These Burning Questions Will Help Determine Mets Offseason

The New York Mets certainly didn’t expect to be doing their “end of season” press conference at the end of September, as GM David Stearns noted recently, and the date barely hints at the number of things that went wrong this year. The Mets finished last in the NL East after being expected to contend, so there are a boatload of things that need to be fixed going forward. 

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com took a run at all this with a “burning questions” piece, and several are worth considering. Here are the ones we found interesting, along with some possible answers. 

Will the Mets acquire an ace?

This is an obvious question, but it does point to a specific problem as DiComo also asked the question of whether the Mets actually need one. 

This points to the problem, really. Stearns mentioned the possibility of going bottom feeding for depth at the back of the rotation, while owner Steve Cohen will undoubtedly want to go star hunting for Tarik Skubal if he can outspend the field, although the lockout will obviously play a large role in what will happen. 

Stearns and Cohen did this dance last year, and the result was a last-minute signing of infielder Bo Bichette, who really didn’t fit all that well. The wild card this year is new exec Derek Falvey, who may or may not be making or influencing the decision this time around. 

Will Bo Bichette opt in? 

DiComo thinks Bichette will stick around, but that’s just speculation at this point given how close to the vest the infielder is playing his decision. He’d have a tough time getting more money, but Bichette might decide he’s had enough of life as a Met, which would be more than understandable. 

Either choice creates a new set of questions, but there’s not much sense in trying to answer them now. We’ll know more after the World Series, which is when Bichette will have to make his call. 

Who will start on the right side of the infield?

This one’s pretty fascinating. Both Stearns and manager Andy Green have stated that second baseman Marcus Semien won’t be guaranteed anything beyond the $46 million for the two years remaining on his contract. 

As DiComo noted, the simplest answer there may be a platoon between Brett Baty and Semien, but Jared Young is also in play as a platoon option at first base. Top prospects Jefferson Rojas and Mitch Voit might also be in play at second, so none of this is going to be easy to figure out going forward.