The Mets have their eyes on a lot of pitching this winter, and the chase for Tarik Skubal figures to dominate plenty of the conversation. But if that route proves too costly or too complicated, New York may need to pivot - and Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen makes a lot of sense as the kind of arm worth a serious swing.
Rasmussen is only under club control for one more season, and that gives the Rays a decision to make. If they decide to move him, they could try to cash him in for prospects with more long-term runway. For the Mets, that kind of opening could be tempting, especially with rotation help sitting near the top of the offseason wishlist.
The appeal is obvious. Rasmussen has a $20 million club option, which is a strong price for a frontline starter.
He’s heading into his age-32 season, and the past two years have been elite: back-to-back All-Star nods, a 16-5 record this past regular season, and a 2.67 ERA to go with a 159 ERA+, 0.91 WHIP, 2.82 FIP, 174 strikeouts and 4.7 bWAR. He also walked just 1.7 batters per nine innings across 172 innings and 30 starts, then added a 1.29 ERA in two postseason starts this year.
The hard part is figuring out the price. Tampa Bay isn’t going to move its top starter cheaply, and the Mets would be buying one year of control on a pitcher who would come in as a short-term fix. That usually means overpaying, but New York should at least consider it because Rasmussen has been that good and because the rotation needs a lift.
One possible framework would be a package built around right-hander Jonah Tong and third baseman Jacob Reimer. Tong brings a fastball-changeup mix that fits Tampa Bay’s pitch profile, since the Rays throw the most changeups in baseball.
He had a rougher 2026, but the year before he led the minors with a 1.43 ERA and 179 strikeouts. He’s still only 23.
Reimer, meanwhile, gives the Rays something with upside and some offensive juice. He’s the Mets’ No. 6 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and while he took a step back in 2026, he had a strong 2025 season split between High-A and Double-A.
In 122 games that year, he hit .282/.379/.491 with a .870 OPS, 17 home runs, 77 RBI and 15 stolen bases. That right-handed power could appeal to Tampa Bay.
It would be a risky move for New York to part with Tong and Reimer for a starter with only one year left on the books. Still, the Mets have already shown they’re willing to deal from the top of the farm for pitching, sending Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to the Milwaukee Brewers last winter for Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers.
That trade didn’t work out, but the logic remains the same: if the Mets want the top of the rotation fixed, they may have to pay up. Rasmussen would cost plenty.
He might also be worth it.
In Other News...
Former Mets Manager Lands With Rival As Offseason Fallout Grows
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Philadelphia also moved on from hitting coach Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson as part of the staff overhaul. For Mets fans, Mendozas new job adds another layer to an offseason already full of fallout, with a former skipper now helping guide a division rivals day-to-day operations in the field. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Fans Will Have Strong Opinions On How These Top Prospects Panned Out
Since 2011, the Mets have had 13 different players sit atop MLB Pipelines prospect list, and the track record has produced plenty of debate for a fan base that remembers every miss, every injury and every breakthrough. Sorting those names from worst to best based on major league performance so far is the kind of exercise that instantly turns into a referendum on how the organization has developed talent, with the evaluation built around big-league value, longevity and numbers like bWAR and ERA.
The list brings together a familiar mix of old and new, from Travis dArnaud, Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard and Amed Rosario to newer headliners such as Francisco Alvarez, Ronny Mauricio, Jett Williams, Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean. For Mets fans, the appeal is obvious, because these rankings do more than revisit a prospect history, they hint at how much promise has already been cashed in and how much is still waiting to be written. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Could Revisit A Surprising Deadline Decision This Offseason
The Mets reshaped both their roster and their farm system at the summer deadline, but the story around those moves may not be finished once the offseason arrives. With several of the players sent out still in the mix as possible targets for a return, the front office has to balance what it gave up with what those names could still mean to the club heading into next year.
Freddy Peralta is one of the more interesting cases because of how things have lined up since the deadline, and Steve Cohens presence at an ALCS game he started only added to the sense that the door is not fully closed. Robert, Peterson, Minter and Peralta all carry different contract and performance angles, which means the Mets could end up revisiting one of the more surprising deadline decisions if the market and their own roster needs point them back in that direction. [Read more 🡒]