The New York Mets had no legitimate excuse to miss the playoffs in 2026 — and certainly not by the margin in which they did so.
As an expensive supposed-juggernaut, the Mets instead turned out to be the priciest mess in MLB history.
And while one might wonder whether the Mets would slow down their spending in the wake of that, they’re kind of caught in a tricky situation. The fastest way for a big-market team with a super-rich owner to dig out of such a hole is probably to spend more.
That brings us to this offseason, which while potentially a bumpy one with lockout concerns also has one option for the Mets to spend all their money if they so choose: Tarik Skubal.
Skubal was traded at the deadline from the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers in large part because he was in the final year of his contract.
And while the Dodgers will be looking to keep Skubal around, they won’t be the only team that wants him in free agency.
Mets’ Tarik Skubal Outlook
Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer wrote in a new article on Tuesday that he believes it’ll be the Mets who end up signing Skubal when the dust settles.
That would certainly be the kind of good news that would make Mets fans feel better about their franchise than they currently do.
“When ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel solicited projections for the two-time Cy Young Award winner’s next contract, the average came out to eight years, $355 million,” Rymer writes. “It would be the fourth-largest contract in the history of MLB free agency, and the largest for a full-time pitcher. At that rate, the Skubal sweepstakes could come down to which of the Mets, Dodgers or Yankees would be most willing to take the risk. And of those three clubs, the Mets may have the clearest need for a No. 1 starter this winter.”
It’s definitely a fair point. While both the Dodgers and Yankees like handing out big money, they both have lots of good pitchers already.
The Mets, on the other hand, have a massive need. They’d be the team most likely to overpay.
Can Mets Just Keep Spending?
The Mets have actually done well with prospects in recent years, highlighted by Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing making their debuts in the outfield this year.
But in their market, with their owner, they’re always going to spend.
It somehow needs to gel better than it has in the last couple of seasons, the first two of the Juan Soto era both missing the playoffs.
“Whether David Stearns would want to shell out so much money for Skubal is a fair question, but what he wants might not matter if Steve Cohen decides to step in,” Rymer writes. “He notably did so to land Juan Soto on a 15-year, $765 million deal. Soto’s agent? Scott Boras. Skubal’s agent? Also Boras. Suffice it to say he’ll know who to call if he smells green in Queens.”
If Skubal couldn’t pull the Mets out of this rut, there might not be anyone who could.
Mets Get Good News on Signing Tarik Skubal