 starter Adrian Houser, who has spent the last six seasons with the Brewers, with a 4.02 ERA during that time.

2. How Mets outfield looks with Harrison Bader

The biggest addition to the Mets' lineup this offseason comes with the signing of Harrison Bader to a one-year, $10.5 million contract. With Gold Glove potential, Bader is likely to find a home in center field but that would force a shift for Brandon Nimmo to left field.

During a January Zoom call, Stearns would not estimate how much time Bader would spend in center field.

"I'm not going to classify or explicitly state how many at-bats," Stearns said. "I think that's determined over the course of the year and certainly (Carlos Mendoza's) going to have a lot to say about that.

"I think we signed him because we believe he's a really talented player and I would expect him to play regularly in center field. Exactly what that looks like over the course of the season is to be determined."

Bader is coming off his toughest offensive season as he posted a .622 OPS in 98 combined games between the Yankees and Reds. Meanwhile, Nimmo took his power to another level last season, posting career-highs with 24 home runs and 68 RBI.

Another big question mark will come in right field where Starling Marte - entering his age-35 season - is coming off an injury-ravaged 2023 campaign after undergoing double groin surgery. He played 86 games with a career-low .625 OPS.

The Mets re-signed DJ Stewart to a one-year, $1.38 million deal after he came on strong, with 10 of his 11 home runs during a 17-game stretch between August and September. Stewart could factor in the DH discussion but also flashed some defensive progress toward the end of last season.

Stearns also added a defensive upgrade when he grabbed Tyrone Taylor in the deal that brought over Houser. While Taylor has never batted above .247 over a full season, his sprint speed and arm strength are in the top 15 percent of MLB.

3. Mets' top prospects waiting to break through

When it came to position battles before the 2023 season, there was not a whole lot of spots up for grabs.

With the highest payroll in baseball, the jobs were often allocated for the highest-priced players. There were two major questions: would Eduardo Escobar remain the third baseman, and who would grab the fifth spot in the rotation.

Heading into the 2024 season, there are a lot more open-ended possibilities for how the roster could look over the course of the season. One of the reasons is the club's blueprint shift to build a sustainable farm system that can supplement the major league club as needed.

Many highly-regarded prospects are waiting in the wings for their chance to break in. It starts with 22-year-old infielder Luisangel Acuña, younger brother of Ronald Acuna Jr., who has already worked his way onto the 40-man roster. Outfielder Drew Gilbert is looking to build off a stellar close to the 2023 season in Binghamton, where he posted a .984 OPS in 30 games.

Both those players were the gems in the deals for Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Other homegrown talents are rising in the wings, including starting pitchers Mike Vasil and Christian Scott, and 2022 first-round pick Jett Williams, an infielder. All five of those players will be in Port St. Lucie, the question might be when an opening presents itself for them to break through.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets spring training: Harrison Bader, Luis Severino among new players