The New York Mets already won the offseason in a sense, as they won the Juan Soto sweepstakes. Not only did they give him the richest contract a professional athlete has ever received, but they signed him away from the New York Yankees in the process. In Soto, the Mets have a generational 26-year-old outfielder under control for what will likely be the remainder of his career.
As exciting as the Soto signing is - and it's hard to get more exciting than that - the job is not finished. If the 2025 season began today, an argument can (and probably should) be made that the Mets are the third-best team in their own division.
Addressing their vacant first base spot as well as their lackluster bullpen should be focal points, but the starting rotation - even with the additions of Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes - needs work, too. Kodai Senga is healthy, but the Mets already lost Luis Severino to free agency, and could lose both Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana as well. Severino, Manaea, and Quintana were their three innings leaders from this past season.
Given their need in the rotation, the Mets are set to meet with Nick Pivetta on Wednesday, according to Jon Heyman of the NY Post. While sure, he'd make their rotation better, it'd be hard not to have that dampen the mood just a tad after winning the Soto sweepstakes.
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Nick Pivetta should not be Mets top rotation target
There's a lot to like with Pivetta. He's thrown at least 145 innings in each of his last four seasons, has great strikeout stuff (28.9 percent K rate in 2024), and does a good job avoiding walks (6.1 BB rate in 2024). With that being said, though, there's a lot to dislike, as well.
First, he does not have a single season in his career with an ERA below 4.00. While he's a fine fourth starter, he hasn't pitched like anything more than that based on his ERAs. Second, he's wildly inconsistent. This past season he had five starts in which he went at least five innings and didn't allow a single earned run. He also had four starts in which he allowed five or more runs and failed to complete five innings. He's flashed great potential, but often follows that up with subpar outings.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, Pivetta received and rejected the qualifying offer, meaning that the Mets would have to forfeit draft pick compensation. For a team trying to win now, that shouldn't be the end of the world, but the Mets already had to forfeit two picks to sign Juan Soto. Would they be willing to forfeit another two? They might for a high-end free agent, but Pivetta really isn't that.
If the Mets are willing to give Pivetta a multi-year deal and part with draft pick compensation, why not just re-sign Sean Manaea? The Mets are familiar with Manaea given the fact that he pitched for them this past season, Manaea would not cost any draft pick compensation, and while his price tag might be higher, he's also better than Pivetta. If they're willing to give up the draft pick compensation, why not go out and sign a better player since we know money isn't an issue?
Would Pivetta be an upgrade? Yes. Would the Mets need to do a lot more to get closer to competing with the Dodgers? Also yes. Pivetta is fine, but isn't enough of a needle mover, especially to give up those two draft picks, when other appealing options are out there.