The New York Mets would like to erase the finish of their 2025 season from everyone’s memory.

What started out as such a promising season in the first of 15 with star outfielder Juan Soto, turned into a nightmare that the Mets can’t wake up from.

There are an abundance of reasons why the team fell off so hard. The offense went cold down the stretch outside of the big three (Soto, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor), the defense was sloppy and most importantly, the pitching staff regressed tremendously due to injuries.

Their top starter when the Mets had the best record in baseball was Kodai Senga, who was bullying hitters with his nasty “ghost forkball” before he got hurt midway through the season. He came back around the All-Star break but pitched so bad the team had to option him to Triple-A Syracuse.

Clay Holmes transitioned into a starter for the Mets, and though he pitched to a 12-8 record with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP, New York needs to find a bonified ace to anchor the rotation that will likely feature Holmes, possibly Senga, Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat.

Detroit Tigers ace lefty Tarik Skubal has been an intriguing name floating around and despite the Mets having the weapons to get a deal done, a move on Skubal is highly unlikely. There are solid options on the free agent market like Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez, but the Mets’ best hope at landing a stud starting pitcher will be in the trade market.

Minnesota Twins ace righty Joe Ryan was made available at the trade deadline last year and ESPN’s Buster Olney thinks Ryan could be moved for the right price.

“The best example: Joe Ryan, who is eligible for free agency after the '27 season. Typically, the Twins could wait until next summer's trade deadline to consider taking offers for Ryan,” Olney wrote Wednesday. “However, with many executives believing that at least some of the '27 season is in jeopardy because of the labor strife, placing an appropriate trade valuation on Ryan will be much, much more complicated next July; teams might not be willing to part with significant return if they believe the '27 season will be truncated or lost. So if teams want to get proper return on players like Ryan, they could be better served to take offers this winter, rather than waiting until next summer.”

Ryan was an All-Star this season and posted a 13-10 record with a 3.42 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 31 outings. His ERA ballooned a bit post All-Star break, but he was pitching for a heavily depleted Twins team. The stuff and Moxy are there.