This Defines EVERYTHING For The Mets...

This will define the New York Mets offseason. Before all the other holes are filled on the Mets who are trying to recover from a 74-win disaster, the question must be answered, and it must be largely answered by Steve Cohen. Will the Mets be the ones who come away victorious in the Tarek Skubal sweepstakes? And how will that impact the rest of the way that they go about this offseason? We'll get into all that today on Mets Digest that you're tuned into. Guys, I'm Josh Byrne. Thank you so much for all the continued support as we are just days away from finally getting an answer to the question that we have been asking. For seemingly months now, and that is, where will Tarek Skubal, arguably the best pitcher in all of the major leagues, land in free agency? Will it be with the New York Mets? Well, I'll let you know if I think that is in the cards. Tarek Skubal is the ace the Mets need. There is no doubt about that. This is going to be a defining decision for... the Mets offseason because I think that there is a lot of optimism and there's very good reason to be optimistic when you look at the New York Mets rotation. You already got one of the top young pitchers in the league in Nolan McClain. You throw in a guy like Zach Thornton, Christian Scott, who had a nice year coming off of Tommy John surgery. And the prospect of maybe Jonah Tong taking another step forward and being more of a consistent contributor at the Major League level. And yeah, there's reasons to believe and have hope. But at the end of the day, the Mets need to be extremely aggressive and they need to make a statement. Even if this doesn't feel like it should be the number one priority because this is going to be such a big contract and such a big financial commitment. It needs to be. Why? Because, again, the Mets were embarrassed last year. Humiliated. Was starting pitching their number one problem? Well, in the second half, when the younger rotation really settled in, it absolutely wasn't. In the first half, it was one of their defining flaws. You think back to a guy like David Peterson, a guy like Freddy Peralta, and obviously Sean Minaya, who kind of was up and down the entire year, whether he was a bulk guy or in the rotation. And it was clear that the Mets didn't have much value in their veteran starters. The young guys really helped them. But I think it would be unfair to go into next season with the idea that this team needs to compete. And is expected to compete without making a significant addition to the rotation. And frankly, there are so few reliable starting pitching arms that are available. And very rarely do you stumble upon a guy as consistently elite as Tarek Skubal. Let's run through the numbers, what he did. He pitched in 158 and two-thirds innings this past year. And he was really, really good. No surprise there. There was a little bit of a concern and a question for him coming off of injury, but I would say all in all, it was a resounding success. He was in the top 10 percentile. Across nearly any major metric you look at, you know, top 12% in strikeouts per nine, you know, absolutely elite in terms of his walk percentage, doesn't give up a lot of home runs, and that all factors into why his walks and hits per innings pitched was below that 1.0 number, which is always just kind of a huge baseline for showcasing an elite pitcher. Very few starters. It's a little more common with relievers, but very few starters can pitch nearly an entire season like Scooble did with a whip under one, and it's nothing new for him. This is what he does. And again, he provides an option as a left-handed pitcher. Now, he's just great, and if he was a right-hander, now he'd still be getting a lot of money. But the fact that the Mets have an opportunity here to not just pick up one of the most dominant starting pitchers in Major League Baseball, but add an element. From the left side, a southpaw and giving the Mets multiple southpaws in the rotation and one who is elite could make their rotation go from, you know, promising with, you know, some good young guys and Nolan McClain and Thornton and Scott to all of a sudden one of the best in the major leagues. If you look at the savant profile, I mean, he's, you know, he's really. Up there with the league's best, again, you look at what he's done, and this is an executive. He said he's the best and accomplished, the most accomplished starting pitcher to hit free agency in a number of years. So you think back to that, and to me, this is a similar situation to when Juan Soto became a free agency. Obviously, Soto plays a different position. He's not a pitcher. He's an outfielder. And, you know, he's very much an offensive first player. But... There's two major similarities here. A, the age. Now, Tarek Skubal is 29. Now, Soto was 25 when he was posted to free agency, which was, you know, an even bigger deal because he's also an outfielder. And it's just the fact that he came up when he was 18 years old with the Washington Nationals, that was a novelty within itself. Very rarely do you see that. But, again, the parallels is that you just don't see a player of that magnitude hit the open market very often, who's in the prime of his career. And here we have another situation in which it's happening again. You have Tarek Skubal, who is seemingly at the height of his dominance of what could end up being a Hall of Fame trajectory, and the Mets can get him without giving up any prospect capital. Capital. So. If you are Steve Cohen and you're serious about winning, as we all believe Steve Cohen is, I think, you know, regardless of anybody's problems or issues with Steve Cohen or disappointment in him, it's clear that he wants to win. So this is going to test Cohen. And the reason why I say that, and more so test Cohen than Stearns, is because I believe Steve Cohen is going to be the one making the charge for Scooble, more so than David Stern. In fact, when you look at David Stern's past, he hasn't been a guy who has been very enthusiastic about giving pitchers long-term deals. Maybe he feels differently. About Scooble, because he is on the younger side and he, you know, he's just another level of good and we haven't seen a free agent starting pitcher outside of Max Freed really become available during David Stern's tenure with the Mets. But I do believe that, again, another parallel to the Juan Soto free agency is that this is going to be largely based on the effort taken from the Mets ownership. And again, this goes against the philosophy of David Stern. Stern's model, and this quote kind of puts it pretty perfectly, I believe. And that is, and this is from Anthony Corvinci, Stearns has never been one to commit major years and dollars to a starting pitcher, but Scooble just isn't any starter. That is so true. Scooble is an anomaly, and that could very well push the Mets over the finish line. Ultimately, it's going to be Steve Cohen's decision. As Chelsea James pointed out, I don't know how hard Steve Cohen will go after Scooble, but how hard Steve Cohen will go after Scooble. It's how hard the Mets will go after Scooble. This is going to come down to Uncle Stevie. And I believe he's going to be all in. And what the Mets do next, or how they really go about their entire offseason strategy, is going to be dictated by this. So before we get into, oh, well, how are the Mets going to address the second base position? Are they going to bring in another veteran to the infield? Because, you know, Marcus Simeon doesn't cut anymore. Are they going to keep things in-house? Maybe promote Jefferson Rojas? Are they going to add another veteran bat to the outfield or another DH possibility? Or, and this has been noted already, what other possible additions could the Mets make to their starting rotation? We have heard, and there has been talk, that the Mets will add more pitching. In fact, this quote. And again, this is from Chelsea Janes, who says the Mets should pursue other impactful starting pitching additions in one form or another. And I believe that even if the Mets do land Tarek Skubal, from what has been reported specifically from Chelsea Janes, they will still pursue... Not an arm at the same level of Scooble, because that's not really available outside of him. Those don't grow on trees. But I do believe the Mets will aggressively pursue, particularly through the trade route, another high-level veteran starter. Now, the Mets do need a plan, though, if he does not sign. They need to be just as aggressive, even if they cannot bring in, you know, the golden apple of Steve Cohen's sight, or whatever that means. I don't know. But, you know, the... The ultimate prize here in free agency. And Chain says they have to conduct their offseason in a way that assumes they will not get him. Because, look, it's a pretty good situation over there in Los Angeles. Now, I don't know if the Dodgers are going to be as aggressive as signing him as the Mets will be. I don't think they necessarily have to be. However, I don't think that Tarek Skubal is just going to accept a massive... You know, discount to stay with the Dodgers. And obviously, there's the questions about the Dodgers ownership and everything there. But the fact is, the Dodgers are still seen as one of the favorites to sign him, to bring him back. And we have heard Scooble say how much he enjoyed being a Dodger, even saying this is the first of many when they clinched the playoffs and won the division, making people think, oh, does that mean that he's already, like, committed there long term? I don't know about that. Chelsea Janes is right. Just because the Mets got Juan Soto and Steve Cullen led the charge there, they very well could have not gotten him. It was pretty close. And they very well might not get Tarek Skubal. And if that happens... They cannot pivot to just adding one starting pitcher. Again, I like where the rotation's at, but do I feel comfortable with the rotation as is for a team that is expected to compete next year, not just for the division, but for the World Series? And I do believe the Mets are trying to compete realistically for a World Series as soon as next year. If they're going to do that, though, they need to be aggressive whether they get Scooble or not, and that means adding two legitimate starting pitchers, which, again, goes back to this logic here that's described, again, by Chelsea Janes. Even if the Mets sign Scooble, another biggish name starter could still be on the way. And if they don't get Scooble, then they should be getting two of them. They could go a similar route that they did when they acquired Freddy Peralta, guy to watch for is Joe Ryan. You know, these veteran starting pitchers, We're a year or two away from free agency on smaller market teams or teams that are about to rebuild or in flux who are probably not going to resign these guys. These are the kinds of players that the Mets should highlight and probably have highlighted as prime trade candidates. But regardless, this situation will resolve itself very quickly. I know there's questions about the lockout, but fortunately, with regards to Tarek Skubal, I do believe. that this will resolve itself very quickly and move very fast. And that will dictate and define the rest of the Mets offseason. But let me hear from you guys in the comments. What would a successful offseason deliver for the Mets? Would it be making a serious, credible offer to Scooble? Would it be respecting the medical and long-term contract risk? Would it be adding another meaningful starter, whether or not Scooble signs? Or would it just be improving the rotation as a whole, not just at the top? I think it could be a combination of all those elements. But let me know if you guys are staunchly against signing Scooble, or if you believe this is a must for David Stern, Steve Cohen, as things fall over, and the Mets organization. Comment below, let me know, and as always, guys, let's go Mets.