It might be time for an additional spend on the Mets rotation...
Sean Manaea is expected to start the season on the injured list after injuring his oblique. Also - Nick Madrigal did not receive good news from his MRI
What’s up with the Mets? 🌴
LHP Sean Manaea has been shutdown for at least two weeks with a strained oblique. He in expected to start the season on the injured list
The Mets are not currently looking externally for rotation help (Athletic, via SNY)
The Mets acquired OF Alexander Canario from the Cubs for cash considerations
The Mets lost to the Cardinals 7-4 in Jupiter on Monday afternoon (box)
RHP Blade Tidwell - a top pitching prospect in the Mets organization - allowed three runs over two innings in his first start of the spring, touching 99 mph with his fastball during his outing. He allowed a three-run home run to Luken Baker in the second inning
Pete Alonso walked twice, singled and drove in two runs on a double in the second inning
Juan Soto had an infield single and scored in the second inning
José Azocar homered in the fourth inning and Chris Williams homered in the seventh inning for the Mets
The Mets still don’t see José Iglesias as a fit for their roster, despite the loss of Nick Madrigal (Newsday)
For now, the Mets intend to turn to their internal depth to fill their starting pitching voids (MLB.com)
Injury Updates 🏥
IF Nick Madrigal suffered a fractured shoulder in a game against the Cardinals on Sunday. He will have a CT scan performed on his shoulder to determine next steps, but is expected to be out for a long period of time
Roster Moves 📰
OF Alexander Canario acquired from the Cubs
INF Nick Madrigal placed on the 60-day injured list
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (1-2-1) @ Astros (1-2)
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, FL
Starters: RHP Austin Warren vs. RHP Ronel Blanco
When: 1:05 PM EST
Where to Watch: MLB Network
The Mets need more bodies for their starting rotation… ✍️
This probably isn’t what David Stearns envisioned happening to the club’s starting rotation. At least not this early.
For the second time in a week, the Mets lost a starting pitcher for the foreseeable future when Carlos Mendoza told reporters on Monday that Sean Manaea will be shut down from throwing for 2-3 weeks with an oblique strain.
Mendoza today that Manaea has felt discomfort since the start of spring training, even as he has progressed through his throwing program over the first two weeks of spring training. He didn’t express too much concern over this injury, but nonetheless said the expectation is Manaea will likely start the season on the injured list.
But he also said that the discomfort has lingered, and he decided to get an MRI over the weekend, which revealed the strain.
“It’s not even March, and we have two guys down,” Mendoza said.
So, the Mets— who touted their strength in numbers in their starting pitching depth coming into camp—have thinned dramatically just 14 days since the doors officially opened for pitchers and catchers in Port St. Lucie.
On the one hand, it’s probably better that this happened now as opposed to later in camp. Manaea might only miss two turns through the rotation and be back by the middle to end of April. If he’s down for two weeks, he will need a full spring training progression from that point forward to get ready, assuming everything goes well during his rehab.
That would theoretically place him somewhere in between April 15-25 for a return, depending on how things go. Mendoza projected a return for the last week of April, but said it depends on how this process goes, both positively or negatively.
On the other hand, this is another big loss for an already thin and questionable rotation which endured a hit when they lost Frankie Montas to a high-grade lat strain last week, keeping him out until mid-May at the earliest and more likely early-June.
How many more hits can the rotation take? And how many will it take to make Stearns blink?
Right now, the sure bets for the rotation are Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Clay Holmes.
That’s right now.
Paul Blackburn— who is recovering from spinal leak surgery— is competing with Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill for the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation until they need a sixth starter, which would be in a theoretical timeline for Manaea to return.
At least for now, the Mets are hoping to survive for the first couple of weeks without Manaea with what they have. Maybe they can get through two turns in the rotation as-is and get Manaea back when they need a sixth starter, assuming everyone else stays healthy.
But hope isn’t a strategy, as Steve Cohen has so eloquently put it over the years, and with pitchers, nobody can assume anything. And if Manaea can’t return by the time they need a sixth starter, then well, there are their six pitchers!
There isn’t much of an insurance policy on what they have, either. Mendoza did mention Justin Hagenman and Brandon Waddell - a non-roster invite - as internal options, but it maybe getting to be time for an additional spend for the rotation.
And before you even say the name Brandon Sproat, the Mets are not including him in their initial plan for the rotation or to fix this broken part at the beginning of the season. He needs to go to Triple-A and be successful before he comes up. They can’t put those kinds of expectations on the kid right now, either.
Last week, Sports Illustrated reported there was mutual interest between the Mets and José Quintana on a reunion, although there are conflicting reports on the matter. Quintana certainly isn’t a savior, and I totally get how the Mets might feel he would project in what is going to be his age-36 season.
But the current locks in this rotation - as it stands right now assuming nobody else gets hurt - consist of a pitcher who threw five regular season innings in 2024, another one who has never started, and another pitcher who had hip surgery before the 2024 season and was only able to contribute a half a year’s worth of (excellent) starts a season ago.
This doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence, does it?
In the end, the Mets need more bodies, and bodies that can give them reliable innings. I am not saying the Dodgers didn’t give Quintana a dose of reality in the NLCS, but his 3.18 ERA in 12 second half starts last season is hard to ignore either and would definitely play when it needs to, especially for a staff - as I said - is now hungry to simply have another arm who can give them innings on it.
And it’s not as if Quintana’s FIP was extraordinarily high in the second half last season, either (3.89).
Sure, he had a little luck on his side, but okay. Big deal.
There has been a lot of talk among fans about the Mets needing to bring back José Iglesias after Nick Madrigal fractured his shoulder on Sunday. But here’s the problem with that.
Let’s just say the Mets signed Iglesias for $4 million. Since they’re in the 110% tax bracket with their payroll, the total outlay for Iglesias would be $8.4 million. That is a massive overpay for a player who would lock the roster down (he has no options, so if they wanted to jettison Iglesias, he would have to be DFA’d and the Mets would be on the hook for everything they owe, plus tax) in the 24th-26th spot. They can turn to Luisangel Acuña, Brett Baty, Jared Young, Donovan Walton and/or perhaps Luke Ritter at the league minimum with split contracts to fill out the backup infielder roles and keep that a revolving door as well if they have to. There’s also Ronny Mauricio down the road as well.
And maybe one of them is a hit and can earn a long-term starting role, much like Mark Vientos did last year.
But a starting pitcher’s roster spot is certainly not the 24th, 25th, or 26th roster spot. It has more value, way more value and is worth investing resources into than that roster spot, especially when the Mets have to pay more than twice a new salary in tax.
After all, to use a cliche, a team can never have enough pitching. And the Mets already do not have enough in quality or quantity.
Bringing someone in under the circumstances doesn’t constitute a panic move, either. They need more major league caliber pitchers to pitch, plain and simple.
I would much rather the Mets take an additional luxury tax hit on investments into their starting pitching than a backup infielder, as much as I would love for the Mets to bring Iglesias back for 2025. Their needs are far greater in their rotation than they are anywhere else on the roster, and it’s not even close. They can solve their backup infielder option internally. They cannot solve their starting pitching problem internally.
Even if Quintana were to cost the Mets $8 million with a total outlay of $16.8 million after tax (which might be high given the conditions in the market), it’s worth it right now, or at least worth more than paying half of that for a backup infielder.
Because, again, they need more pitchers. Even if it’s not Quintana and it’s somebody else via a trade or free agency.
Around the League 🚩
Giancarlo Stanton will undergo additional testing on his injured elbows (MLB.com)
Andrew Chafin is returning to the Tigers on a minor league deal
Longtime Guardians owner Larry Dolan passed away at the age of 94
Justin Verlander allowed a run over two innings in his spring debut with the Giants
Brady Singer threw two scoreless innings in the Reds 8-1 win over the Dodgers
Michael Busch drove in three runs in the Cubs 10-5 win over the Padres as they improved to 5-0 in the Cactus League
We definitely need another starting pitcher now imo. Whether that’s Quintana or a trade.
I'm going to buck the trend a little and say, stand pat. We can start the year with Senga, Peterson, Holmes and Megill, with Canning or Blackburn picking up the tail end as needed.
It's not ideal, but it's good enough for March and April. I suspect we won't really start cooking until May anyway, so we just need to keep our heads above water until then. Even a couple games on the wrong side of .500 will do.
That being said, had we worked a deal for Michael King (I prefer him over Cease), I would have been cool with it, provided we didn't give up Acuna and both Sproat and Tidwell (one of them would have been worth it) to get it done.
But it didn't happen, we're into the Cohen bracket, and I don't think we're in any kind of position to get there now. And when I look at any other possible deal, it smells of panic. We'd almost certainly have to give up too much for too little.