The New York Mets have spent the winter scanning the outfield market like a team that knows it cannot afford to sit still. Kyle Tucker was the big swing, and for a moment it felt real. Then the Dodgers swooped in with a short-term deal and changed the temperature of the room. Since then, the Mets have stayed active, poking around Cody Bellinger, checking in on Harrison Bader, monitoring Luis Robert Jr., and keeping plenty of other names warm in the margins.
That focus makes sense. It also risks missing the larger issue staring everyone in Queens right in the face.
The Rotation Told the Story Last Summer
The second half of last season was not subtle. It was loud, public, and unforgiving. Kodai Senga went down. Tylor Megill followed. Frankie Montas never found traction. Griffin Canning tore his Achilles. By August, the Mets were asking too much of a rotation held together by good intentions and young arms still learning where the guardrails were.
Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong did everything they could. Their emergence mattered. It still was not enough. The Mets missed the playoffs not because the offense disappeared, but because the rotation simply could not survive three and a half months of attrition. You can build around youth. You cannot hide behind it.
That reality is shaping how the Mets are approaching this winter, even if the headlines keep drifting back to the outfield.
Why Another Starter Is Not Optional
This rotation does not need flash for the sake of flash. It needs reliability. Preferably young, controllable, and capable of taking the ball every fifth day without drama. A true frontline arm would change the ceiling, but even a strong mid-rotation starter would stabilize the entire staff.
The Mets have been linked to almost every archetype imaginable. Tarik Skubal and Freddy Peralta represent the trade-market dream scenarios. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen sit at the top of the free-agent board as proven anchors. None of these paths are simple, but the intent is obvious. This team does not want to relive last July.
The Long-Shot Names and the Cost of Potential
MacKenzie Gore and Kris Bubic keep popping up in rumors, though Will Sammon of The Athletic poured cold water on both possibilities. He labeled them long shots, and the logic tracks.
Gore is fascinating. He is 26, owns top-prospect pedigree, and flashes the kind of strikeout ability teams dream on. His 4.17 ERA over 159.2 innings last season does not jump off the page, but the 10.43 strikeouts per nine innings do. The Mets could believe there is another gear here. The problem is price. Betting on upside means surrendering real prospect capital, and that calculation gets uncomfortable quickly.
Bubic, meanwhile, feels even less realistic. A 2.55 ERA across 20 starts is not something Kansas City is eager to move, especially with their own competitive window beginning to open. The Mets can ask. They probably already have. That does not mean the Royals will listen.
Where the Mets Actually Stand
Peralta remains the most interesting name in the mix, a Brewers ace with swing-and-miss stuff who fits what the Mets need right now. Valdez and Gallen offer safer floors via free agency, albeit at premium prices. None of this is accidental.
The Mets learned a hard lesson at last year’s deadline. Waiting for clarity can turn into waiting too long. This front office knows it. The urgency feels different this winter, quieter but more deliberate.
Outfield upgrades will come. They usually do. But if the Mets want October baseball back in Queens, the real move is still waiting on the mound. And this time, they seem determined not to blink.