Mets target Blake Snell signs with the Dodgers

LA makes a big splash before Thanksgiving. Plus, should New York be all in on Corbin Burnes now? And why all Mets fans should be especially thankful this holiday season...

What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎

• All continues to remain quiet in Mets land as we approach the holidays, with Hot Stove season not expected to explode until after Thanksgiving

• Congratulations to OF Brandon Nimmo and his wife, Chelsea, on the birth of their baby girl, Tatum Jane!

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Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

• This is our final newsletter of the week before the holidays so, from everyone at Just Mets, we would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you all for your continued support and readership. Enjoy the holidays, and we’ll be back next week

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The Juan Soto Sweepstakes ♨️

Jason Szenes - NY Post

• The Red Sox are becoming more and more aggressive in their pursuit of Soto, and are seen as a legitimate contender for the superstar hitter (New York Post) - Nov. 27

• While five teams have already made offers for Juan Soto, there are expected to be multiple rounds of offers made, with the first round of offers expected to be preliminary and meant as a way to gauge interest from all parties. The following offers / rounds will increasingly become more serious, with a final decision possible around the Winter Meetings (The Athletic) - Nov. 27

• The Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Blue Jays have all extended offers for Soto (SNY) - Nov. 26

• There could be 5-6 teams in the running for Juan Soto, with the Mets and Yankees likely remaining the favorites (New York Post) - Nov. 21

• The Royals and Rays are among other teams to have, “checked in” on Soto (New York Post) - Nov. 21

• Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed that his team are firmly in the Juan Soto sweepstakes, making clear that the Sox have “a sense of extreme urgency internally” to be competitive in 2025 (SNY) - Nov. 20

• Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner revealed that he had a “very honest” meeting with Juan Soto, but has “no idea” if the superstar will return to the Bronx (NY Post) - Nov. 20

• Juan Soto ending up with the Mets this winter is seen as the “most likely scenario” according to one prominent insider (Athletic) - Nov. 19

• The Dodgers reportedly met with Juan Soto on Tuesday (MLB.com) – Nov. 19

• The Phillies haven’t met with Juan Soto yet, but they plan to (New York Post) – Nov. 19

• The Mets are willing to bid $50 million over whoever is the highest bidder for Juan Soto (YES Network) – Nov. 18

• The Yankees met with Scott Boras and Juan Soto on Monday, and now the Dodgers are expected to meet with him (New York Post) – Nov. 18

• Mets owner Steve Cohen, president of baseball operations David Stearns, and manager Carlos Mendoza met with Scott Boras and Juan Soto on Saturday in Newport Beach, CA (New York Post) – Nov. 16

  • The Mets came away “hopeful” and perhaps “optimistic” of their chances of being able to sign Soto

  • They remain viewed as one of the favorites to sign Soto, as the meeting went very well

• Someone would have to blow Juan Soto away with an offer to pry him from the Yankees, who could sign before the Winter Meetings (SNY) – Nov. 12

• Francisco Lindor has taken a role in the club’s pursuit of free agent superstar Juan Soto (ESPN) – Nov. 12

• Soto is eying a $700 million contract in free agency (New York Post) – Oct. 31

• After the Yankees lost Game 5 of the World Series, Soto told reporters all 30 clubs will be in play for his free agency this winter (watch) – Oct. 30

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Rumor Mill 💨

• It is looking increasingly likely that the Cardinals will trade Nolan Arenado this offseason (The Athletic)

• South Korean 2B Hyeseong Kim will be posted and start the process of looking for an MLB team after Thanksgiving (Yonhap News)

• The Red Sox are making it clear that they mean business this offseason, with Boston in on Juan Soto, two of the marquee free agent starters and other big free agent names too (USA Today)

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Do the Mets need to be all-in on Corbin Burnes after another blockbuster move by LA? ✍️

Getty Images

Okay, right from the jump, I’ll admit that I wasn’t going to touch the Hot Stove season in today’s newsletter. It is our final one before Thanksgiving, and with nothing really going on, I felt something light and holiday-related would have been perfect for today’s newsletter.

Best-laid plans and all that, however.

Because, thanks to the Dodgers, something huge did finally happen late on Tuesday night. LA, already a formidable juggernaut and coming off a World Series championship, added another big star to their roster after signing Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal, per MLB.com.

As a result, the Dodgers will boast a star-studded rotation in 2025 featuring Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, and, wait for it, Shohei Ohtani when the two-way superstar is ready to pitch again. Yep, that’s one scary rotation, and it automatically makes the Mets’ path to a World Series next year - and beyond - that much tougher.

Therefore, is it too much of a stretch to suggest that the Mets should now feel the pressure to be all in on Corbin Burnes?

Now, of course, you should never overreact to what other teams are doing and make a panic move as a direct result. That is just bad business.

But, on the other hand, the Mets are in the market for at least two front-line starters this winter, and with Snell now off the board, stepping up their efforts for Burnes would make sense.

We’ve done a deep dive into what Burnes can offer earlier this offseason - which you can read HERE - so I won’t go into too much detail, but the four-time All-Star would be a clear upgrade. He would also become the new ace of the team, and his credentials speak for themselves.

He’s an absolute workhorse with three straight seasons of 30 or more starts. He went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA for the Orioles in 2024, striking out 181 while issuing just 48 walks over 194.1 innings. Burnes won the Cy Young as recently as 2021. He boasts an elite pitch arsenal and is familiar to Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, dating back to their time together with the Brewers.

So, a lot of plusses there.

On the negative side, Burnes has seen a considerable drop in his strikeout rate over the last three years. He struck out 12.6 batters per nine innings in 2021, but that elite clip dropped down to 10.8 in 2022, 9.3 in 2023, and then 8.4 in 2024. That drop-off is concerning, obviously. There is also the fact that Burnes, at age 30, will be looking for a six- or seven-year deal. How exactly will that age work?

But, should the Mets be successful in their pursuit of landing Juan Soto, they will need starting pitching to help them win right now. Therefore, you could live with the backend of any potential Burnes deal if the righty can give you a couple of Cy Young-caliber seasons and help you win a World Series over the next three years. At that point, it would be well worth it.

And, with the Dodgers getting even stronger by adding Snell to an already uber talented rotation, New York should feel some pressure to match that move by going all out for Burnes, in addition to signing Soto. After all, in order to win a World Series, the Mets will need to get past LA.

Having their own talented rotation, spearheaded by a true ace like Burnes, would go a long way to making that possible.

The Dodgers have struck first this offseason by getting even stronger, and now the Mets need to respond with a blockbuster move or two of their own.

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Mets fans have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season… ✍️

Right now, it is time for the light and fluffy stuff that will taste nearly as good as a mouthwatering tray of candied yams and marshmallows.

Well, not quite, but you get the point I’m trying to make.

Anyway, as promised, I want to end our final newsletter of the week by moving away from all the Hot Stove talk and instead get into the holiday mood.

As we all prepare ourselves for a delicious feast of turkey and all the tasty sides on Thursday, Mets fans should already feel incredibly full and contented.

After all, we’ve got a lot to be thankful for already.

As we approach arguably the best holiday of the entire year, we can be satisfied knowing that the Mets are coming off a magical year and, barring anything unforeseen, should emerge from this offseason with a dramatically improved roster. It seems that almost everyone expects Juan Soto to land in Queens, while other big names like Corbin Burnes and Alex Bregman could follow too.

So, while we tuck into copious amounts of turkey and pie on Thursday, we will do so safe in the knowledge that the future looks incredibly bright for this team. That, with Steve Cohen, David Stearns, and Carlos Mendoza at the helm, a World Series all of a sudden looks like an obtainable goal, rather than a distant pipe dream.

The arrow is pointing all the way up for this franchise, and the future looks extremely bright. The Mets are arguably in the best position they’ve been in for decades.

Plus, we will be able to hold our heads up high at the Thanksgiving table for once. For so many years, it has sometimes been a little embarrassing to admit to being a Mets fan given the laughingstock this organization has been for so long. But those days, thankfully, appear to be firmly in the past. Under the careful watch of the Cohen family, this is now a well-run franchise that puts the fans first and actually cares about winning.

As a result, being a Mets fan has become fun and cool again, and it is also feasible to suggest that the Mets are one of the most competent teams in New York right now, along with the Yankees and the Knicks, Liberty and Devils.

As a Mets fan, you can actually sit proudly at the Thanksgiving table on Thursday and bask in the glow of having a team that is fun to root for and is poised to make a serious run at a championship. Rather than be the butt of everyone else’s jokes for supporting the Mets, you can actually be the one poking fun at the long-suffering Jets or Giants fans in your family. It will make for a nice change.

The Mets are (hopefully) poised to sign a true generational superstar, and they have the resources to go out and attract other big-name free agents too. That’s a far cry from the Wilpon-led Mets. This is an exciting new era for the franchise, and one we should all revel in as we overindulge over the next couple of days.

Overall, the Mets are seemingly on the cusp of something truly special, and that is something we can all be thankful for this week.

And, while we are being thankful for things, I’m incredibly thankful and grateful for being part of this wonderful community here at Just Mets. I’ve been part of the team just shy of a year now, and it has been just an amazing experience. I have loved getting the opportunity to write about the Mets on this platform, especially during what was truly an awesome season. As some of you may know, I was born in England, so I didn’t exactly grow up watching baseball. The Mets, and America’s National Pastime, was something I adopted, rather than inherited from birth. But, despite that, you have all embraced me from day one - and, I’m sure, ignored the odd British idiom that has slipped into my writing here and there - and made me feel like a true member of the family. I’ll forever be grateful for that, and I’m excited to get to cover the next chapter for this franchise.

Happy Thanksgiving, Mets fans. Enjoy the holidays.

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Around the League 🚩

• LHP Blake Snell signed a five-year, $182 million deal with the Dodgers on Tuesday night (MLB.com)

• Former Rockies OF Jake Cave is signing with the KBO’s Doosan Bears (MyKBO.net)

• The Marlins are hiring Carson Vitale away from the Mariners to be the team’s new bench coach (MLB.com)