One of the many starting pitchers from the 2022 New York Mets with a future status up in the air is Carlos Carrasco.
Carrasco, who spent the past two years with the Mets, did some good things last season. Year one in Queens went less than ideal after being acquired in a trade. Carrasco fought injuries and only started 12 games. He finished with a 1-5 record and a 6.04 ERA.
However, year two was a completely different story. Carrasco started 29 games, got 15 wins to seven losses, and had a 3.97 ERA. He threw 152 innings and had the same number of strikeouts.
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Why the Mets should ultimately let Carrasco go:
There are a few reasons why the Mets should not pick up the team option Carrasco has. First, he turns 36 shortly before the start of next season. Secondly, injuries have been prevalent, as mentioned above, in 2021, and he missed some time down the stretch this last year as well. Pair that with getting up there in age, and he may be harder to rely on in terms of availability.
Finally, while the Mets starting rotation is filled with questions, adding some money to have available to go spend from what Carrasco is owed ($14 million) would help the Mets.
Knowing the Mets have three more valuable options to pay when it comes to their starting pitching in Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt, and Taijuan Walker, all of whom will cost a lot, having more money to spend would be ideal.
While Carrasco successfully won 15 games in 2022, his age with unfortunate recent injuries diminished his value. It seems more than likely that the Mets will ultimately not exercise the team option Carrasco has.