The Brewer-fication of the New York Mets this winter continued with the signing of free-agent pitcher Sean Manaea. Despite moving from MLB’s smallest media market to its largest, Mets president David Stearns is deploying the same strategy he used in Milwaukee: emphasize pitching and defense, and take a boatload of short-term fliers on mid-tier veterans.
Stearns has spent $59 million on eight free agents, of whom only Manaea is signed for more than one year (two years, $28 million, though with an opt-out after the first year). The Mets are paying more than that this season for players to not play for them ($68 million). His rotation is experienced but volatile due to injuries and recent performance: Kodai Senga, 31 on Opening Day; José Quintana, 35; Luis Severino, 30; Manaea, 32; and Adrian Houser, 31.
The Mets’ days of wild spending are on pause after two massively disappointing seasons in which they blew a 10.5-game division lead one year and lost 87 games the next. Still left with a 2024 CBT payroll that will top $300 million, Stearns has taken the right approach given that the Mets are not very close to competing with the Braves and Phillies: stay nimble as the club builds a farm system and culture. (The Mets did bid on premier free-agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he was an outlier because of his talent and age, 25.)
