The New York Mets need to add arms during the offseason. Having lost Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and Jose Quintana, the team went into the offseason with two primary missions: signing outfielder Juan Soto and bringing in multiple impact arms.
There is always a chance that all three hurlers come back, but given how fragile pitchers are in general and how the Mets want to leave their mark and substantially improve their rosters, adding someone from outside is a must. They have been linked to Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and even Garrett Crochet via trade, but SNY’s Danny Abriano wrote, on Wednesday, that Blake Snell would make the most sense among available options.
“If the Mets want an ace-level starter without having to trade key assets or give out a deal of six or seven years, there’s one place they can turn,” he wrote referring to Snell.
Given his injury history, durability issues, and his ugly start last year, there is a good chance the Mets can snag Snell on a four or five-year deal. He will turn 32 in December, too, so a six or seven-year pact might not come by for him.
Snell makes sense for the Mets
However, given how strongly he closed out the 2024 campaign with the San Francisco Giants, there is a chance for him to make life-changing money over a slightly shorter deal. Because of that, the Mets should direct all their efforts to signing Snell.
In 20 starts and 104 innings, Snell posted a 3.12 ERA with 145 strikeouts. Those numbers alone were excellent, but consider that he struggled badly in the first few weeks because he missed the entire spring training and couldn’t prepare properly.
He had a horrible 6.31 ERA in the first half but was huge after the break when he rounded into form and returned a 1.45 ERA. So, yes, Snell is still virtually unhittable when he’s on and the Mets need someone like that.
He was able to overcome adductor/groin issues throughout the year and pitched like an ace in the second half. With a normal offseason and spring training, there are reasons to believe Snell could be a Cy Young candidate wherever he lands.
“If the Mets make a play for one of the top pitchers on the market, Snell should be the one. An offseason where they land two of Snell, Manaea, and Walker Buehler would be a strong one,” Abriano stated.