Filling out the roster

A good, better and best approach

It is now old news that the Mets have obtained a cornerstone player in Juan Soto. A player likely to hold down an outfield job and central lineup role for the Mets until, at least, 2029. The Mets have also replaced Luis Severino and Jose Quintana in the rotation with Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes but most people looking at the Mets know there is a lot still to do.

This article is going to look at several key holes in the Mets roster and discuss ways of addressing each. The holes in question would be as follows:

• Front End - Starting Pitching

• Setup Arm

• Middle of the Order - First base, Third base or Designated Hitter

• Center Fielder

Good Better Best

The good, better and best approach looks at options the Mets have for their lineup and addresses what would be a fine solution, what might be an improved solution and what solution might prove to be ideal from a fiscal and production-based standpoint. The Mets may go after few or none of these but it’s still good to see what can be done.

Starting Pitching

The Mets have Kodai Senga, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Jose Butto and Paul Blackburn in their assembled stable of starters but with Senga pitching almost no innings in 2024 and looking mighty fragile when he did pitch the Mets really need someone who can act as a rotational “Ace” for the club. For the sake of not wanting to give up picks I am leaving Corbin Burnes off the list. Most baseball pundits agree on this, but I will never put something past Steve Cohen.

Good Option: Walker Buehler

Still young and back from injury, Buehler was not among the best or even better pitchers of the 2024 season. He had a -1.3 WAR and an ERA of 5.38 but he pitched better in the playoffs and downright well against the Yankees in the World Series. Buehler has the potential to be a front-end starter but nothing from 2024 suggests he’s there right now. For the Mets, as assembled, that’s not the end of the world. Buehler should only have to slot in behind Senga and be solid. If he returns to his pre-injury self it could be huge.

Great Option: Jack Flaherty

The best starting pitcher from the World Series winning 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers was Jack Flaherty and he’s thankfully unprotected by a qualifying offer and a member of a team with enough starting pitching to sink the Titanic. That doesn’t mean the Dodgers will let him go and that the Mets would be the only team shopping. It does mean that he’s a solid option. Flaws with this plan? Well, Flaherty will be 30 and his numbers in 2023 were shaky. Not a bad option but not perfect.

Best Option: Roki Sasaki

Maybe the pundits are wrong. Maybe Sasaki doesn’t care about playing for a West Coast team or that the Mets might have less international money to play with. Maybe Sasaki wants to play with Juan Soto. Unlike the others, Sasaki is more like obtaining a Top Prospect on the doorstep of the majors. The Mets remain an unlikely contender but they will be in contention. It will be a small coup for whichever team he chooses.

Relief Pitching

The Mets have a closer in Edwin Diaz and a number of solid options in their bullpen already but nothing ‘surefire” with regards to “setup arms”. The issue here is that relief pitchers who are predictably good tend to become closers and not want to become setup men and that the best setup men end up emerging from obscurity.

Good Option: Michael Soroka

The former Brave prospect is no longer the player he was in 2019 and he’s likely not on too many radars as a starting pitcher anymore. As a reliever he’s beginning to look like something of a diamond in the rough who could develop back into a high leverage big strikeout pitcher. I’d like the Mets to pursue Soroka regardless of if they’d consider him a setup man just for the upside his arm presents.

Great Option: Jeff Hoffman

There is a lot of logic to the Mets and Hoffman not being a good fit. Hoffman is coming off a big year (until the playoffs) and may be determined to be a closer in 2025 and beyond. Though, Hoffman might also just want to be on a club that wants him to be a major part of their World Series plan and that makes him a pretty good fit for the Mets. Hoffman’s emergence could be a flash in the pan and I wouldn’t want to go in for more than two years with him.

Best Option: Tanner Scott

It is unrealistic for the Mets to really think about Scott as their setup man, but he checks off two major boxes at once being both the best available relief pitcher and being left-handed. Scott is extremely unlikely (as that top option) to accept a deal where he isn’t the new team’s closer. I don’t want to make decisions for the guy and just as I list Sasaki as the Mets “Best SP option” I think Scott would be the “Best RP option”.

Middle of the Order Hitter

The Mets have Juan Soto but I don’t think that they’ll be bringing back Pete Alonso, nor am I sold that Alonso is the player the Mets need in this lineup. They could surprise me but there are better options for the Mets who have to consider that Mark Vientos played well over his head at third base, Alonso seems in decline and the lineup needs some pop in the #3, #4 and #5 spots in the lineup. If you pencil Vientos into one of those, I’d still prefer not imagining Brandon Nimmo or Starling Marte in the others. The honorable mention here is Anthony Santander. If he didn’t have the qualifying offer (from Baltimore) he’d be a really good option from a production standpoint.

Good Option: Paul Goldschmidt

A name I had to be convinced into has emerged as one that I know agree with pretty strongly. A short-term contract with the Mets to play first base would give the Mets a solid bat and flexibility in the future. He’s not the big #3 or #4 hitter that I’d desperately want but he’d provide a good amount of offense and would part of an evolving team. This would be a one-year deal with a potential option.

Great Option: Alex Bregman

I cannot tell you why I am not over the moon about the idea of Bregman. He checks most of the boxes and would make this team better and while he has a Qualifying offer, it’s in Houston where they will get less draft compensation from the Mets. It’s hard not to like the look of Bregman sitting behind Lindor and Soto the way the Dodgers have Freddie Freeman lurking behind Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Plus he just won a Gold Glove.

Best Option: Nolan Arenado

Here is a player who is older, on decline and expensive. Is he really the “best” option? Maybe, and I’ll tell you why I think so. I believe Arenado’s bat could still play as a #3 bat in a lineup and I think the Cardinals are motivated to trade him in a situation that will either cost nothing in prospects or almost nothing in money, depending on what they want to do. Arenado’s great playing days might not be done, and I think that three-four seasons of him could work well for the Mets if the deal is right.

Center Field

The Mets do not wish to use Brandon Nimmo in centerfield and Starling Marte is beginning to look far more like a designated hitter than a right fielder. This means the Mets will be looking for a Center Fielder to play in between Soto and Nimmo in the short term.

Good Option: Tyrone Taylor

It does little for the Met’s lineup, but Taylor is a solid defensive option who proved multiple times in 2024 that his bat is viable at the major league level. The do-nothing option is being listed here because the combination of Taylor, Nimmo and Siri in center is honestly not that bad and if the Mets wanted to leave it alone and get another player elsewhere, there could be far worse options.

Great Option: Luis Robert Jr

While the Mets missed out on a trade for Garrett Crochet why not inquire about the White Sox centerfielder. He’s still young, he’s good at the position and he would benefit greatly from being in an actual major league lineup. The rub with him is that the White Sox will definitely want a haul of prospects, and the Mets farm system is not so deep as to have it available. (Remember the Red Sox gave up four of their Top 14 for Crochet.) That and the numbers for Robert Jr don’t seem 100% stable and predictable.

Best Option: Cody Bellinger

The cubs are looking to save some money by trading Bellinger so they can play Pete Crow-Armstrong (who I remain bitter about the Mets trading away). The Cubs are looking for a team to eat all of the money left and give them some pieces, but you can bet that the Bellinger rental would be far cheaper (in prospects) than Robert Jr. Bellinger sitting as the #4 hitter with Vientos behind him seems like a great opportunity for both the player and the Mets.

What does that leave us with?

Here is how I built things out after going through the options I presented. I have seen the articles on Roki Sasaki, and I know nothing is certain, but I can’t imagine a happy optimistic future where he chooses the Mets. I happen to love that future but… it seems too good to be true. With that said, and feeling the rotation needs someone with more surety behind themselves. Jack Flaherty is the best option that leaves us with.

After starting pitcher is accomplished, I switched over to the middle of the order hitter. My heart still loves the idea of getting Arenado for a song, but these are not the Mets looking for the best deal, these are the Mets looking to make the best lineup. Gaining the gold glove and former silver slugger talents of Alex Bregman improves the infield and gives the Mets a definitive #3 hitter to slide behind Soto.

Moving on to relief pitching I ultimately went with the approach of not getting a sure setup arm and instead getting Soroka for upside and sneaking the unmentioned Will Smith into the bullpen to give us a veteran lefty. Ultimately, the Mets may shift Holmes back to the bullpen if he cannot cut it as a starter and he’d be a setup name for sure.

Lastly with me grabbing a righthanded bat in Bregman I wanted a lefthanded bat for that centerfield role. I went with Cody Bellinger, who I think will cost the Mets one or two good prospects but, as a rental, should not cost the Mets their next Pete Crow-Armstrong.

There are other options out there, but this was the breakdown I saw and the players I chose from it. I am excited about these 2025 Mets but more than a little concerned about them winding up like the 2023 Mets.

1. C1: Francisco Alvarez - #9

2. C2: Luis Torrens

3. 1B: Mark Vientos - #5

4. 2B: Jeff McNeil - #8

5. 3B: Alex Bregman - #3

6. SS: Francisco Lindor - #1

7. LF: Juan Soto - #2

8. CF: Cody Bellinger - #4

9. RF: Brandon Nimmo - #6

10. DH: Starling Marte - #7

11. OF4: Tyrone Taylor

12. OF5: Jose Siri

13. IF: Jose Iglesias (not mentioned)

14. SP1: Kodai Senga

15. SP2: Jack Flaherty

16. SP3: Frankie Montas

17. SP4: David Peterson

18. SP5: Clay Holmes

19. CL: Edwin Diaz

20. SU: Michael Soroka

21. SU: Jose Butto

22. MR: Sean Reid-Foley

23. MR: Will Smith

24. MR: Huascar Brazoban

25. MR: Alex Young

26. LR: Paul Blackburn