New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is the richest in the MLB. He’s spent at least a billion dollars in contracts to bring a World Series trophy back to Queens. However, his money did nothing but return misery and hopelessness. Unlike his predecessors, the Wilpons, Cohen is more than eager to open his wallet and continue trying to bring talent to Flushing.
Meanwhile, David Stearns, the president of baseball operations, faces criticism from both media and fans for free agent signings that have not been successful. With the exception of Juan Soto, who continues to excel, Stearns’ eye for talent seems to have suffered from astigmatism, where he cannot judge the proximity of the roster to becoming a winning one.
Yet, some believe that lefthander Tarik Skubal, in the estimation of many, could be the one to lead the Mets back to the playoffs. However, considering Stearns’ approach, the deal looks like a long shot. Stearns, in his season postmortem, discussed the need for starting pitching.
“I do think it is necessary for us to add to our rotation,” Stearns said. “We can do that in a variety of different ways. We’ve talked about this plenty before—you’d always love to add to the top of your rotation; any team would love to do that. Over the long term, what we need to do is develop pitchers at the top of our rotation, and I think we are proving we can do that, and we’ll continue to do that.”
On Baseball Night in New York, @chelsea_janes says “call me crazy” but she’d rather have two good starters opposed to getting just Tarik Skubal pic.twitter.com/STB6i2PTe2
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 28, 2026
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Making the Case
First, Skubal is a southpaw that the Mets need to break up their righty-dominant rotation. More importantly, his 2.72 ERA & 0.96 WHIP suggest that he continues to dominate pitchers, even after changing leads and settling into the Los Angeles Dodgers pressure cooker.
It makes sense to bring in an elite lefty to minimize the impact of Bryce Harper, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Schwarber, and Shohei Ohtani. Additionally, Skubal’s presence would also take the pressure off a bullpen that sorely needs a frontline starter to pitch into the seventh inning. Freddy Peralta was supposed to be the one, but he often struggled to escape the fifth.
Tarik Skubal has 10 Ks through 6 scoreless innings! pic.twitter.com/LOWMtaLuIf
— MLB (@MLB) September 26, 2026
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Against the Grain
Stearns, during his time with Milwaukee, built his rosters on a mix of young talent, under-contract control, and not paying pitchers long-term. As a result, when news of Peralta sought a nine-year extension, his days in New York became shorter. Stearns, to his credit, continues to build a farm system that produces young talent.
Skubal presents a departure from all of that. First, he will command at least $300 million in a long-term contract. Next, Stesarns wants the rotation to still have room for the younger pitchers like Christian Scott, Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton, and eventually Jonah Tong. To sign Skubal, Stearns would need to completely change how he fundamentally views pitching, and that does not seem to be the case at all.
Danny Abriano of SNY outlined the perils of signing a veteran pitcher long-term.
“For every long-term, big-money deal to a pitcher 29 or older that works out (Max Scherzer’s seven-year deal with the Nationals looks incredible in retrospect, and the Yankees‘ deal for Max Fried is aging well), you can point to a whole bunch that didn’t or currently aren’t (Patrick Corbin, Jacob deGrom, Jordan Zimmermann, Felix Hernandez, and Corbin Burnes).”
Scherzer and Fried appear to be the few exceptions to the rule. Otherwise, it’s a dice roll on what type of arm you will get. On top of that, Skubal already underwent a medical procedure this season.
Mets fans see Skubal as their ticket to the playoffs. Similarly, some media do. However, the Mets, despite their abundant supply of cash, could look to other avenues.
Why David Stearns’ Pitching Philosophy Stands Between the Mets and Tarik Skubal