The Mets entered this off-season needing to rebuild their rotation, and as they only had two pitchers, Kodai Senga and José Quintana penned in to take the ball every fifth day.
The top target for the blue and orange was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but after a long negotiation and multiple meetings, the 25-year-old signed with the Dodgers on a 12-year deal worth $325 million.
New President of Baseball Operations David Stearns instead signed Luis Severino and Sean Manaea while trading for Adrian Houser.
The Mets still need another top-of-the-rotation arm but do not appear to be in discussions for one of the top starters available via trade.
The Mets are not discussing a trade for Dylan Cease
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, the Mets are not discussing a trade for Dylan Cease with the Chicago White Sox.
Cease is coming off a down year in 2023, pitching 177 innings across 33 starts, which led the American League to a 4.58 ERA with a 1.418 WHIP and 214 strikeouts.
The Georgia native was stellar in 2022, finishing second in the American League Cy-Young Award race and finishing top 22 in the American League MVP voting.
Cease pitched 184 innings across 32 starts to a 2.20 ERA with a 1.109 WHIP and 227 strikeouts.
The 28-year-old is under team control through the 2025 campaign.
What does this mean for the Mets?
Not being in the Cease sweepstakes makes a ton of sense for the blue and orange.
Steve Cohen has frequently stated that the team’s plan is to compete in 2025, so it wouldn’t make sense to gut a recently rebuilt farm system for what would be a win-now move.
Especially when pitchers like Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber, and Zack Wheeler are free agents next season.
In addition, with Cease coming off the season he just had, it feels like too much of a risk for the Mets to give up high prospects for a guy who just massively underperformed.
Hopefully, for the Flushing Faithful, the Mets rotation can surprise folks in 2024 before getting a massive upgrade via free agency in 2025.