Mets HUGE Offseason Plan Just Got Leaked...

Mets huge offseason plan just got leaked. David Stearns is eyeing Tarik Skubal or should I say Steve Cohen is eyeing the Dodgers ace and will not be outbid for him regardless of what happens during the offseason. What's going on guys? I'm Josh Byrne. You're tuned into Mets Digest. Guys, thank you for all the support. 67% of viewers are not subscribed so if you're enjoying the updates please do consider doing so we know that steve cohen is a big splash guy they call him uncle stevie for a reason and that's because he has bigger pockets than anybody else in major league baseball and that's also why fans are very at least for a while uh trust trusting of him obviously that's changed a little bit with the lack of success the team has had in the past two years but I believe Steve Cohen is determined to turn things around and punch out pitch noted on X yesterday that per Chelsea Janes the Mets are expected to match whatever money Tarik Skubal gets offered in free agency this is massive news because while we had heard rumors about the Mets and their interest in the left-handed ace now on the Los Angeles Dodgers who look like they could be eliminated very soon by those pesky Milwaukee Brewers or should I say not pesky I mean they won just about 100 games this past year but nonetheless Tarek Skubal one of the top pitchers in the game we'd heard about the connection for to the Mets for a while but most of that was just rooted in the logic of the Mets are going to continue to be big spenders and the Mets need to make a big move to improve this team that just won 74 games. And when you look at what Tarik Skubal was able to do in the big year of 2026, well, he put up another amazing season. And it was honestly an even bigger importance to him this year as he was dealing with some injury considerations. And for him to go out there and put up 158 and two thirds is a big victory and show that he's healthy and continuing to be one of the most dominant pitchers in all of major league baseball so he is slated to get a massive payday uh in terms of what the contract looks like will it hit 500 million look if Steve Cohen is involved in the bidding whether the Mets are able to sign Tarik Skubal or not that's only going to drive up the price we've seen it happen we've seen the Mets come out on both sides of this before where they are high bidders and either they get the player or they shoot up the price and the player and the player's agent kind of plays the Mets in terms of getting that contract up of which I don't blame them for because if you have a high bidder that won't back down like Steve Cohen tends to be, then why wouldn't you, at the very least, even if you're not really considering coming here, why wouldn't you utilize that to your advantage? Now, in terms of Tarik Skubal's interest in the New York Mets organization, that remains to be seen. And we know that he is in a big market now. He seems to be enjoying it. I believe that Tarik Skubal mentioned briefly when the Dodgers clinched uh earlier this season the postseason berth he he may have said during the celebration this is the first of many but you know again I wouldn't read too much into that I think that he is a guy that is going to be open-minded now does that mean he's going to come to the Mets no but the fact is Steve Cohen you would believe has some idea of the willingness for Scooble to come over to New York because he will not be outbid. And I think in terms of what we want from Steve Cohen, this is about as much as we can ask for. When you look at the Mets pitching rotation right now, and you can kind of not take this at face value because Senga will not be in the rotation. You can pretty much replace him currently with Jonah Tong. But if you look at it, it's not a bad rotation because Nolan McLean is coming off of a really good season. Okay, Nolan McLean was able to put up more than respectable numbers this past year across 179 and two-thirds innings. Zach Thornton emerged as a reliable option as well in the Mets rotation. So Skubal would give them two left-handed pitchers. And also Christian Scott had a very successful season in which he was able to pitch 110 innings coming off of Tommy John surgery to a sub-4 ERA. So I don't believe the starting rotation or even the bullpen, not that we're talking about that, but the pitching as a whole I don't believe was the biggest reason, certainly in the first half when Freddy Peralta and David Peterson and Kodai Senga were all in the rotation together and they were all struggling. It was back then, but in the second half of the season, once we saw the young core kind of develop together in that starting rotation, it actually emerged as a strength of the team. But there's nothing wrong with building on top of a strength. And when you have a young rotation like this, who better to insert into it than a guy who isn't old but has been around before and is a fundamental ace, a prominent commodity that people know and know what to expect from. That is exactly what you are getting from Tarik Skubal. Now, when you look at the Mets' contractual obligations, they are going to have a high payroll regardless of whether they sign Tarik Skubal or not next year. Their current payroll allocations sit at just above $280 million. And when we're looking at the biggest contracts on this team, obviously Soto's at the top of the list, followed by Lindor. And yes, Marcus Simon, that is not a typo. He is the third highest player. And Minaya as well. But you know, you don't really have any huge contract that's allocated to an ace perhaps Sean Manaea was expected to be more than what he's been since the Mets signed him but David Stearns is not going to go into next season obviously considering Manaea to be anything more than a back of the rotation option so with that being said all of this is to say that Steve Cohen despite having heavy contractual obligations despite saying in recent history that he does not want to rely on free agency to build out a team and also insinuating that he does not want to maintain the highest payroll every single season moving forward it looks like at least for the next couple of years in order for the Mets to improve their roster and put them in the best position to contend he's going to have to continue to carry the highest payroll because there's a chance he does even if he doesn't sign Tarik Skubal, and according to Chelsea Jane's Mets insider Steve Cohen is not going to be outbid for Tarik Skubal, and I believe it's the right choice Tarik Skubal is one of the best pitchers in the game and again the Mets starting rotation in my view is not a weakness currently but this can go from being a strength to being an absolutely elite rotation and when you already have Nolan McLean who's arguably an ace material pitcher already and you factor in a guy who is a top five pitcher in the game at least then you're talking about a group that can take you deep into the postseason dare I say now first the Mets have to actually get to that point and have a winning season next year and beyond and prove that they can win year in year out but signing Tarik Skubal would be a long a long uh you know a long fixture in terms of getting to that point. So let me know what you guys think about the Mets interest in Tarik Skubal. What kind of contract do you expect? Are you in favor of giving him said contract? And it's going to be a big number. Comment below. Let me know. And as always, guys, let's go Mets.