What the Mets have in Port St. Lucie, FL for spring training is more than likely going to be what they have for the start of the 2025 season, according to president of baseball operations David Stearns.
“We’re always going to be trying to see if there are ways we can get better,” Stearns said. “We also feel really good about the group we have. I would anticipate, by and large, this is the team we’re going forward with.”
That means no more big moves for a team that was one of the more active players on the market this winter. They made history by signing Juan Soto to the most expensive contract in North American sports history, brought back Pete Alonso and Sean Manaea, added Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes as rotational options, and tweaked the bullpen by signing former Atlanta Braves standout AJ Minter.
But looking at the Mets’ roster roughly six weeks before the start of the 2025 season, the biggest question mark remains hovering above the starting pitching. Yes, Manaea is back to complement Kodai Senga atop the rotation, but Montas had an ERA that flirted with 5.00 last season, and Holmes is being stretched out to a starter after spending years as the New York Yankees’ closer.
David Peterson had a career year with a 10-3 record and a 2.90 ERA last season, but he has to prove that this is the norm after posting a 4.51 ERA in his first four years in the bigs.
With a six-man rotation the likely play, the final spot will go to the victor of the competition between Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn, and Griffin Canning — none of which are seen as bona fide, consistent options.
The Mets had been linked in talks with the San Diego Padres about veteran right-hander Dylan Cease, who went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA, a career-best 1.067 WHIP, and 224 strikeouts in 189 innings pitched last year.
Reports tabbed the Padres looking for a significant haul for the pending free agent, which would include one of Luisangel Acuna, top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat, or the organization’s No. 1 prospect, Jett Williams.
For Stearns, who has remained adamant about retaining his top young talent to establish internal sustainability, such a price is remarkably high, which leaves him with the stable of starters he currently has.
“I will say I feel much better about our starting pitching depth sitting here today than I did a year ago,” Stearns said. “We made that a priority of our offseason. We brought in a number of players at all levels of free agency. I think we’re at least coming into camp at a pretty good health spot. Doesn’t mean we’re going to stay healthy throughout the entire season. We know that doesn’t happen… I feel good about our starting pitching depth.”
