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(Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
The darkest days are seemingly behind us... for now. After a dominant first half of the offseason where we saw the Mets go out and acquire Max Scherzer, Mark Canha, Starling Marte, and Eduardo Escobar, we watched free-agency and possibly the entire 2022 MLB season crumble right before our eyes.
After a lengthy labor dispute between the MLB and the MLBPA over a new collective bargaining agreement, we will finally have baseball this summer. That being said, free-agency is back on. Steve Cohen, Billy Eppler and company went right back to aggressively purging the open market in order to build a contending team in Queens, the likes of which we may not have seen since 1986.
Shortly following the resumption of free-agency, it was announced that the Mets had struck a deal with the Oakland Athletics, which would see New York acquire right-handed starting pitcher, Chris Bassitt, who had an All-Star season in 2021 with a 12-4 record, 3.15 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 159 strikeouts over 27 games played.
The Mets sent two minor league pitchers to Oakland in exchange for Bassitt, J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller. Bassitt is a great middle-of-the-rotation pitcher for New York, as the Mets continue to bolster their starting pitching behind the likes of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer.
As of right now, it appears as if the Mets starting rotation will look something like:
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a brutally honest Mets fan, they've disappointed me my whole life, and I'll be the first to admit when they suck and who's fault it is. So being as unbiased as I can, that is an A+ rotation to me. In my opinion, it rivals any other rotation in baseball for the best in the league.
Another big issue the Mets needed to address this offseason was their bullpen. After losing Jeurys Familia to the rival Philadelphia Phillies (good, have fun with that guy) the Mets signed veteran reliver, Adam Ottavino to a 1-year deal. Ottavino has been far from the dominant, lights out pitcher that he was a few years ago with the New York Yankees and Colorado Rockies, but it's a low-risk, high reward signing for the Mets.
Ottavino joins a bullpen that already consists of Edwin Diaz, who had a major bounce back season in 2021, Trevor May, Miguel Castro and Seth Lugo, all of which are fellow right-handed pitchers. Look for the Mets to try and add a lefty to throw in the middle of that staff.
Everything considered, the Mets have been the busiest team here in free-agency, and don't seem to be completely done just yet. I give the Mets an A+ for the work they've done so far here in the offseason.