David Stearns needs to take action now.
The New York Mets are still silent, despite the fact that free agency has finally gained some momentum. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is not allowed to play. They signed elsewhere for other arms like Frankie Montas and Lucas Giolito, who they may have been interested in. It is unclear where the Mets will go from here and how they want to maintain some semblance of competitiveness in 2024. David Stearns has a lot of work ahead of him.
While there are still some excellent players available, they are becoming unavailable very quickly. The Mets need a DH, a left fielder at the very least, and pitching help in the bullpen and rotation. They have a lot of holes to cover.
Stearns needs to make the correct decisions, but it’s also critical that the Mets finally make some progress before there is no more. These are the three players he ought to be chasing, along with two others who don’t really make sense but have occasionally been connected to the Mets.
The Mets ought to sign Justin Turner right away.
The Mets require DH support in order to contend. Mark Vientos can certainly be used there, but if they consistently start a player at DH who finished the season with an OPS of.620, they can’t really say they’re in the race. Conversely, Justin Turner would be a huge improvement.
Turner, who turned 39 this month, is still among the finest hitters on the field. Despite his age, he is still one of the more productive hitters that New York can reasonably hope to acquire. That doesn’t mean, however, that he will draw a monster contract.
The former Met slashed for Boston this past season.276/.345/.455 with 96 RBI and 23 home homers. He’s the ideal hitter to bat behind Pete Alonso in the middle of the order and hit home runs in addition to providing cover. Turner can provide another run producer that this club sorely needs. Turner has been a clutch hitter his entire career.
Turner is more desirable than a player like J.D. Martinez since he is a field player when necessary. For the last 1.5 seasons, the Mets have witnessed personally how restrictive it can be to have a designated hitter like Daniel Vogelbach who is unable to play the field. Turner is a great insurance policy at third base should the Mets require it. He saw action at three of the four infield positions. He can play the field when needed, but he would be their primary DH.
Turner would most likely just be a one-year player, making him a valuable asset for the Mets to trade at the deadline or a crucial component of their 2024 postseason push. Out of all the remaining free agents, he makes the most sense.
Gio Urshela should be allowed to go by the Mets.
In the event that Brett Baty is hurt or just doesn’t work out, Justin Turner would be signed as the designated hitter with the ability to play third base. It appears like Baty might not be in the Mets’ plans for 2024 if they sign Gio Urshela, a player in whom they have shown interest. That would be incorrect.
It’s quite obvious now that the Mets intend to play until 2025 and beyond after losing out on Yamamoto. Not that they won’t do anything in the offseason; rather, they’re attempting to assess the players they currently have and decide who should stick around for the long run. They should be assessing Baty, a player who was once considered a top potential.
Baty can hit AAA pitching, as we all know. When given the opportunity, he has been doing that for the past few years. He has not at all impacted MLB pitching. Now is the time to find out if it will ever happen. Urshela doesn’t fit as a DH, which is why signing him doesn’t make sense. He’s a good batter, but his best position is at the hot corner of the field. Even though his defense is also in doubt, the Mets shouldn’t use Baty as a DH. Not just now, anyhow.
The Mets would have been better off signing Urshela before giving MLB deal to Joey Wendle. He may have been an all-around infield backup if they had taken that action. It is completely wrong that if they signed him now, he would become their starting third baseman. Although he is a good player, he doesn’t belong on this team in 2024.
The Mets ought to sign Hyun-Jin Ryu right away.
One of the main concerns for this Mets squad is still starting pitching. They could still use another starter to join Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana, but the acquisitions of Luis Severino and Adrian Houser should assist a little.
Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell are the two most well-known brands available. Montgomery just doesn’t make sense at the price tag he’s going to warrant, and Snell isn’t happening because he has the qualifying offer attached. The Mets might sign a player like Shota Imanaga by going to the next level, but it’s difficult to imagine them spending potentially nine figures on a player who isn’t seen as a game-changer. That guy was Yamamoto; no one else appears to be.
As an upside pitcher they could count on to take the ball every fifth day, Lucas Giolito made the most sense. Too bad they allowed him to travel to Boston. Though he has considerable talent, Hyun-Jin Ryu doesn’t provide the Mets any consistency in terms of durability. The Mets ought to focus their attention there at this time.
In his ten-year MLB career, Ryu has only had two seasons with thirty or more starts, yet altogether, he has a 3.27 ERA. Although he hasn’t been healthy for too long, he pitches really well when he is. Despite only making 11 starts for Toronto in the previous season, he had a 3.46 ERA.
Despite only managing to make 17 starts in the previous two seasons, he is a player who has placed in the top three in the Cy Young voting twice in the previous five years. It’s a little concerning that Severino and him share the rotation, but the Mets don’t really have many other choices at this point.
Rather than overpaying for a pitcher who is probably not much better when the 36-year-old is healthy, it makes more sense to hope Ryu plays out for a year and either helps the Mets win games or nets them a solid prospect at the deadline.
Michael A. Taylor should be allowed to sign with another team.
At the moment, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte hold two of the three outfield slots for the Mets. Tyrone Taylor or DJ Stewart would take third place if the season began tomorrow. Rather than squandering left field, the Mets ought to look for an improvement. But even though they have expressed interest in Michael A. Taylor at different times this summer, it shouldn’t be.
The Mets acquired their fourth outfielder in the deal that brought Tyrone Taylor to the team. While Tyrone Taylor makes sense in that role, he doesn’t make sense as a starter. Similar things can be stated of Michael A. Taylor, who is an excellent defender but has a lackluster attacking game.
Michael A. Taylor, who plays every day for the Twins and has hit 21 home runs this season, is coming off one of his best offensive seasons. The issue is that his OPS+ was only 94. Even in his best season, Taylor struggles at the dish, which is a concern for the Mets, who need more offensive firepower.
The Mets should look at an offensive-oriented outfielder rather than signing Michael A. Taylor to start in the outfield. Tyrone Taylor is here as the fourth outfielder, hence Michael A. Taylor is no longer necessary.
Adam Duvall should be signed by the Mets as soon as possible.
Adam Duvall is the outfield player the Mets should be focusing on because he makes a lot of sense in left field. Granted, he isn’t quite as good a defender as Michael A. Taylor, but in 2021, he was awarded a Gold Glove. He adds a significant offensive boost and is more than adept on the field.
Duvall hammered this past season with the Red Sox.247/.303/.531 with 58 RBI and 21 home homers. A complete season with 21 home runs would be fantastic, but Duvall’s injury kept him out of the game for a long while. In just 92 games, he accomplished this. It certainly helps to play half of your games at Fenway Park, but Duvall has hit up to 38 home runs in a season previously. He has almost thirty roundtrippers in three seasons. He has a lot of pop.
Although Cody Bellinger is going to be costly and carries a great deal of risk, it would be fantastic for the Mets to sign him. Even Teoscar Hernandez would be a great fit, but the Mets might be better off passing on him given that he is rumored to be looking for a four-year contract in free agency.
Duvall may be a decent short-term fix for their major left field problem and wouldn’t need a long contract. Hopefully by the end of the season or in 2025, when Duvall would most likely be gone, Drew Gilbert, Jett Williams, or Luisangel Acuna will be prepared to move into the outfield.
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