SAN DIEGO — The Mets will enter spring training with maybe the top 1-2 starting pitching punch in baseball, but where are they headed for the third act?
After agreeing to a two-year contract worth $86.6 million with Justin Verlander a day earlier — the three-time Cy Young award winner will reunite with former Tigers teammate Max Scherzer atop the rotation — team officials on Tuesday were considering the options for at least one starting pitching addition to fill a gaping hole.
Much of the team’s intrigue has surrounded Kodai Senga, a Japanese right-hander who met with general manager Billy Eppler last month. Senga is viewed as within the club’s price range for a third starter, according to an industry source, and there has been mention that he might prefer the big stage in a major market for a team ready to win next season.
Senga, who turns 30 in January, throws a fastball that can touch triple digits and uses a splitter as his secondary pitch. Last season he averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings and pitched to a 1.94 ERA for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Eppler’s experience with Japanese pitchers — for the Yankees he scouted Masahiro Tanaka and as Angels GM signed Shohei Ohtani — has served as a plus in Senga’s recruitment.
The Mets have options other than Senga, including Jameson Taillon, Ross Stripling, Taijuan Walker and Chris Bassitt. One possibility with whom the Mets were involved was removed from the board Tuesday when left-hander Andrew Heaney agreed to a two-year deal worth $25 million. The top lefty starter on the market, Carlos Rodon, likely isn’t a fit for the Mets given Verlander’s mega-bucks signing and the team’s desire to address other needs. Verlander was signed after Jacob deGrom last week departed to Texas on a five-year contract worth $185 million. The deal carries a sixth-year option that could increase the contract’s value to $222 million.
Other needs include the bullpen and outfield. On the latter front, the Mets have remained in contact with Brandon Nimmo, according to sources, but there weren’t plans to meet with the outfielder during the winter meetings. Nimmo met with teams for a second straight day on Tuesday at the meetings.
Nimmo’s agent, Scott Boras, held court with reporters and was asked about the Mets’ aggressiveness in pursuing his client.
“The Mets are on a championship Met-a-morphis and there is nothing I have seen that has changed their direction or attitude toward getting their best players in the marketplace,” Boras said.
He later added: “We’re certainly in the process of talking, me and a number of teams, a center fielder who is also a leadoff guy with his character is in great demand.”
It’s possible Nimmo’s market won’t fully form until Aaron Judge’s free agency is resolved. Nimmo is considered the second-best outfielder on the market, and the loser of the battle between the Yankees and Giants for Judge, could pivot in that direction. If Nimmo signs elsewhere, the Mets could look toward a corner outfielder with the idea of shifting Starling Marte to center. But it’s hardly the ideal scenario given that Marte is 34 years old and last season battled groin injuries.
The Mets have shown interest in Andrew Benintendi as a possible corner-outfield option. Kevin Kiermaier would bring a good glove if the Mets want to sign a center fielder, but offensively perhaps wouldn’t bring enough to a lineup needing a bat.