Starting Pitching Market Still Strong for Mets

Though a reported Mets target in Michael King officially came off the market on Thursday night upon his return to the San Diego Padres on a three-year, $75 million deal, the club still has a multitude of different ways in which it can upgrade its rotation this offseason.

It’s been made crystal clear that president of baseball operations David Stearns prefers not to make any long-term offers to free agent pitchers, with the focus instead being trained on contracts with higher average annual values (AAV) for a shorter amount of years.

King fit that bill, but he landed back in San Diego for one reason or another, and now the Mets must shift their attention.

Framber Valdez has been floated as a potential target for the club, and while he is arguably the top arm remaining available, there’s a world in which his market never truly materializes. As a result, the two-time All-Star who logged a 3.66 ERA in 31 starts and 192 innings for the Houston Astros in 2025 may become a more realistic option for New York the longer he goes unsigned.

The Mets don’t appear to be a probable landing spot for Tatsuya Imai at the moment, who was posted by the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball and must sign with an MLB team before his January 2 deadline, but the likes of Ranger Suarez and Zac Gallen are among the other starters who could pique the Mets’ interest as high-reward arms on deals in the neighborhood of three years if their markets were to end up settling in that range.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently reported that the Mets are eyeing “mid-tier” starters as well, and that they’ve been aggressive in doing so. Among the names Passan listed in that category were former Mets Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, as well as Lucas Giolito, Nick Martinez, Zack Littell and Tyler Mahle, among others.

Adding a mid-rotation arm isn’t necessarily a need for New York considering it’s already rostering Clay Holmes, Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga and David Peterson. If one or more of those names does get moved, with Senga and Peterson in particular popping up in recent trade rumors, then signing a player who fits that criteria would make more sense as the club waits for its crop of young pitching, headlined by Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat, to come up and hopefully emerge as rotation stalwarts alongside Nolan McLean.

The Mets are believed to be snooping around the trade market as well, and finding an ace through those means is far more likely than plucking one in free agency. The club is a logical landing spot for the top names in that regard, such as Tarik Skubal and Freddy Peralta of the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively, both of whom are set to reach the open market after the 2026 campaign.

It’s unclear just how willing the Tigers and Brewers are to move on from Skubal and Peralta, though, even considering that both clubs are fighting uphill battles towards extending them. New York has the young talent to get a trade done, but there’d be a lot of moving parts, and maybe Stearns would feel more comfortable holding on to a majority of the Mets’ top prospects rather than getting rid of them for a rental.

New York has also reportedly engaged in trade talks with the San Diego Padres surrounding Nick Pivetta, who has three years left on a $55 million deal he signed last offseason, amongst a host of relievers and outfielder Ramón Laureano. If the Padres are still willing to part ways with him after bringing back King, Pivetta could form an intriguing one-two punch atop the Mets’ rotation with McLean after putting up a 2.87 ERA in 31 starts this past campaign.

The Mets still have plenty of business to attend to on the pitching front, and while a few names have flown off the board, a bunch of quality arms are still up for grabs for the club at this point in the offseason.

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