Subscribe
Follow Us
The New York Mets entered the 2023 season with a ton of hype and expectations. With good reason too. The Mets won a whopping 101 games in 2022, good enough to make a Wild Card appearance. Unfortunately, the Mets lost a three-game series to the San Diego Padres and were quickly eliminated from the postseason. But they appeared to rectify that in the offseason by continuing to spend and make big moves. That aggressive approach led to the Mets signing both Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to make up for the bidding war they actually lost when Jacob deGrom left for the Texas Rangers. But two aces is better than one, right? Surely, the Mets would make up for deGrom's absence and the team that just hit triple-digit wins would improve.
That turned out to be wishful thinking. The Mets sputtered to begin the season and entered the All-Star break below .500 at 42-48. Things didn't get much better, and the Mets ended up becoming sellers at the August 1st trade deadline. Remember the optimism that came from them signing both Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer? Well, they traded both of them and packed up their camps for the rest of the 2023 season.
The Mets find themselves 66-78 in the middle of September, a far cry from where they were a year ago. They'll have to find ways to improve in the offseason to play better ball in 2024. Luckily for the Mets and their fans, they know their owner Steve Cohen is not shy when it comes to spending money and being aggressive looking to improve the roster. He should hit free agency hard again this offseason. A few targets in particular could help the Mets compete once again.
2. Blake Snell
The Mets' pitching staff is largely unrecognizable without deGrom, Verlander, or Scherzer in the fold. Not just unrecognizable, but also unreliable. Of the pitchers on their roster with at least 100 innings pitched on the season, only Kodai Senga has an ERA below four with a robust ERA of 3.07. Jose Quintana has an ERA of 3.05 and has played very well for the Mets as well, but he didn't make his season debut until late July and has only 10 starts under his belt this season.
Pitching hasn't been a strong point for the Mets in 2023. Their 4.43 ERA as a collective ranks 19th in the majors. They're not much better in opponents' batting average either; their .249 mark ranks 18th in baseball. The Mets also rank 21st in the majors in WHIP, 17th in strikeouts, and fifth in walks allowed. Look at a pitching metric and the Mets are in the bottom half of MLB in it.
That's why Blake Snell could be of assistance for the Mets. Snell kicked the 2023 season on a rough note. Through May, Snell's ERA was well above five. But starting in June, Snell looked every bit the ace the baseball world has been accustomed to regarding him as. His ERA for the month of June was 0.87. In July, his ERA was even better, posting an ERA of 0.56. He's been truly lights out since the start of June.
Blake Snell against the hottest offense in baseball: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8 K.
Houston had a 153 wRC+ vs. LHP (#1 in #MLB) since the All-Star break entering today.
Mayor of Him City. 👑 @snellzilla4pic.twitter.com/gBlmk59UgE
— Ahaan Rungta (@AhaanRungta) September 9, 2023
On the season, Snell has an ERA of 2.52. That number ranks second in all of MLB with only Justin Steele of the Chicago Cubs posting a better mark. He also has a 1.25 WHIP, a +4.9 WAR, and a solid +2.3 K/BB ratio. Snell's going to be one of the best players to be a free agent, let alone pitcher. He is going to want a hefty pay day, but again, everyone knows Steve Cohen isn't afraid to drop a major bag. Throwing the bag at Snell, a former AL Cy Young winner in 2018, would not be the worst idea in the world whatsoever.
1. Aaron Nola
If the Mets want to improve their pitching staff under any circumstance, Blake Snell is a great candidate to target. Another possibility would be Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies. Nola's numbers aren't as robust as Snell's this season. His 4.64 ERA and 1.6 WAR are far below Snell's numbers. But that doesn't mean Nola forgot how to pitch. In 2022, Nola posted a 3.25 ERA and 0.96 WHIP across 205 inning pitched. His +8.1 K/BB ratio was a career-high.
On top of that prolific production, Nola is durable. Outside of an elbow injury in 2016 that warranted the Phillies to shut him down, Nola hasn't missed much time at all during his MLB career. Only his rookie season and the 2020-shortened COVID season has Nola not made more than 20 starts in a campaign. That includes that 2016 season. If that season gets also excluded, Nola has made at least 27 starts in every season of his career. He's basically made it through every full MLB season since 2017. The Mets surely would love to have the peace of mind that comes with a great pitcher that can stay healthy. Nola fits that bill. Poaching a star from a division rival can't hurt either.
The Mets' willingness to spend big hasn't been their issue. The problem has been finding the right pieces to go after. The New York pitching staff is barren after swinging big on older aces in Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Blake Snell and Aaron Nola, however, are both only 30 years old. They'd make plenty of sense for the Mets to pursue in the offseason.
It'll be worth monitoring the Mets to see who they pursue and if that pursuit includes Snell or Nola or both.
