BY MIKE RIFKIN
One of the greatest Queen songs is Under Pressure (with David Bowie), there’s a lyric in that song : “ Can’t we give ourselves one more chance?”. And that lyric today applies to somebody in Queens New York and that is David Stearns, President of Baseball Ops for the New York Mets. With the offseason kicking into high gear early with the impending lockout. Stearns needs to figure a way to make the Mets into a playoff team again, just two years removed from being two wins away from a World Series appearance. So how can Stearns save face with an angry fan base, here’s what I would do in his shoes
- SIGN TARIK SKUBAL – Yeah, I’m going out on a limb by saying sign the best pitcher in the sport. At the age of 30 and being represented by Scott Boras you know Skubal is going to get paid. The Mets need to be the highest bidder as they were with Juan Soto.
- TRADE FOR ANOTHER STARTER – Let me be honest the free agent market for Starting Pitching is filled with veterans and a lot of question marks (guys who can’t stay healthy). So utilize the trade market, teams like Seattle ( George Kirby, Logan Gilbert), Minnesota (Joe Ryan), etc… Maybe the Mets use a chip like Mark Vientos to get that starter. No offense but I have no real interest in Michael King or somebody along those lines.
- BULLPEN HELP : There was some surprises out of the bullpen last season including Kodai Senga. Nate Lavender had a 1.66 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched. Some interesting names on the market, all of whom have pitched in big games are Bryan Abreu (Astros), Pete Fairbanks (Rays), Alex Vesia (Dodgers), Jose Alvarado (Phillies), Kevin Ginkel (D-Backs) and Jason Adam (Padres) are all names that are enticing to me.
- Trade one of Marcus Semien or Jorge Polanco – Letting Pete Alonso walk and replacing him with Jorge Polanco should have Stearns tried for crimes against humanity. Polanco barely played during the season and when he did he was ineffective. Polanco had two homers and six RBI’S and slashed .148/.201/.230. Semien on the other hand was traded for another fan favorite in Brandon Nimmo. Semien had a better year than Polanco, but it wasn’t a great season. He had 15 homers and 49 RBI’S with a slash line of .215/.280/.340. Semien will be 37 in September and still has years left on his deal while Polanco will enter the final year of his deal, which might make him easier to deal.
- ADD RIGHT HANDED THUMP : The Mets thinking on letting Alonso walk (dumb I know) was they thought Mark Vientos would revert back to 2024 and that just hasn’t happened. Maybe a guy like Taylor Ward to come in and platoon at first base with Jared Young could be beneficial. Another intriguing name for the outfield and potential DH would be Adolis Garcia, who got hurt in Philly last season.
We’re less than a month away from the CBA ending, but between now and then David Stearns needs to be aggressive and shaping the Mets into the contender most pundits thought they were a year ago. Because if he cannot fix this, he’ll no longer be considered the King Of Queens.
