Mets had other plan in place to bolster bullpen but it fell apart at Winter Meetings
By Austin Owens
On paper, the New York Mets have had one of the best (if not the best offseason) in Major League Baseball. In addition to adding the most wanted free agent on the market, Juan Soto, the Mets have improved their team more than a casual fan might realize.
Starting pitcher Sean Manaea is returning to the rotation in 2025, outfielder/DH Jesse Winker is ready to provide some depth and Clay Holmes has been plugged in at the back end of the bullpen.
On Friday, the Mets added another trusted high-leverage relief pitcher when they agreed to terms with former Atlanta Brave rival A.J. Minter. However, this was not the original plan the Mets had to improve their bullpen. It worked out pretty well in the end, but another deal was in the works before falling through in the Winter Meetings.
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Mets and Royals almost had a deal
Pat Ragazzo of New York Mets on SI tells us that earlier this winter the Mets and Kansas City Royals were in talks about a deal that would have improved the Mets bullpen heavily. This trade would have sent veteran outfielder Starling Marte to the Royals in exchange for relief pitcher Hunter Harvey.
In an attempt to make the deal a little more intruiging, the Mets were even willing to take on a part of Marte's salary, however it was not enough for Kansas City to oblige.
Based off of each players 2024 season, this trade would have been more than fair. It likely came down to the fact that Marte is 36 years of age now and missed an extended period of time last year because of injury, making him a big risk.
Marte did still contribute quite a bit to the Mets magical postseason run where he hit .277 and drove in nine runs across 13 games when they mattered the most.
Harvey is coming off the worst season as a professional, posting a 4.44 ERA in 50.2 innings of work split between the Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals. On the surface, it may sound like the Royals declined an offer to get a better player but the upside that Harvey possesses is not worth losing. Harvey had an impressive sub-3.00 ERA in both 2022 and 2023 with the Nationals.
Now that the Mets have signed A.J. Minter, and have Clay Holmes ready to close the door in tight games, moving Starling Marte seems unlikely — unless other teams desperate for outfield depth get wind of this conversation that happened a few weeks back and check in on his availability, as long as the Mets would still take on some of his salary.