The Juan Soto signing was obviously a massive one, but the New York Mets still had several more moves to make. One area that the team desperately had to focus on was the rotation, and David Stearns did just that, re-signing Sean Manaea to a three-year deal.
Manaea went from a one-year gamble to a fixture in New York’s rotation. He was as important as just about anyone outside of Francisco Lindor to the team’s 2024 success, so having him back is huge news.
More moves are sure to follow, but Manaea’s arrival only makes it more likely that these three players won’t be back in 2025.
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3) The Mets will pursue an upgrade over J.D. Martinez
For a large portion of the 2024 campaign, it felt as if J.D. Martinez was going to spend more than one year with the Mets. He had been the answer that the team had been looking for at the DH spot while also providing a team with a major boost with his leadership. Unfortunately, he struggled to produce offensively as the season progressed.
Martinez slashed .202/.284/.346 with just six home runs and 30 RBI in the second half of the season. His struggles led to Jesse Winker receiving most of the work as the team’s DH by the time October arrived. Martinez wound up starting only five postseason games for New York and failed to record a single extra-base hit in the postseason.
Whether it’s reuniting with Winker or finding the solution on the trade market, it became abundantly clear that the 37-year-old’s best days are well behind him. The Mets can and should look to upgrade.
2) Harrison Bader has already been replaced in the Mets outfield
Similarly to Martinez, Harrison Bader struggled mightily as the season progressed. He went from being surprisingly productive offensively in the first half to a complete non-factor as the games became more important.
Bader slashed .167/.230/.283 with four home runs and 15 RBI in the second half, and wound up starting just two postseason games, losing most of his playing time to Tyrone Taylor in center field. Bader provided value in the field and on the base paths, but his inability to do much of anything offensively severely limited his ceiling.
With how the season ended, it felt unlikely that Bader would be back. The team acquiring Jose Siri, a younger version of Bader with more power, essentially confirmed what most had already expected.
Bader should find a landing spot sometime soon, given the fact that he’s the best center fielder in an astonishingly weak free agency class, but with both Taylor and Siri under club control, Bader won’t be back with the Mets.
1) Jose Quintana is as good as gone
He didn’t get much recognition, but Jose Quintana deserves a ton of credit for how he performed down the stretch and in October. Over his last six regular season starts, Quintana allowed just four runs (three earned) in 36.1 innings of work, posting a sparkling 0.74 ERA in that span. He continued his superb pitching by not allowing a single earned run in either of his first two postseason appearances.
He struggled in his lone NLCS start, and had his share of clunkers in the regular season, but Quintana gave the Mets 31 starts with a 3.75 ERA during the regular season while also saving his best work for when the team really needed him. They couldn’t have asked for much more from the 35-year-old.
As difficult as it is to let a pitcher like Quintana walk, where is he going to slot in, especially now that Manaea is back? Manaea is joined by Kodai Senga and David Peterson, as well as newcomers Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes in a completely revamped rotation. The team will likely go to a six-man rotation, but they have guys like Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning, and Tylor Megill in the organization as well.
The Mets might still add another starting pitcher for the right price (like Roki Sasaki), but barring that, Manaea feels like the last rotation addition, making it almost certain that Quintana has thrown his last pitch in a Mets uniform.
