Three weeks from today, pitchers and catchers report down to Port St. Lucie for the New York Mets.
Much is at stake for this baseball team as they gear up for the 2023 season. Coming off a 101-win season, following a busy free agency headlined by splashes, this is essentially a World Series or bust type of year for the Mets.
Entering such a massive season, even with the thrilling free-agent additions, one could still point out that for a World Series team, there are still some worries on paper. Primarily with the lineup, especially when it comes to power. Not only that, but the bullpen could likely still benefit from another arm being added.
With those fair concerns, it leads to the question, with it only being three weeks until pitchers and catchers, will Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler look to make another move?
- Mets aiming to make superstar outfielder the ‘highest paid player of all time’ in free agency
- Mets need lots of pitching and have multiple avenues to get it
- 2 Mets stars among Silver Slugger finalists in the National League
Why the Mets are likely done with making any noteworthy additions:
While a key bat offensively or one more arm for depth could be added to the bullpen, it just, unfortunately, seems like no more moves to make note of will come this offseason.
For starters, the bats on the market have all gone off within the past week. The final few out there who could have helped the Mets were Trey Mancini, Adam Duvall, and Andrew McCutchen. In turn, the Mets pivoted with Tommy Pham, who will be their fourth outfielder and, as of now, it seems the primary right-handed designated hitter. The Pham signing signaled likely the end in terms of offensive additions for the Mets this offseason.
On the other hand, there are still some very intriguing relief pitchers still out there. Between Andrew Chafin, Zack Britton, Mike Fulmer, Brad Hand, and Matt Moore, among others, potential assets for the Mets are available on the open market. However, it seems as if they want a reliever with Minor League options, based on the indications Eppler has given. So, to anticipate one of the solid bullpen arms at this point is probably unrealistic.
The good thing is that the Mets have been busy. Whether it be Justin Verlander, Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, or Kodai Senga, among a few others. As a result, their payroll is set to be well over $350 million. It was recently shared that the Mets paid $30.8 million in luxury tax for 2022, which will only go up for Cohen in 2023.
Concerns when reviewing the current construction on the Mets roster, knowing World Series aspirations are in place, are more than fair to have. Aside from the starting pitching and the depth the rotation has, weaknesses are evident both offensively and in the bullpen. Unfortunately, however, it seems as if the Mets are content with where they are, and not to mention there are no real impact bats available. It will be interesting to see if they pull off a surprise and make the wise move of acquiring one more reliever though.