The New York Mets need to flush the 2025 season from their memory and move onto bigger and better things.
After topping the Major League Baseball standings early in June with a 45-24 record, the Mets proceeded to lose 55 of their last 93 games and missed out on a playoff berth.
What was once a phenomenal and stingy rotation turned into an injury-riddled mess that couldn’t get outs. What was once a powerful and dynamic high-octane offense turned into a shell of itself and cooled off down the stretch. The defense wasn’t great all year long and it showed in the final product.
The offense may be reeling more than it was to end the season given the news that first baseman Pete Alonso is testing free agency again after the Mets re-signed him to a two-year contract last offseason. Alonso somehow had no takers last offseason, so the Mets brought him back on a low-risk deal. Only this time, I don’t think New York will have the same luck as last year.
Superstar and Most Valuable Player candidate Juan Soto completed his first of 15 seasons with the Mets and he didn’t disappoint. He hit well, per usual, but he also led the team with 38 stolen bases.
Those numbers are great and Soto will continue to dominate opposing pitching, but if the Mets don’t address their own pitching woes, Soto’s numbers won’t matter.
The three young studs that were called up in the second half to try and save the season (Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat) will need a veteran rotation anchor to help guide them through the long MLB season.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan believes that two-time All-Star lefty Framber Valdez would be the perfect offseason transaction for New York.
“The Mets have plenty of options to recover from their collapse in 2025 -- and it starts with pitching. Bringing back Edwin Díaz makes sense, yes, but the more pressing issue is in the rotation,” Passan wrote Tuesday. “As reticent as president of baseball operations David Stearns is to sign starting pitchers to long-term deals, the alternative is to dip into their farm system and trade for them. And while that remains a possibility, one thing owner Steve Cohen has is money, and free agency is the optimal vessel to utilize it. So who better to go after than the most consistent starter available to join a rotation that is anything but consistent? Sign free agent left-hander Framber Valdez.”
Valdez, who will be 32 on Opening Day, went 13-11 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 31 starts in 2025. The 2022 World Series champion would bring pedigree and reliability to a starting rotation that needs it.