No news is good news? Mets' David Stearns addresses quiet second day at Winter Meetings

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — David Stearns gave a bit of a restless gulp as he met with the media for the second day at the MLB Winter Meetings in the corner of a ballroom at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center on Tuesday.

"Day two, right in the middle," Stearns said. "Felt a lot like day one."

The big names haven't budged. Shohei Ohtani's interviewees are mystically veiled. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will not meet with teams in person until next week. The rest of the free agent market seemingly sits in limbo.

The only high-profile names that have changed jerseys or inked new contracts came before Major League Baseball's trip to Nashville: Aaron Nola with the Phillies and Sonny Gray to the Cardinals. A fiber of intrigue came with a Monday trade between the Braves and Mariners on Sunday and Kirby Yates' move to the Rangers on Tuesday.

"I think one reason is the top of the markets on both the position player and pitcher sides haven't moved yet," Stearns said. "And sometimes we've seen in past free agent periods where real transaction volume doesn't occur until the top of the markets move. I don't think that explains everything, but that could be a factor."

The good news? Big names are still out there. The Mets can't be out of it for like Yamamoto and other international free agents like Joon-Hoo Lee because they haven't made that declaration just yet.

"I'll say is the good news for us is we've got three months left of an offseason, so it's not as though the offseason ends at the end of the Winter Meetings," Stearns said. "So we've got plenty of time. Our targets remain our targets, our processes remain our processes and will continue to follow that."

What will the starting rotation look like?

Not even Stearns has the answer to this one just yet with Yamamoto — the big pitching domino — yet to pin down his new locale.

When asked if the Mets need a top-end starting pitcher to determine if they have had a successful offseason, Stearns played it close to the vest.

"It is wonderful to have horses at the top of your rotation," Stearns said. "It certainly makes constructing the rest of the staff maybe a little bit easier, but it's not the only way to construct a pitching staff. I do think you can put together a very competitive and solid pitching staff in a variety of different ways."

There have been reports that the Mets will be among the teams that Yamamoto will meet with when he travels to the United States next week. Other coveted starting-pitcher options remain in National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery,

Stearns added that the ability to be able to eat up a lot of innings is important because there are fewer pitchers that can get through that grind along with the 13-pitcher limit on teams.

"I think at the top end there, there’s clearly a great deal of talent," Stearns said of the free agent pitching market. "I think it kind of remains to be seen at the very top end where that heads. We know we need to add to our starting pitching. I'm confident we'll be able to do that. It’s probably a little bit too early for me to predict exactly what echelon it is."

State of the bullpen

On Monday afternoon, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that closer Edwin Diaz is fully healthy and going through all of his offseason programs and preparation. The team also brought back lefty Brooks Raley on a $6.5 million club option.

But the rest of the bullpen, which includes Drew Smith, Phil Bickford and other recent additions, still has plenty of holes. For Stearns, the priority will be providing a variety of different looks in the later innings.

"Velocity is not the entire package there," Stearns said. "I'd like to have a couple of guys who can really bring it out of the 'pen. I'd also like have some different looks and there are plenty of guys throwing in the high 80s that are doing a good job in the bullpens these days."

Another emphasis will be finding someone for a swing role that can go multiple innings and perhaps start on short notice. The Mets had that in Trevor Williams in 2022 but no clear option there last season. Stearns said the priority is to have Tylor Megill to continue in his development as a starting pitcher.

"I think when you can have someone who can consistently give you multiple innings out of the 'pen or step in for a spot start, it does take some pressure off the rest of the staff," Stearns said. "I would imagine that's something we will seek to have on our roster for those points in the season."

DJ Stewart and the team's current DH options

Stearns liked what he saw from outfielder DJ Stewart at the plate over the final two months of the season, and that moved the front office to offer him a one-year, $1.38 million contract.

Over his final 35 games of the season, Stewart slashed .261/.338/.563 with 10 home runs, 23 RBI and 18 runs. All 10 of those home runs came over a 17-game stretch between August and September.

Whether Stewart will factor into the Mets outfield more meaningfully could depend on how consistent he can be.

"I think DJ demonstrated over the last couple months last year that he can hit and that's something that's important to us. The lefty bat is important to us," Stearns said. "He's a bat-first player and so where exactly that fits will be dependent on how the rest of the offseason shapes out and how the roster shakes out."

As for the designated hitter role with the current roster, Stearns mentioned Stewart and Mark Vientos as two candidates to enter the lineup.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets' David Stearns on Winter Meetings lull, pitching needs