By Jackson RobertsShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberArguably, no other team has more work cut out for itself this offseason than the New York Mets.
Coming off an epic collapse from mid-June through the end of September, the Mets know they need to completely revamp their pitching staff. The need will only be magnified if fourth-year starter Kodai Senga gets traded, which the Mets have been telling teams they're willing to do.
President of baseball operations David Stearns hasn't often been one to splurge on long-term contracts for pitchers, but this offseason, several of his peers think that's exactly what he'll do.
...On Wednesday, ESPN ran a survey of 16 executives from around Major League Baseball gauging opinions on this year's free agency outcomes. The Mets received six of those executives' votes to sign San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease, the most of any team.
The executives also reasoned that the Mets and Toronto Blue Jays were the likeliest big-market teams to shell out lucrative starting pitching deals.
"The Blue Jays showed up as possibilities for each pitcher, as executives believe they will add to their team after making the World Series and coming so close to winning it all this past season," wrote ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
"The Mets weren't far behind in the voting, considering their starting staff was a mess late in the year and they relied on rookies down the stretch."
Four executives also predicted that the Mets would sign Houston Astros two-time All-Star Framber Valdez, one vote behind the Blue Jays in first place.
Cease would be helpful to the Mets even if he has another down year, because he eats innings and racks up strikeouts. He's the only pitcher in the sport to strike out 200 batters in each of the last five seasons, and no other pitcher has even done it in the last three, for that matter.
However, we've also seen a tendency from Cease to put himself in Cy Young conversations every other year, and doing so in the upcoming season would fit into that pattern. If he signed with the Mets and gave them an ERA in the low threes or better, New York would immediately be a top wild card contender at a minimum.
More MLB: Don Mattingly Admits Blue Jays’ Biggest Mistake in Game 7 vs. Dodgers
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