Mets dream Opening Day rotation after free agency: Southpaws headline revamped rotation

The New York Mets just wrapped up their most memorable season in nearly a decade. Despite entering the 2024 campaign with low expectations, New York not only made it to the postseason, but made a run to the NLCS. They'd lose in six games to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, but the future is bright in Queens.

With a substantial amount of money coming off the books, the Mets are primed to have a huge offseason, giving themselves a better chance to get to the World Series for the first time since 2015.

With Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Jose Quintana - their three leaders in starts from this past season - hitting free agency, the rotation is an area David Stearns must pay a lot of attention to. Signing Juan Soto would be awesome, but the Mets will get nowhere without adding several pitchers to start games for them.

This dream rotation outlined below would be the best possible, yet somewhat realistic, outcome.

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Mets sign Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to replace Luis Severino and Tylor Megill in the rotation

Corbin Burnes is seen as the best starting pitcher available in free agency, and for good reason, but Blake Snell should be their No. 1 target over Burnes for several reasons. Burnes has a qualifying offer, meaning that the Mets would have to part with a draft pick to sign him. Snell does not. Burnes has seen his strikeout rate dip in each of his last four seasons. Additionally, Burnes should fetch a much larger deal than Snell in terms of years and dollars.

Snell wasn't quite as dominant as he was during his Cy Young season of 2023, but he did finish his season by posting a 1.23 ERA in his final 14 starts and 80.1 innings of work. He has a knack for finishing strongly, and that can come in handy for a team trying to make a deep run like New York. The fact that he only has two seasons of 130 or more innings of work is a bit concerning, but Snell, when healthy, is as good of a southpaw as there is in the game.

In addition to Snell, the Mets sign Roki Sasaki in this dream scenario. The Mets aren't seen as favorites to sign the Japanese right-hander, but given the fact that they play in a big market, are contenders, and have Kodai Senga in their rotation, they should have a chance to sign him. Having Sasaki, a 23-year-old phenom, slot into the back of their rotation would be the ultimate dream come true.

What makes signing Sasaki and Snell, two elite starters, plausible is the fact that Sasaki will be signing a minor league deal with a signing bonus. He won't be getting the mega-deal that major free agents like Snell and Burnes will get.

Mets trade for Garrett Crochet to replace Jose Quintana in the rotation

In addition to signing two of the best starters in free agency, the Mets pull off a blockbuster trade, acquiring Garrett Crochet to slot right behind Snell at the top of the rotation. His first season as a starter could not have been much better, as he was an All-Star and struck out over 200 batters. For much of the season, he looked like one of the best pitchers in the American League.

Given the fact that he's just 25 years old, has two more years of cheap club control, and has Cy Young upside, the Chicago White Sox are going to ask for a ton in return for their best trade chip. The Mets have the prospect capital to get a deal done, thanks in large part to Chicago's desire to add position players.

There's some risk that comes with adding Crochet, given his injury history and the fact that he has not thrown more than 146 innings in a single season, but his upside is matched by few starters in the league. There aren't many chances to add 25-year-old aces who come with two years of cheap club control. The Mets shouldn't miss this opportunity.

Mets re-sign Sean Manaea, keeping major piece of rotation intact

A lot went right for the Mets this past season, but Sean Manaea pitching like an ace was perhaps the biggest surprise of all. The best part is his breakout season feels sustainable.

Overall, the southpaw posted a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts and 181.2 innings of work during the regular season, but the way he finished his season shows that he should be re-signed. Manaea had a 3.09 ERA in his final 12 regular season starts, striking out 83 batters in 75.2 innings of work. The Mets went 10-2 in those games and 23-9 in his starts overall. From July 30 through the end of the season, Manaea led the majors with those 75.2 innings pitched, and his nine quality starts in that span ranked second in the majors.

His outstanding run to finish out the regular season correlated directly to his decision to switch up his arm angle to match Chris Sale's. Manaea was nothing short of dominant with that funky delivery and even looked good in three of his four postseason starts as well.

Re-signing Manaea should be one of David Stearns' top priorities this offseason. Hopefully, he's one of many high-end arms added to this rotation.