In the days after Jacob deGrom departed for the Rangers, Steve Cohen and then-GM Billy Eppler acted quickly.
One ace was gone and another immediately was imported, the Mets signing Justin Verlander for two years and $86.6 million.
One year later, do not expect the same kind of contingency plan in the aftermath of Yoshinobu Yamamoto accepting the Dodgers’ $325 million offer rather than the Mets’.
“We’re going to be thoughtful and not impulsive and thinking about sustainability over the intermediate long-term, but not focused on winning the headlines over the next week,” Cohen told The Post’s Mike Puma on Friday. “I think there’s a couple of ways to build a team.”
After the expensive-co-aces route did not work last season, the Mets are not expected to try to pair Kodai Senga with a top-of-the-market arm such as Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery.
It also would qualify as a surprise if they traded for the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes (who can be a free agent after the 2024 season) or the White Sox’s Dylan Cease (who would cost a fortune in prospects).
Club executives repeatedly have signaled that they want to be “competitive” — if not striving for dominance — in 2024 without hampering the future of the club.
Long contracts to pitchers in their 30s (such as Snell and Montgomery) can become weights in the later seasons of the deals. Ever since the 2022 trade deadline, the Mets have been resistant to using virtually any prospect capital as they build their farm system.
The only projected ace the Mets hunted was Yamamoto because the 25-year-old fit both timelines: He could be excellent this upcoming season and, the Dodgers hope, 12 seasons from now.
So, how can the Mets pivot in the starting pitching market without “winning the headlines”?
Probably with a smaller addition or two on shorter deals (think Luis Severino’s one year and $13 million or José Quintana’s two years and $26 million).
Maybe a pitcher such as:
Lucas Giolito
On the high end of these options, the righty is 29 and received Cy Young votes as recently as 2021. But his two years leading into free agency have been two of his worst, posting a 4.89 ERA with the White Sox, Angels and Guardians. A fastball that peaked at an average of 94.3 mph in 2019 was down to 93.1 mph last season, which likely has made his secondary pitches worse, too (including an outstanding changeup). The Mets could trust their pitching minds to engineer a bounce-back, but many teams will want to fix a pitcher who was one of the best in the game not that long ago.
Shōta Imanaga
The No. 2 Japanese pitcher on the market this offseason, the 30-year-old dominated for eight years with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars before being posted. The lefty pitched to a 3.18 ERA in the NPB with strong control and good strikeout numbers, though he is seen more as a middle-of-the-rotation arm than an ace. Adding Imanaga, who is used to pitching once a week, could prompt the Mets to explore a six-man rotation.
Sean Manaea
The lefty opted out of the final season of his contract — worth $12.5 million — with the Giants after a strange year in which he lost his starting spot in May. He transitioned into the bullpen, regained his stuff and reclaimed a rotation role in September. The 31-year-old probably has earned a multi-year deal, and could be enticing for a Mets club that needs both starting and relief help.
Hyun Jin Ryu
Not the sexiest free agent, but the 36-year-old has been consistent through a 10-season MLB career. The lefty returned from Tommy John surgery last August and pitched to a 3.46 ERA in 11 starts with the Blue Jays. Ryu likely will not be the All-Star he was in 2019, but he is a solid, middle-of-the-rotation option for a year or two.
Frankie Montas
Could he reunite with Severino across town? Another buy-low candidate, Montas appeared in just nine games with the Yankees after coming over at the 2022 trade deadline and required arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in February. The 30-year-old has top-of-the-rotation stuff when right.
Shane Bieber
The righty is not a free agent, but he could be pried from the Guardians because he is entering his final season of his contract and is coming off a down season. In 2023, Bieber pitched to a 3.80 ERA in 21 starts, missing time with an elbow issue and missing velocity: His average fastball was about three mph slower last season than it was in his Cy Young campaign in 2020. Due roughly $12 million for next year, Bieber could be had for less of a haul than Cease or Burnes.
Other possibilities
Michael Lorenzen, Eric Lauer, James Paxton, Brandon Woodruff (who could miss the 2024 season), Alex Wood
