The Mets are heading into another pivotal winter with David Stearns under pressure to get this team back to the postseason in 2027, and that means some of his usual rules may have to bend.
Last season’s 74-win finish came after a year in which New York missed the playoffs by one game, and the payroll still sat second in baseball. Stearns has leaned on his own preferences since taking over, but this offseason could force the Mets to step outside that comfort zone if they want to rebuild into a winner. Three names stand out as fits even if they don’t match his usual approach.
Tarik Skubal is the headliner, and for good reason. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is the biggest prize on the market, and landing him would almost certainly require the Mets to do something Stearns usually avoids: hand out a starting-pitcher deal longer than three years.
Skubal is expected to command the richest contract ever for a starter, with Scott Boras representing him after guiding Gerrit Cole to a massive deal following the 2019 season. That contract could top Cole’s $324 million and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s $325 million.
The Mets already went big under Stearns when they signed Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million deal two years ago, and they may need that same level of aggression again if they want Skubal anchoring the rotation.
Teruaki Sato belongs on the list too, even if the fit isn’t perfectly clean on paper. The Japanese slugger just won the Triple Crown in the NPB, but The Athletic’s Will Sammon reported earlier in the week that the Mets are “less inclined” to pursue him now that Bo Bichette has exercised his $42 million option for next season.
Still, Sato is the kind of bat New York should not ignore. Stearns scouted him in Japan last season, and Sato could slide to first base while bringing the power the Mets have lacked there since Pete Alonso departed for the Baltimore Orioles.
The Mets may have missed their chance to land Munetaka Murakami out of Japan last year, and signing Sato would be a way to make up for that.
Adrian Morejon is the more practical gamble, though it still runs against Stearns’ usual long-term thinking. The Padres extended him the qualifying offer, which means any team signing him would have to surrender its second- and fifth-highest draft picks in the next MLB Draft, along with $1 million in international bonus pool money.
That kind of cost is exactly the sort of thing Stearns tends to avoid. But if the goal is an elite bullpen, Morejon is the move.
The 27-year-old lefty has been one of the best relievers in the league for several seasons, and he would fit on a multi-year deal.
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