The New York Mets have done a lot to move closer to the Los Angeles Dodgers and establish themselves as the team to beat in the National League. At this point, these two organizations will be the two biggest favorites every year for at least the next decade or so.
The Mets, of course, brought in Juan Soto and his .900+ OPS bat, revamped their rotation, and added to their bullpen. That last department could still use some punch, some strikeout upside.
Mets could upgrade with Tanner Scott
The Mets can find that upside in the form of free-agent left-hander Tanner Scott. The owner of a 1.75 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 72 innings between the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres in 2024, Scott has the potential to transform the Mets’ relief corps.
Right now, Edwin Diaz is the closer and will remain in the role regardless of who comes over in what is left of the off-season, but adding Scott to that late-inning mix would give New York weapons from both hands to solve every time of threat there might be from opposing teams.
Scott would considerably increase the Mets’ floor and ceiling
The sign of a truly powerful contender is usually having a solid bullpen. Many close games are decided in the late innings, especially in the postseason, and the Mets are aware of this. They know they will need more than just Diaz to get those tough final outs in October and Scott is a master of his craft.
The Mets have shown interest in Scott and have even met with him according to reports. If they want him, they need to act quickly because many squads are eager to get his services. Quality relief pitching, the one that truly moves the needle, is a very valuable commodity and the southpaw certainly qualifies.
At the moment, Diaz leads the Mets bullpen, a unit to which Jose Butto, Reed Garrett, Dedniel Nunez, Danny Young, Sean Reid-Foley, and starters Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning are expected to contribute. It’s not a bad group but it could certainly use Scott’s combination of bat-missing stuff, experience, and poise.
