The Mets are in agreement with Griffin Canning on a one-year, $4.25MM free agent deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The contract, which is pending a physical, contains another $1MM in performance bonuses. The Mets have four open roster spots, so no corresponding move will be necessary. Canning is a Wasserman client.
This will technically be Canning’s third team of the offseason. The Angels dealt him to the Braves in a one-for-one swap for Jorge Soler within hours of the trade market reopening. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams pointed out at the time, Canning wasn’t a lock to stick in Atlanta for more than a few weeks. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $5.1MM salary in his final season of arbitration eligibility. The Braves balked at that price and non-tendered him, affirming that the trade was about shedding the final two years of Soler’s contract.
That made Canning a free agent for the first time in his career. The 28-year-old heads to Queens and should compete for a rotation job. Canning has over five years of service time and cannot be sent to the minors without his consent. He’ll be on the MLB roster in some capacity, though it’s possible he’ll be pushed into long relief to open the year.
A second-round pick out of UCLA in 2017, Canning immediately became one of the Angels’ better pitching prospects. He profiled as a quick-moving college arm who had a chance to land in the middle of the rotation. Canning reached the big leagues within two years, but he’s had an up-and-down career. He posted a 4.58 earned run average over 90 1/3 innings as a rookie. His best season came during the shortened 2020 schedule, as he turned in a 3.99 ERA through 11 starts.
That remains Canning’s only sub-4.00 showing. Opponents tagged him for a 5.60 ERA across 14 MLB appearances in 2021, leading the Halos to option him to Triple-A. He landed on the injured list almost immediately with a stress reaction in his lower back. That carried into the following year and cost him the entire 2022 season.
At the time, it looked as if injuries could derail his career. The back was the most severe, but he’d also battled recurring elbow soreness early in his career. Canning has fortunately managed to stay mostly healthy over the last two seasons. He landed on the injured list twice in 2023, though both were minimal stints related to minor leg issues. Canning avoided the IL entirely this year. His effectiveness has waned, however.
Canning pitched to a 4.32 ERA across 127 innings two seasons ago. This year was a struggle, as he allowed 5.19 earned runs per nine over a career-high 171 2/3 frames. His strikeout rate plummeted to a personal-low 17.6%, more than eight points south of the previous year’s 25.9% clip. The walks ticked up a couple points while his swinging strike percentage dipped from 12.8% to a league average 11% rate.
The stuff also took a slight step backwards. Canning averaged 93.4 MPH on his four-seam fastball this season, a tick below the prior season’s 94.7 MPH mark. Opponents teed off on that pitch, connecting on 16 homers with a .529 slugging percentage. Canning features a fairly typical four-pitch mix (fastball, changeup, slider, curveball) and has intermittently looked like a fourth starter. The Mets will try to help him find that form more consistently.
Canning becomes the third potential starter whom the Mets have added via free agency. They went to the middle of the market for upside plays on Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes, the latter of whom will stretch into rotation work after six seasons as a full-time reliever. Canning doesn’t have the same ceiling — hence the far lower price tag — but aligns with New York’s seeming preference for stockpiling depth.
Montas, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Holmes should all be in the Opening Day rotation. Canning, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn would vie for the fifth starter job as things stand. The Mets could prefer to run a six-man rotation. Senga was limited to one regular season start this year by injury. They’ll need to closely monitor Holmes’ workload so he doesn’t fatigue. Blackburn finished 2024 on the IL and underwent a postseason spinal surgery that could delay him in Spring Training.
The Mets could use at least another mid-rotation arm to solidify that group. They’ve stayed in contact with Sean Manaea since he declined their qualifying offer. Various reports have cast them as a long shot to land Corbin Burnes, but The Athletic tied them to Jack Flaherty and Nick Pivetta (each of whom remains unsigned) during the Winter Meetings. Adding another starter would allow the Mets to push at least one of Canning, Megill or Blackburn into a multi-inning relief role.
RosterResource calculates New York’s salary commitments and competitive balance tax number around $255MM. Owner Steve Cohen has been comfortable pushing their CBT number well beyond $300MM in previous years. There’s little reason for him to pull back now that they’ve landed Juan Soto. For now, they remain in the lowest tier of luxury tax penalization. They’re taxed at a 50% rate on spending between $241MM and $261MM, so the tax hit on Canning is $2.125MM. That brings the investment to $6.375MM before incentives.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
That doesn’t sound like Corbin Burns…..
They don’t know the difference.
Cohen, has finally sobered up & looked closely at the Soto contract, “Stearns, Stearns get in here!” Ahahahaha!
And you are a fool
Better than Burnes. The short term deals is where it’s at for pitching. 1b outfield as well.
Better than devin Williams
@yankee clipper. That’s trash canning 4.25 million
The Pitching Lab is cooking!
Burnes is staying in Baltimore, and he’s much better than Cole.
What hotel?
Hilton Inn Baltimore Harbor?
I thought Corbin Burnes played 3B for the Cleveland Indians
Perksy, funny reference to Corbin Bernsen in Major League!
Stayed there once, overlooks the stadium.
I was saying “Boo-urns”
Haha – great Hans Moleman quote, Steve Finley Enthusiast!
Burns?
Second.
Canning is a home run machine. Good luck.
Red, he’ll surely be solid now that he’s rid himself of that big A on his forehead
He’s not on the Angels anymore, so will immediately reach his full potential and not flop
I give Stearns credit – he sure does sign a lot of dudes.
…To minor league deals. This is one is a bit of a headscratcher at that guarantee and this time.
Competition for a roster spot in Spring training is not necessarily a bad thing
While extremely unlikely, 4.5 could end up being a huge steal for this guy
@goku. I’ll bet Hendricks will have the better year for 2.5 million.
I mean, eating $4m is not difficult.
Duds*
Uncanny signing for Canning
@Cambo As a Mets fan, what’s most refreshing about Stearns’ game as opposed to the first three years of Cohen owning the team and the lack of high payrolls to leaven the Wilpons’ ineptitude after the 2008-2009 crash, is how quickly he cuts bad players. Teheran got 2.2 innings with the 2024 Mets and never got another chance even with the Mets iffy rotation in April. .
Contrast that with the 17 starts van Wagenen permitted Matz, Gsellman, and Wacha in 2020, constituting almost 30% of the Mets starts during the short season—or how Alderson in 2018 left Jason Vargas and Corey Oswalt start 32 games while putting up ERAs of 5.77 and 5.85..
The Mets went 77-85 in 2018 despite deGrom putting up a 10 WAR season, despite getting 4 WAR each from Syndergaard and Wheeler, getting a 5 WAR season from Nimmo, 3 WAR seasons from McNeil and Conforto, and another 17 WAR from assorted useful players.
Their bad players though, were horrendous, contributing what might be a record negative 12.7 WAR from THIRTY players incapable of being as good as replacement level (0.0 WAR).
Say what you like about WAR’s various shortcoming, it offers a powerful snapshot here of a team with one of the worst front offices and team owners in baseball, a gang that couldn’t keep two-and-a-half dozen players off the field who ranged from inept to genuinely awful.
Put freely available AAAA talent on the field instead of that group of 30 miscreants and instead of going 77-85 the Mets would have gone something like 90-62 and had they made the postseason would have gone into it with a rotation of deGrom, Wheeler, and then-prime Syndergaard. Salt in Familia and Lugo both having good years at the back of the pen and while they probably wouldn’t have gotten past the Red Sox, they would have been as good as anyone in the NL
All of which to say Stearns did a good job getting players off the roster who couldn’t contribute at least a little something . It’s about time someone in Queens figured that out—even an average GM like Alderson didn’t seem to have any idea of the importance of every last roster spot.
Stearns did say that last year… everybody looks for the improvements to the high end players. But you can also improve the team by improving the floor.
@geofft I hadn’t heard that but that fits his game to a T. (Or is it “tee”?) Zack Short got 12 PA, didn’t have it, and had to go elsewhere. Joey Wendle got $2m (so did Garrett Hampson–why Stearns didn’t sign GH when both he and JW were available will remain a mystery until Stearns’ autobio comes out), just wasn’t enough, and was moved off the roster after 37 PA.
If Stearns keeps Wendle on the roster so he doesn’t look like a PBOPs who just wasted two million on a decaying 34 yo, he doesn’t cycle through Zack Short and Wendle as quickly as he did, he doesn’t bring up Jose Iglesias.as soon as he did, and who knows how the season plays out?
@ JackStrawb Yeah, Stearns says a lot of insightful stuff ou’d never see/hear unless you watch his interviews in their entirety. Some of what he says is too abstract for the reporters, let alone the average fan to grasp, so it never winds up in the sound bites or articles.
I seethed over that Wendle signing, and frankly, I thought Stearns stuck with him too long. If Wendle gets only the minor league deal he deserved, they open the season with Short and Iglesias, and we might not see Wendle until mid-season, if at all.
You guys are definitely delving into the arcana lol.
$4 million for a replacement level pitcher. That is interesting. I guess Stearns thinks his pitching lab can fix him.
Have no idea what his role would be on the Mets
Yeah perhaps. He does have durability with 171 IP last year so he’s at least a depth piece and long RP with 5 years MLB experience.
Can never have enough arm depth.
He certainly has an arm.
He has two arms. Mets getting a bargain.
Three team trade, the Angels get Soler, the Mets get Canning and the Braves get……to trade to get Soler back for a 3rd time in August.
If Canning has any success for the Mets it would sure make AA look poorly in releasing the return for Soler.
Joc pederson sign with Atlanta so that he can be a lot worse than 2021!!!
Joc is busy hiding from Tommy Pham
If the Braves allocate the savings well it won’t look bad. If Soler hits like garbage it won’t look bad. I don’t think this can look bad for the Braves because everyone knew Canning would be let go, one team’s “win” doesn’t mean there has to be a “loser”. Different scenarios require different approaches.
The Braves are about the last team in baseball I would have expected to make a deadline move for Soler with 2-1/3 seasons left on a 3/42m contract. 1/12m during the 2023-24 offseason was about all he warranted: Replacement level from 2020-2022 and his 2023 saw marvelous luck on fly balls (even then he can’t manage to put up a 2 win season) so the Giants give him 3/42m, the Braves bail the Giants out, then the Angels bail the Braves out?
WTH?
Unless he’s going to be part of the bullpen, I don’t get it. I don’t understand how even with a six man rotation it is acceptable to have Holmes, Montas, and now Canning as part of a regular starting rotation. I’ve been a defender of Stearns and his pitching plans, but I really need to see how the rest of this plan plays out.
I was unaware stearns needed defending
Raymond Flagstaff:
Welcome to the Internet. In case you haven’t paid attention at last two off seasons, Stearns hasn’t gone big into the starting pitching market. It worked very well last year and I’m impressed with that. However, I know many people would like to see a little more certainty in terms of rotation arms added.
We’d all like to see more certainty at some point. But that certainty doesn’t have to come in August. And frankly, we didn’t have any real certainty last opening day.
Geofft:
Perhaps, but you can’t assume what’s going to be available the trade deadline and you don’t know what that’s going to cost in terms of prospects. The off-season gives you the opportunity to buy players without having to give up prospects.
Lol, my bad… I don’t know how ‘August” got in there. I meant to say December. there’s still two plus months left in the off season.
It’s a great year for free agent pitching. Canning has upside. You need 8 or 9 starters to make it through the season and their farm isn’t there yet. Losing draft picks stink. Burnes bad investment if over 200m.
@Miken31 I think it’s much more likely Canning is currently penciled in as the #9 starter and as more probably a MIRP candidate, with Megill and Blackburn currently SPs #5 and 6, Sproat is perhaps #7 only on the basis that they want to give him more time in the upper minors, and someone like Tidwell is occupying the #8 slot.
And that’s BEFORE Stearns adds at least one more starting pitcher, presumably a TOR, unless there’s some sort of Manaea plus Pivetta parlay in the works. My guess is they were stunned by what the Red Sox were willing to give up for Crochet and didn’t want to lop off three of their top 5 prospects including Sproat to make it work, and are now scrambling.
(If Cohen forces Alonso on Stearns instead of a TOR for 75 to 95% of the AAV, at least we’ll know who’s still playing GM.)
As it stands for now the Mets don’t have more than four starters they actually want making starts for them as of Opening Day, and Canning has not increased that number.
The lineup is also iffy at the moment after Lindor, Soto, and Nimmo. I’d assume Vientos is due for some regression though his improvement looks generally solid. Still, that’s not quite half a lineup. Alvarez has yet to hit for more than two weeks twice each season, while McNeil could all too easily put up another 97 OPS+. The Mets won’t get much hitting from their CFers. And with Vientos presumably moving to 1B, who’s on third—Mauricio? He’s far from a sure thing, but he’s also a far better risk than spending $200m for the 31 year old Bregman.
Half a lineup suggests a splurge for DH, or some combination like Christian Walker at 1B and a serious bat at DH with Vientos remaining at 3B where he’s bad, but no worse than Alonso’s been at 1B. Hard to see otherwise how the team is a serious threat—either the pitching or the lineup has to take a big step forward this offseason, and is Mauricio at 3B with Vientos going to 1B the only place they’re going to give a prospect a shot? Seems likely. It’s almost too bad Acuna had a great 19 PA when he first came up, given we’ve had to listen all offseason to 12 year old fans waxing about how he’s the ‘2Bman for the next decade.’
@ JackStrawb Poignant as usual, for the most part, a little harsh in some places. Your lineup analysis closely resembles what I’ve been thinking. I think the offense from the catcher position is at least league average for catchers, and even close to league average overall. Siri seems like an apt replacement for Bader, only younger, faster, and a better defender at this point. A Taylor/Siri platoon could also produce league-average offense.
There are multiple competent options still on the market for 1B, most for shorter terms and less money than Alonso. That leaves Vientos at 3rd, with support from a yet-to-be-signed veteran UT while Acuna and Mauricio continue to work on things in the minors, which is where they belong right now.
You’re right, they’re not a serious threat. Nor do I want them trying to be. The minor league system still has holes, and building it is being handicapped by the penalties from this overspending. Its going to take a few years for that to be corrected. But for now, I’m content to see them moderately competitive while they work towards getting the organization’s foundation healthier.
@geofft Fascinating perspective. It’s rare this offseason to hear the authentic analysts on this site preferring to do other than spend big chunks of Cohen’s money on 30+ year old All Stars at every position.
It makes sense not to, though, for reasons you note.
Departing players took roughly 16 wins with them, knocking the roster down to a projectable 73-89 record in 2025 (fitting both their actual and their Pythagorean records) prior to additions including farm promotions—and payroll at that point was already something like $168m for LT purposes prior to adding players. That’s a LOT for a 73 win team. Now with Montas, Holmes, Soto, and Canning payroll is roughly $255m according to Roster Resource and the team is projectable to around 83-84 wins.
So… now what? Adding Burnes and Bregman bumps that projection to 90+ wins but it’s going to be ugly in a few years. The nucleus is already old as nuclei go, and from the group of Lindor, Nimmo, Diaz, Senga, and McNeil, it was only Lindor’s brilliant year that brought the return anywhere close to the investment.
Either way, it’s going to be interesting. After getting Soto I’m thinking the aim has to be around 90 wins. How Stearns figures to get there, though, I do not know.
I remember not being impressed with the Mets rotation last year, and that worked out for them. So, I’m not going to judge.
They have depth now, but they’re missing a true ace.
VonPurpleHayes:
I totally agree with what you’re saying. Last year I was very down on that rotation going into the season and they turned out to be much better than I thought it would be. I just don’t know if they’re going to the same well again and hoping things work out or if they really know what they’re doing grabbing these guys off the scrap heap. I’m willing to give Stearns the benefit of the doubt, but I definitely want to see more certainty in terms of arms added to this rotation.
VonPurpleHayes & Miken31;
David Stearns one of the smartest baseball Ops heads in MLB. When he was in Milwaukee they constantly had good pitching that got better as the year went on. He knows how to bring in coaches and develop both pitchers and catchers especially.
Depth Charts don’t work anymore; especially looking at them in the offseason. The Mets don’t need to win April and May. They want to win in September and October. Like a horse race, the objective is to stay with the pack going into the stretch run…..then turn on the afterjets.
If Canning and others he’s bringing in work out…..great. If not, obviously there will be other pitchers he’ll acquire during the season right up to the trade deadline. And because the Mets owner could are less about paying any “penalties” in a professional sports league that has a broken salary structure, if they need to acquire 2025’s version of Verlander and Schurzer come the trade deadline, money won’t be a consideration.
I like Stearns a lot, but realistically, these bargain pitchers aren’t all going to work out. The Mets hit on almost all of their starters last year. I’m not willing to bet that happens again. I still think they get a front-end pitcher for some more reliability.
Mets are really banking on similar luck to last year with respect to the pitching.
The difference is sevi and manaea showed periods of sustained success prior to their signings, so while it was fortunate to get very solid/good years out of them last year, you could see it.
With guys like canning and montas, a signing I really hated, it’s really testing what they think Hefner can do for them. I don’t see it.
There’s still a lot of offseason left, but I’m really not liking the direction of the sp. I get the depth and going to a 6 man rotation, but middle of the year, I don’t want to go into a series with the Phillies or dodgers or Braves and have montas, canning, magill lined up.
This was why I didn’t like the Soto signing. Yes cohen is stinking rich, but he would have been better suited spreading that money out. And the Mets have no left handed pitching other than peterson. They desperately need someone in the pen. Scott would be ideal, but I don’t see that happening right now.
It’s a weird offseason so far getting the prized free agent, then signing a bunch of maybes with him. I do like the Holmes signing, but even that you just don’t know.
We’ll see. Last year Manaea Sevy were already mid rotation guys. Mets improved them especially Sevy. Quintana previous year already good. Montas already good. But Holmes reliever to starter is going big. Canning needs a good bit of improvement. Both can ve done but they are taking on a bigger risker project this year.
@VonPurpleHayes Stearns gets a lot of good faith following his work in Milwaukee and his extraordinary magic act in Queens in 2024. (Fwiw I think he was almost as surprised as anyone. Exhibit One: Look how minimal his deadline moves were, where his additions summed to negative 0.3 WAR, iirc. Still, the good luck was the residue of smart design and an eye to possibility.) But it’s also reasonable to project Holmes for a median of 100 innings and 20 starts (for every Seth Lugo there are three AJ Puks!), Peterson for 110-120 innings and 22 starts, Senga for 135 innings and 24 starts, and Montas for 140 innings and 25 starts.
That’s a lot of starting pitching that still either missing or going to lightweights like Megill and Blackburn. I think they’re short an ace and someone like Pivetta, though Pivetta money might be better spent on a DH if they figure Sproat and Tidwell shore up the basis for a 6-man rotation.
The Canning signing is baffling for the moment. $4m is a lot for an SP with a FIP and ERA around 5.00 for 2021-2024—I don’t care how many innings he can pitch if they’re that quality. A $4m flyer probably isn’t going to be the best Stearns does between now and OD where the rotation is concerned. MIRP and starting depth outside the OD rotation, maybe? I can’t figure it out.
He took a step back this past season, but fr his career he has a 9.0 K/9 rate. After missing almost two seasons with a back injury he pitched 127 innings as a starter and had a K/9 of 9.9 and WHIP of 1.23.
The Mets probably looked at that and figured they can get him back on track. He was durable last year on the plus side. His numbers are awful in the first inning, but he gets back on track during the 2nd inning. He might be the right guy as a bulk pitcher, but let him get it back together psychologically before putting him on the mound against the first batter. I’m surprised the Angels didn’t do more of that.
Good signing for a number 5 starter who will eat up some innings. He gets paid extra if he performs and if the Mets fall out of contention, they flip him for salary relief and pick up a prospect.
Tokyo:
There’s no part of the Mets philosophy that should be “if they fall out of contention and flip him for salary relief or pick up a prospect.” They need to be going for it with more certainty of contention and the last thing in the world they need is salary relief and it’s not about picking up prospects. His salary is something that Steve Cohen can find in his couch cushions.
If the Mets stink it up or if he does, he will not be on the team very long.
Tokyo:
I think you missed my point. At this stage, the Mets should not be in a situation where they are stinking it up. With their resources and building off the season they had last year, they have to become more of a certainty like other teams in baseball. It’s not about salary, relief or trading players or prospects. That’s not anywhere near the phase they should be considering or should end up in at this point.
The problem with what you’re saying is that they can’t really “build off of last year”, because so many of those pieces left as free agents. They’re basically starting off from only a slightly better (but still similar) place as last year.
Geofft:
Building from one year the next doesn’t mean you have the same exact team. There’s turnover on every team. You build off last years success by taking the players who left from last year and getting better players this year. That builds off last year’s team. That’s the advantage of having so many free agents from one year to the next. You can shape your team any way you want and build off that to more success the next season.
No, Mike, stop. Sorry to be harsh, but that is a generic, thoughtless, and theoretical response. There is turnover on every team, yes. But not 40% of your active roster, You lose that many players, and you’re not “building” on last year, you’re back to playing catch-up and restocking.
Couple that with the fact that they don’t seem to have a single replacement coming from within their own prospect ranks.
No, a better way to phrase it is to say that all teams have holes. Building from last year means keeping more good players, and using the resources to fill in the holes.
Fans need to wake up and recognize that this team got lucky and overachieved last year in spite of the many fundamental and foundational short-comings.
Give Stearns credit for improving that foundation, if only slightly, over the course of last season so he has fewer gaps to fill in this year.
Frankly, I’m glad to see Stearns showing restraint, and I wouldn’t mind of the Mets miss the playoffs this year if it means coming out of it with a healthier, more complete foundation of major leaguers who will be returning, coupled with more prospects being [closer to] ready to step in and replace the departing players.
A for effort
Geoff,
Who did the Mets lose?
Bader – 0.9 WAR
Alonso? – 2.6
JD Martinez – 0.5
Winker – .01 WAR
Severino – 1.6
Manaea – 3.0
Quintana – 2.5
Some mediocre bullpen guys
Additions
Soto – 7.9 WAR
Acuna – 0.5 WAR in a couple of weeks
Siri – 1.8 WAR
Senga – he was out all last season – 4.5 WAR in 2023
Canning – 0.3 WAR
Blackburn – ??
Its December 18th, 55 days until spring training and 100 days until the regular season starts for the Mets.
Mets seem to be in a slightly better place than they were last season and Stearns has lots of time to make more additions.
Chill.
Forgot Ronny Mauricio will be back after missing last season.
Forgot they signed Clay Holmes.
Geofft:
You seem to think you are the be all end all in opinions. You are not. What’s lazy and thoughtless is the fact that you don’t realize that the Mets signed players on short-term contracts to give them the flexibility that they have this off-season. It’s not always in a teams best interest to keep all their players because they could have underperforming players on contracts that are undesirable. What part of that is hard for you to grasp? The Mets have a solid farm system to trade from and plenty of cash to spend. There are trades and free agent signings to be made. You seem to think continuity is the only way to win. And you show your ignorance by talking about a team being lucky. They had the best record in baseball for 2/3 of the season last year. That’s not luck and you disparaging them in that way shows your lack of knowledge. I will put my faith in David Stearns to construct a team over you. The smartest teams lose players and know how to restock them. We’ve seen that from small market teams in the past like Tampa Bay and Milwaukee. Start paying attention and maybe you’ll learn something.
@Tokyo With the Mets fair bets to roll with a novel form of the 6-man rotation even if they add a 190 inning stud like Burnes I’ll be very surprised if Canning and his 5.00 ERA and FIP the last four years is as good as their #5. I think his best chance to get real playing time is in a competition for the #6 slot in the rotation, and that the Mets weren’t entirely thrilled about who they’ll end up with in that role (Megill, Blackburn–who I’m surprised they’re bringing back at his arb estimate of $4.4 million) if they only add one more certainty to the rotation this offseason.
Canning looks more like a guy who’ll do MIRP mopup duty once the roster is set around ST and with his remaining option may well be stashed in Syracuse and commute as needed. Still, $4m is more than most teams pay for this kind of pitcher with his FIP. On the other hand, he did go 170 innings in 2024 and struck out 10 per 9 innings as recently as 2023. I guess that’s a four million dollar man?
They needed 2 more starters hopefully the last one will be Manaea. Also don’t forget he needs to build an entire bullpen this offseason. There are only a couple of players who were in the bullpen last season that should be there this season
Well you’ve just addressed your own issue: as they add more starters, a couple of these guys who currently appear to be in the rotation will be moved to the pen. And for all of he griping about the Mets bullpen, its actually in a better place than it was at this time last year.
Weird!
Great self-assessment.
I feel like I have a good point
You do. You’re weird and you admit it, lol.
🙂
Blue Baron is the poster child for normalcy.
NYM likely waiting for Sasaki decision next month to dictate adding an upper tier FA SP.
They probably have an excellent sense, between having about the least bonus pool money of any team and being on the East coast, that Sasaki isn’t coming to New York.
And the firm grip on 3rd Place is secured!
Holmes, Montas and now Canning… what comes next? Corbin? Stearns is cooking! What a great team they have! Rest of the NL is fckg scared! Mets > Dodgers
26 year old Juan Soto says Hello from across town you salty boy
I don’t give a f about Soto. He will end up like Trout….
Bronxbombers23:
OK after comparing Soto to Trout, I realize you are just sucking on some very sour grapes. You lost one great player and brought in a mediocre outfielder, a very solid reliever, and a very good starting pitcher. And the team is still no better than they were last year with that offense you have. Last year you had two hitters and at this point you have one hitter.
Is this about the Yankees or about a fantastic Mets signing?
Bronxbombers23:
I didn’t bring Soto up. I saw you make the comparison there to Trout. Perhaps you’re responding to someone else, but I was responding to you. The Yankees are making desperate moves and signing a pitcher in his 30s to an 8 year contract. The Mets have a smart executive who makes under the radar signings that turn out to be big during the season. The Yankees have a bald little weeble, who doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing except complaining about the Astros years later.
A sure-fire HOF player by the time he turns 30? I think you are right about that. A perpetually injured CF. Probably wrong about that one because Soto’s value comes from his bat, not his glove. Also, he doesn’t throw his body around with abandon like Trout.
Like I said, this isn’t about the Yankees. You shouldn’t waste your time discussing the Yankees offseason. Celebrate your amazing signings.
BronxBombers23:
The Mets signed a sure fire Hall of Fame player at the age of 26, so I will celebrate the Mets amazing signings. You should do the same with your own team, if you can…
@outinleftfield More like wasted his career playing for the Angels…
Soto is one guy. One guy doesn’t make a team. He was part of a team last year that made the World Series. He played his part and his part only. To really think it takes that little to make a World Series is ignorant.
Soto was a big loss, but so far the three players that have come a board are fantastic, yes Bellinger, too. He’s better than mediocre, but I’m realistic, he’s not replacing Soto. He’s better than Verdugo, Gleyber, and Rizzo, though, so that’s great start in replacing lost offense.
Fried replacing Nestor and Devin replacing Clay massively enhances us elsewhere, too. We aren’t finished yet, but to say Cashman isn’t working to make this team better overall is disingenuous. Heck, I already think this team is better overall.
Thx Mike, tbh I was happy that the Yankees didn’t sign Soto to such a contract.
Bronx bombers 23:
Yes, I’m sure you were happy. You wouldn’t want your owner, who could easily afford that contract and more, to have to go too deep into his pockets. Good thing you’re protecting Hal’s bank account.
It’s not about Hal, but I’m sure you won’t get it, so it would be a waste of time.
Okay we don’t need to be mocking anyone for being bald now. Let’s all get along. And I hope I get a new toupee for Christmas
Miken…NY has made superb moves so far. One of the best starters, one of the best relievers, a player on a short term deal that even if Belinger is terrible, no harm done. If he has a good year, which he is very capable of, he’ll opt out and then we will go from there. And the NYY are not done yet. Meanwhile, after signing Soto, which should be good for a while, it also has the possibility to turn into the biggest albatross of a contract of all time. And now the NYM seem to be trying to get by on the cheap, simply throwing cheap, oddball signings against the wall, hoping something will stick. The Mets seem to be all desperation after signing Soto, not the Yankees. The Yankees will end up being a better, more well rounded team after declining to go any higher than 16/760 mil. for chubby gut Juan.
So glad that you don’t like watching the best players and have to whine about where they play. Of the living HOF players, 1/3 do not have a ring.
@outinleftfield Yankees got enough great players, don’t worry. Have fun watching Soto‘s fielding and base running! Enjoy the next 4-5 years, because after that he will be a fat full time DH. Good night!
@ Killer of…. The idea that the Mets “seem to be all desperation” is your narrative, not the reality.
NOBODY is all desperation in December. There are two months left in the off season and plenty of talented free agents. If they were all desperation, they would be jumping in and grasping at any high end free agent and his demands. Instead they’re biding their time and measuring the market.
BronxBombers23:
It’s not about Hal? Oh please please enlighten me then.
Killer of ignorance:
It’s not superb because you say it’s superb. That’s your opinion. You may turn out to be right, but you don’t really know that. I don’t think Cody Bellinger is a reliable option at all. I’ve seen too many seasons from him where the bottom completely falls out. Fried is a very good pitcher and so is Williams. That being said, the Yankees offense is ugly right now. There’s a whole off-season to go, but right now it is ugly. And the Mets are not going to have an albatross contract because unlike the Yankees Steve Cohen will be willing to spend over his mistakes. And if you look at what an albatross contract, take a look at Aaron Judge’s contract and Garrett Cole’s contract. How will those age? You talk about Soto because his contract takes him to 40. But how about those two guys whose contracts take them to old baseball age? The Mets are not in desperation mode. They’re making methodical moves. Everything the Yankees have done is desperation. They trade for a mediocre Bellinger. They give Fried an eight year contract. They trade for Williams on the last year of his contract and will probably lose him in free agency. Give me a break.
Geofft..I refer you to Miken’s post up above that referred to the Yankees making desperate signings. My response was to him and at this point, the Mets have to be more desperate than the Yanks comparing the composition of the two team’s current rotations. That’s reality.
Jealousy, thy name is BB23. Did you know that I am an Angels fan. I have had the privilege of watching every one of Trout’s games. If I was a Mets fan I would enjoy watching every one of Soto’s games. That is what you do with the best of the best, you appreciate having the privilege to watch them play.
Angels and White Sox fans are pretty desperate right now, maybe the rockies fans too, but the Mets certainly aren’t.
Putting up 10 win seasons and going to the Hall of Fame?
The latter, probably. The former? C’mon. Two tools is two tools.
Jazz’s 130 OPS with the Yankees says “Yo!” Between a full season of Chisholm, and Bellinger, Fried, and Williams the Yankees have more than replaced Soto, though you can quibble about the loss of Cortes.
I think they’ll miss him a bit.
@Salzilla If you weren’t doing some implied double counting in there I’d be more inclined to agree with you.
On the upside, though, you omitted getting a full season from Chisholm after only getting 191 PA from him in 2024.
Actually, comrade, Soto looked bloated at his signing announcement.
He should give Pujols a call and see if Albert’s tailor is still in business. That gentlemen did yeoman’s work making #5 look fit into his late 30s.
That was a distinctly odd statement. Would anyone be genuinely surprised if the Mets added Burnes, Bregman, and a couple of live arms at a 10m AAV each to the pen?
I wouldn’t do it that way and I don’t think Stearns would either—a lot of people wouldn’t—but I think Cohen has plenty of say in player acquisitions.
@Miken31 “Ugly” is too strong a word for a lineup with a foundation of Wells, Chisholm, Bellinger, Stanton, and Judge. Granted it’s hardly overpowering outside of Judge, but these are competent MLB hitters.
It’s also assumed the Yankees are adding at least another very good hitter, and a second, good hitter shouldn’t surprise anyone. And bt Volpe, Cabrera, Rice, and Dominguez they should be able to get at least one of them to hit adequately!
It’s not ideal, but it’s a bit better than you’re making it out to be.
26 yr. old Juan Soto says hello from his mama’s place as he stuffs another footlong beef burrito smothered with a half pound of cheese and swimming in gravy in his mouth. ” Two more of those mama ” says Juan, ” and bring in more of that chocolate cake and don’t forget the ice cream and that caramel topping, ” Urrp..” 🙂
Bronxbombers23:
You should be more worried about Bellinger and his propensity to have entire seasons where he does nothing.
I assume he’s just another arm to use in long relief/spot start… I believe Stearns is still going to get another top starter or 2 and a 1st baseman
@wvredsfan I wish we had some idea, ANY idea, if Senga was going to pitch six innings, or one hundred and sixty.
2023 Senga is probably too much to ask, but boy was he a blast to watch!
Still, even if Senga’s their #1, who’s their #2??? There doesn’t seem to be anyone obviously a fair bet to put up a 115 ERA+ or better in 26+ starts, somone you genuinely want starting postseason games.
“Mr. Stearns? Calling Mr. Stearns. The front of your rotation seems to have gone missing….”
Why?
because
No Salary Cap: Centerfield.
remember: Leftfield.
I don’t give a darn?
Cool Name the Mythical Griffin – similiarities to the Phoenix OR the Grimace? OMG?
NYM Rises from the Ashes?
NYM wants to bring in Sasaki VERY VERY MUCH.
Make It So. Engage!
We’re Following the LAD Plan
We are accumulating Openers and a Bullpen game of 5 pitchers
Hey they won a World Series Soooo
Buehler instead IF we can’t get Sasaki
I would give Buehler 4 (maybe 5) guaranteed years and Sasaki longer. Maybe 8-10? Burnes maybe 6 years. I want to see medical info Please.
What are these Bregman to NYM rumors?
PLEASE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
You’d be foolish to give Buehler 4 guaranteed years, let alone 5, given his injury history. And that is exactly why the Mets are interested in him – because they think he can be had for a low level of commitment. It is also why his free agency may drag on for a while. Its going to take some time for the market to sort out just what his term length is.
Er, even the most optimistic estimate at Fangraphs has Buehler getting just 2/30m.
Nor can you sign Sasaki for six-plus years.
—–I’d like to see medical info on this commenter, please.
@YaGottaBelieve – Right, LA had openers in Flaherty, Glasnow, Yamamoto, Buehler etc.
Now they have openers in Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Snell. Plus Miller, Gonsolin, Kershaw etc.
LOL, openers!
They bought the suit at Gucci and getting the rest of the outfit at TJ Maxx
Only things pay attention to is a finely tailored suit, great shoes, and the watch. You can wear a t-shirt with Gucci and people will think you are a billionaire.
Billionaires go all custom. Gucci is for 6 figure crowd.
Billionaires call it bespoke. If you are going to Thailand, Patrick & Co is one of the truly great tailors. Probably still get a top notch bespoke suit for under 30,000 baht, about $900 USD.
Paul Bespoke in Bangkok is pretty good too. Its where I went my first vacation to Thailand.
You can vacation in Thailand and buy 2 suits cheaper than buying 1 suit here in California
In a billionaire crowd you can wear jeans and a tshirt along with your Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin and you will fit right in.
If you are into watches, here is the one I want – vacheron-constantin.com/us/en/collections/traditio… About $300k
Here is the one I have –
vacheron-constantin.com/us/en/collections/traditio…
Took a very long time to convince my wife I needed it.
If Santa is listening, I would gladly trade.
What a great deal for the Mets. Paid 4.25 million for a maybe a 2 million dollar player
Mad1:
I hadn’t realized you are such an expert on equating player performance to salary evaluation. Please tell me more of your expertise in this area.
Mikie, meet Griffin Canning, 0.3 WAR pitcher. Based on the 2023-2024 offseason FA signings, 1 point of WAR is worth $9.25 million. Canning’s 0.3 WAR is worth , drum roll please, $2.75 million.
The mad one is pretty close.
Out in left field:
Except we know these low cost pitchers can get a little bit more because there’s a lot of teams competing on them (see Erick Fedde). It’s about projecting what they think he can do. So if the Mets think Canning can do something to get him to outperform that war and they have to go a little bit higher to acquire him than ultimately we don’t really know his value until we see what he does next year. And we are talking about peanuts when we were talking about a team like the Mets. I mean, they signed a $2 million pitcher for $4 million? Really? If they see something in him that they think can outperform that the. it’s a silly complaint to begin with.
Except Nobody can predict the future.
Three things that render that argument completely moot:
1- Sometimes you overpay on present day value if you bveleive future upside is higher.
2- He was scheduled to get about $5M in arbitration, where dollars-to-WAR is not used in determining salaries.
3- the 1.5 million difference is chicken feed to this team’s payroll.
Except teams are paying for the future. So they’re using predictive measures to determine what players will do in the future.
Mets are buying 2025 Canning.
How much bWAR in 2025 Nostradomus?
Nostradamus? Isaiah in the Old Testament? Greg Maddux?
@Geofft – If money is chicken feed, then why not sign Fried, Burnes, Snell? All this Uncle Steve won’t be outbid nonsense to then spend peanuts on a starting rotation and bullpen.
Senga pitched one game, Holmes is a RP converting to starter, Blackburn coming off injury. The two guys with the most IP in 2024 had a 4.84 and 5.19 ERA.
That’s a lot of question marks.
I am going with about 1.0. That is a little higher than his career average. That would be worth his new salary.
He might even match his 2023 career high at 2.0. He would be an incredible bargain if he could do that.
Very close one….. Senga Montas Holmes Canning Patrick Corbin vs Ohtani Snell Yamamoto Glasnow Kershaw
do you think there will be any 5 game stretch where all those guys for the Dodgers will be available to pitch? It won’t be opening day because Roberts has already said Ohtani won’t be ready to go and the Dodgers haven’t signed Kershaw yet.
Mets are trying to repeat the 2024 rotation full of has beens & scrubs
Stearns knows what hes doing
But its risky signing garbage veteran pitchers again & thinking you can revive them
Very true if that’s what he’s doing. Cashman has had more success than any GM at this type of rotation building, arguable, and it’s bit him a few times too. I guess the good news is that $4MM is a nominal amount when considering their payroll expenditures.
Quintana Manaea were already good and proved it the previous year before Mets. Sevy didn’t prove it but was good, Mets made him even better. Montas already good as is like Manaea Quintana. Holmes already good just as reliever. lil risky but good odds. Canning needs some work but potential is there.
@John. – That was okay with Milwaukee when he ….
1) Had no money to sign anyone
2) Had a farm system that produced Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta. And closers like Hader & Williams.
Every Met fan talks about their pitching lab like no other major league team has one. I bet the ANGELS had one!
Cambo:
In case you slept through last season, the reason the pitching lab is being brought up is because the Mets did more with pitchers off the scrap heap who were expected to do nothing. Why would you compare them to the angels who had a horrendous year and didn’t do anything?
Cambo, the Angels will have one at the spring training facility in 2025, but have not had one in the past.
They had it in 2024 si.com/mlb/angels/news/angels-coach-excited-by-new…
March of last year was when they started the project. It will be completed this spring, much like much of the renovations to Diablo Stadium.
Mets know what they are doing but pitching lab is overrated. Quintana Manaea were already good before Mets. Sevy needed some work and they definitely helped but nothing special. Montas already good as is. If Angels were good at things they would make playoffs.
How would Met fan feel if the Mets, after handing out $800 mil to Soto, ended up bargain shopping on the rotation or let Alonzo leave without replacing his bat? You would figure the FA hitters would be lining up to get some of Cohen’s money and hit with Soto. Throw that money around if you’re going to do it
Knicks fan Cavs fan:
That would feel bad except that’s not what happened yet. The off season is still going on and Alonso is still out there and a lot of pitching is still out there.
@Mike
Mets gave $50 mil invested in 5 pitchers. How many more are they going to sign?
Knicks fan:
Probably as many as they think can help them.
Can never have too much pitching.
All the free agent hitters are likely overrated and will be overpayed. They signed Soto for fan excitement and the attendance boost. Alonso doesn’t move the needle there and Goldschmidt Santana are the far better play. If they splurge Walker is better play than Alonso. Unless everyone values Alonso correctly then he is he play. Except Boras may wait too long and Mets can’t afford to wait.
Giving out long contracts with large bags of $ doesn’t guarantee anything.
It’s just like a temporary sugar rush. It does sell tickets
I like World Championships better.
Think of all the years the of NYY since 2009
and
the Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Ricky Henderson years?
How many World Series did they win?
Ya gotta believe again:
I agree, but these decisions have to be measured. There shouldn’t be fear of the long-term contract too, especially with an owner who can easily spend over his mistakes. I don’t think it should just be expensive long-term contract after expensive long-term contract. But the Mets can hand out a couple of expensive long-term contracts in an off-season and be just fine
They will probably sign 2 more significant Free Agents.
Anybody can criticize Except IF it works.
Offseason not complete. Increasing probabilities
Balancing needs of the present and future.
2024 NYM results were a big improvement
Sasaki or Buehler + another bat and I’m Ready to Go to War!
Successful Head Coaches in NFL analogy
Reid, Parcells, Gibbs, Walsh etc.
Different Styles Gets it Done
Oh Ye of Little Faith? Tis the Season to Believe
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!
Happy New Year!
@Ya
You just spent $805 mil on Soto. You don’t go out and buy an expensive car and then put used tires and car accessories from Temu in/on it. You don’t sign Soto for that but then get conservative on the pitching staff.
the yankees actually won more games in the 1980s than any team in mlb they just had the bad luck to play in a tough division before the wild card (1983 orioles 98 wins 1984 tigers 104 wins 1985 blue jays 99 wins 1987 tigers 98 wins). with the current playoff format they would have made the postseason every year from 1983 to 1986
Plus many teams could have won a WS if Wild Cards had been around earlier
KnicksFan: Spring training is two months away. Be patient.
I simply don’t think the Mets are as good now then they were last year
But nobody thought they were any good last year until after they did it on the field. And they don’t have to be as good in December. The season starts in late March, and rosters continue being built as the season progresses.
Why aren’t they as good? They lost 3 pitchers signed 3. Might sign more. If they miss they have 2 mlb ready prospects ready. Soto is night day better than Alonso. They will likely sign a 1b as good as Alonso. Braves Phillies don’t appear to be spending.
You might want to look at what their roster looked like on December 18th 2023.
They aren’t. Still haven’t gotten a reputable 5 hitter and now they are down a cleanup hitter. I think there is no guarantee you get same production from vientos. Alvarez was overhyped and now you see how he really hits. Nimmo another year older. And anyone who thinks Acuna will be a superstar, you may want to look at his prospect grades. And there is not one reputable arm on the entire staff….no point to get Soto if it’s going to impact every signing for the next 15 years. Last year was luck. They are going to need twice as much to compete in 2025 with a rotation and bullpen like this.
The kid has good stuff. Unfortunately, he leaves too many balls over the middle of the plate. His whole career has been giving up the long ball.
Oh this will make the Mets good again maybe
Mets great at stocking up on bad pitchers. They really seem to believe their own PR about working miracles with pitchers.. Good luck in 3rd place.
Good for Griffin.
He seems to go good year/bad year so maybe he’s due for another good one.
As an outside observer, it’s weird that the Mets don’t have an ace, right?
Pitchers and Catchers don’t have to report till Feb 15 2025.
This move makes me want to punch that stupid smile off Stearns face
Interesting perspective. Seems well thought out and reasoned. Power to the people. LOL.
As a swingman pitching a few innings of relief, making the occasional spot start, yeah this is fine.
However as of 12/18/2024 the Mets rotation as is, is not good enough to win the World Series.
Still time in the off-season, so let’s see what the pitching staff looks like when spring training starts.
Opening Day: 13 pitchers
6 SPs
4 multi inning relievers
3 back end bullpen guys
Every team does their depth signing, dumpster diving I call it at times, but it’s still early in the offseason, I’m sure Stearns is cooking.
So basically another Tylor Megill. I’m all for depth but can the depth be a little higher quality?
If they’re going with a 6 man rotation, they still don’t have an Ace or a #2, I would still sign Sasaki or Buehler and resign Manaea .Their rotation should be Sasaki/Buehler, Manaea, Senga, Montas, Peterson and Holmes. With Canning, Blackburn and Megill in the bullpen or trades. They should still resign Alonso or sign Walker, resign Winker, Iglesias and Stanek. Trade McNeil, Marte , Blackburn/Megill . Stearns stop with these guys that you’re signing and get someone good
A rotation of 5’s.
40th in the sport in innings pitched at least you know the guy will take his starts when needed. i see people referencing the pitching lab. is this something stearns brought with him or does it predate him? yankees have “the gas house” in tampa where they do some secret alchemy to add velocity
They signed 2 40 year olds for 43 million before Stearns if that answers your question.
As a Mets fan, this off-season has been unbearable. The Mets now have 7 candidates for the 4 and 5 spot, with no real proven starters other than Senga, who is coming off an injury. This feels like a typical LA Angels off-season: sign a big name free agent and completely ignore the cannon ball sized holes in your rotation (ie – Hamilton, Pujols, Ohtani, Rendon). Maybe I’m just a pessimistic Mets fan, but the Mets making that run in June where they became buyers at the deadline instead of sellers really crippled the franchise. They had 19 free agents this year, including 13 that were contributors to the 25 man roster. Those guys were all supposed to be pieces at the deadline to stockpile the minors so that they could then flip them this off-season for guys like Crochet, Bellinger, and Hoerner. Instead Stearns is bargain shopping and hoping to piece together a rotation with rejected parts
This is the Stearns curse. Build a team that makes the postseason but never makes the final show.
Bingo. Luck runs out eventually. He’s going to get slaughtered if his little army of #5 starters performs to their expectations. I’ve never seen a team win without above avg pitching. Especially with a line up like this. No 4th or 5th hitter. Oh and if he is willing to pay $4mm for 6th and 7th starters why are we not investing in reputable arms in the bullpen. Did he watch the dodgers series where they coughed every lead up immediately after they scored!
Odds are (unfortunately) better that Canning makes more starts for the Mets next season than Blackburn
Mets have no Ace in rotation…Senga maybe the man if healthy.