The New York Mets entered 2025 with high hopes and a roster built to compete, but by the end, their rotation had completely fallen apart. What started as a potential strength quickly turned into one of the team’s biggest weaknesses, and it cost them dearly when it mattered most.
Prospects were called up out of necessity rather than opportunity, while veterans failed to hold the line. The end result was a staff running on fumes — a reminder that patchwork rotations rarely survive the grind of a full season.
President of baseball operations David Stearns didn’t sugarcoat the issue, making it clear that run prevention and pitching will be the top priorities this winter. For a team with the Mets’ financial muscle and competitive window, that means action, not excuses.
Pitching depth will define the Mets’ offseason
Stearns’ message has been simple: the Mets can’t afford to cut corners again. They need reliable arms, not temporary fixes. That doesn’t necessarily mean chasing the most expensive free agents, but it does mean being smart — and perhaps taking a calculated gamble or two.
One such gamble could be veteran right-hander Shane Bieber. Once a Cy Young winner and one of baseball’s most dominant arms, Bieber has spent the 2025 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, even pitching in the World Series. It’s been a comeback year for the 30-year-old, who battled through injuries and surgery in recent seasons.
Bieber posted a 3.57 ERA over 40.1 innings, with an 84.4% left-on-base rate and a 48.2% ground ball rate. Those are solid numbers for a pitcher still working his way back to full form. His command remains sharp, and his underlying metrics suggest he’s not far from rediscovering the consistency that made him one of the league’s most efficient starters.
Why Bieber could be the right gamble
For the Mets, this kind of move makes sense. Bieber won’t command the kind of megadeal that top-tier free agents will. Instead, he’s likely looking for either a one-year “prove it” deal or a multi-year contract at a reasonable price. That’s exactly the type of opportunity a team like the Mets should explore — one with upside but minimal long-term risk.
Bieber’s ability to induce weak contact and pitch deep into games, when healthy, could give the Mets exactly what they’ve lacked: stability. Pairing him with a more proven ace would create balance, something that was sorely missing down the stretch last season.
The key, though, will be avoiding another offseason of half-measures. Stearns has the resources and the mandate to fix this staff, and Bieber could represent the first step in a much-needed overhaul.
The Mets don’t just need innings — they need confidence restored. And taking a smart swing on a proven arm like Bieber might be exactly how they start building that back.