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The New York Mets are in need of a No. 1 starter in their rotation, a true ace. Last offseason, New York traded for Freddy Peralta, perhaps believing he could anchor the rotation, but it didn’t work out.
Nonetheless, there’s a No. 1 bona fide starter hitting the market this offseason, and that’s Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal. The question regarding the Mets is whether they want to go all out to land Skubal this winter.
Skubal turns 30 in November and will command a long-term contract and a large salary. New York could meet all those demands if they choose to, but should the Mets go all out for Skubal? SNY’s Chelsea Janes doesn’t think so.
“I’m going to say something insane [but] I’d rather have two really good starters than one Tarik Skubal, and I don’t think they should do whatever it takes to get him,” Janes said on the Sept. 28 edition of “Baseball Night in New York.” “I’ve heard people say that to get people to come play here, you have to pay them more because of all this, right? We all know what that means.
“We saw how they reacted to Pete Alonso, and the guys didn’t like that. To me, if you want to be here, come. [The Mets will] give you a fair offer. [The Mets will] say we want you to be here. I’m not reaching for a guy who has kind of indicated he likes being in LA. I don’t know how real that was.”
Since joining the Dodgers midseason, Skubal is 5-2 with an ERA of 2.61 and 70 strikeouts in 10 regular season appearances, per StatMuse.
Would Tarik Skubal Actually Want to Pitch in New York?
Moreover, Janes notes that the Mets have to see in any conversations they have with Skubal and his representation whether he truly wants to be in New York playing for them, or whether he wants to go to the highest bidder and that’s his sole motivation.
“You look at guys who look at what happened with Pete Alonso and identify with Pete Alonso, not the players, not the players who say, ‘Well, they’re cheering for the wrong team,’” Janes added.
“No, you want the guys who look and say, ‘I could be a legend,’ and if that’s Tarik Skubal and you get that vibe, do everything you can to get him. But if it’s not, you need more than one Tarik Skubal. You should not put all your eggs in that basket. He could get hurt.”
Mets Need Quality Depth on Their Pitching Staff for 2027
Meanwhile, while Skubal is the big target and the Mets might be in that race, Janes said New York needs depth in its starting rotation. As a result, they could be better off pursuing two starters that are slightly below Skubal’s status to give themselves that depth since the Dodgers pitcher can’t fill several holes on the team’s pitching staff.
“I think they need depth,” Janes said. “Quality depth. I’m not talking middle-of-the-rotation guys. Not Frankie Montas. There’s a difference, and that matters too. Great if Skubal wants to be here, but if he’s on the fence, then you pivot. Because we’ve seen what happens when guys on the fence come here.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo