The beginning of 2024 looks a lot like the end of 2023 for the Mets.
With spring training set to begin in six weeks, new president of baseball operations David Stearns still has a considerable amount of holes to fill after what’s been an uneventful start to free agency in Queens.
Luis Severino remains the team’s most expensive signing of the offseason on a one-year, $13 million deal following his rough final season with the Yankees.
Severino will join fellow newcomer Adrian Houser, as well as Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana and — for now — possibly Tylor Megill in the rotation, with Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto providing depth.
Clearly, the Mets have to add a starter to the rotation prior to the start of the season, as well as bring in help in the bullpen, at third base and in the outfield.
So far, they’ve been unable to land any big names, despite Stearns’ résumé and Steve Cohen’s deep pockets.
Since their top priority in free agency, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, spurned them, the Mets could turn to Shota Imanaga, but they remain disinclined to enter the market for other long-term deals as the team resets in 2024.
That means lefties like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, who both figure to be costly coming off strong seasons, will likely land elsewhere, leaving the Mets to pick through other options.
Imanaga, the 30-year-old coming over from Japan, remains an intriguing option before the next tier of available free agents, which includes Mike Clevinger, Sean Manaea and Hyun-jin Ryu, who returned from Tommy John surgery last season.
Ryu, another lefty, turns 37 in March, but performed fairly well for Toronto after coming back in August, with a 3.46 ERA in 52 innings.
Due to the elbow surgery and the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Ryu has pitched more than 67 innings in a season just once since 2019.
Despite that, he could work on a one-year deal, with the Mets disinclined to spend heavily on the rotation after losing out on Yamamoto.
As for the lineup, they’ve expressed an interest in former Yankee Gio Urshela, who is coming off an injury-plagued 2023 and is part of an underwhelming class of third basemen behind Matt Chapman.
The Mets have also considered a reunion with Justin Turner, with the ex-Met able to rotate between DH, third base and second base, as well as potentially fill in for Pete Alonso at first.
J.D. Martinez is another possibility as a DH.
Whit Merrifield split time between the outfield and second base for the Blue Jays last season and is a free agent, although his skill set may be too similar to that of Jeff McNeil’s for the Mets’ current needs now that Ronny Mauricio is out with a torn ACL, leaving only Brett Baty and Mark Vientos as potential everyday options at the position.
It’s not the start to the Stearns’ era many Mets’ fans may have envisioned, but he and Cohen have made it clear they intend to be competitive in 2024.