It would mark a reunion with David Stearns in New York.
According to numerous reports on Wednesday night, the New York Mets signed former Yankees starter Luis Severino to a 1-year, $13 million contract. This is the team’s first major addition of the 2023–24 offseason, and it will provide assistance to a pitching staff that is in dire need of depth in the rotation.
However, the Mets will require additional pitching support in addition to Severino if they hope to make a dent in the standings. Good news for David Stearns: a free agent who just finished what may be his best season in the majors and is a familiar southpaw from his time with the Milwaukee Brewers, can help close the gap. And Brent Suter is that person.
reliever free agent The next pitcher the New York Mets should add to their rotation is Brent Suter.
One of the most underappreciated free agents to work out for the Colorado Rockies, the team that signed him a year ago, was Brent Suter.
The 33-year-old Suter had the best season of any Rockies pitcher last year, logging a 150 ERA+ and a 3.44 FIP over 69.1 innings in 57 appearances as their lefty specialist. This was on a pitching staff that gave up a league-worst 957 runs.
Baseball Savant claims that Suter’s peripheral statistics from the previous season were very good. He doesn’t throw as hard (his 4-seam fastball averaged 86.0 mph) or strike out as many batters. However, he more than makes up for it by encouraging soft contact. With an average exit velocity of 84.0 mph, he was the best pitcher out of 280 major league pitchers who faced at least 250 batters in the previous season.
Suter is a pitcher because of his effective offspeed stuff; in 2023, opponents only hit well under.200 against his changeup and slider.
Suter pitched for the Brewers from 2016 to 2022, compiling a 3.51 ERA in 394 innings.Pitched two innings in that location. Stearns oversaw Milwaukee’s baseball operations division. Suter’s signing would be in line with Stearns’ preference for familiarity. For what it’s worth, both attended Harvard, so they have that connection as well.
The Mets’ pitching problems won’t be instantly resolved by adding Luis Severino, as he was not productive during his time with the Yankees last season and poses a health risk due to his history of right lat strains and Tommy John surgery, which occurred three years ago. However, I believe that the bullpen is where the Mets’ real issues are.
Suter would be a much-needed addition to a bullpen that disappointed supporters the previous season. In order to neutralize some of the best lefty hitters in the game, including some in the NL East (think Atlanta’s Matt Olson and Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper), he would team up with Brooks Raley as potent soft-tossing lefties.
The Mets would have a chance to move past their Billy Eppler-era missteps, in which their inability to build a deep bullpen proved to be an issue in 2022 and 2023.