Waiting for 'dominoes to fall': Mets patient at Meetings

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NASHVILLE -- There’s little doubt the Mets have been active over the first month-plus of the offseason, inking starting pitcher Luis Severino and infielder Joey Wendle while adding a slew of relievers through Minor League signings and waiver claims.

There’s also little doubt that the Mets have yet to land the type of big-splash acquisition that can change the profile of their 2024 roster. But don’t fret -- those market dynamics figure to change soon, once Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto choose teams.

A belief exists around the industry that many clubs are waiting for Ohtani and Yamamoto to sign before proceeding with the rest of their agendas. That makes sense from a New York perspective. While the Mets don’t have much apparent interest in Ohtani at his market price, they fit well as a suitor for Yamamoto. If they fail to land the Japanese free agent, they’ll need to pivot to other starting pitching options. But until or unless that happens, they can’t accomplish their offseason goal of addressing the rotation in full.

“It’s probably a little slower from a conversation standpoint at the Winter Meetings than it normally would [be],” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “There could be a variety of factors that contribute to that, and the possibility is that, yeah, the top of the free agent market hasn’t moved yet. Often, it takes the top of the free agent market to move for the rest of the dominoes to fall.”

The Mets do have other agenda items this offseason, including an outfielder -- either a corner profile with a big bat, or an athletic center fielder who can push Brandon Nimmo to a corner -- and multiple relievers. But starting pitching remains their largest unsolved problem, even with the acquisition of Severino.

The situation figures to change relatively soon, as Yamamoto is reportedly set to meet in person with suitors over the next week. A source recently said Yamamoto is likely to sign well before his 45-day posting period expires, meaning the Mets should almost certainly have their answer before Christmas.

But because that hasn’t happened yet, don’t expect any sort of hyperactivity from Stearns at the Winter Meetings this week. Whether the Mets land Yamamoto or not, he figures to represent an inflection point of their offseason.