The Mets are among the teams that continue to check in on White Sox starter Dylan Cease, who is one of the most likely players to still be traded this offseason.
Cease is among the group of starters the Mets are considering to fill out the rotation.
They also continue to monitor – among others – lefty free agents Sean Manaea and Hyun-jin Ryu.
And they have remained in contact on lefty Shota Imanaga.
The Japanese free agent was said to be looking for a contract of $100 million. But there is growing belief that the price might drop into a lower range as teams have continued to have concerns lingering from his 2020 shoulder surgery and if his style of working up in the zone will make him particularly homer susceptible in MLB.
Imanaga has to make a decision in the next few days because a contract has to be finalized – so not just an agreement, but a completed physical and a signed document – by the end of the posting period.
For Imanaga that is Thursday at 5pm Eastern. So there is urgency to get an agreement at least a day or two before that.
As for Cease, the Mets are not viewed as the favorites. If any team is, it is the prospect-rich Orioles.
The Dodgers and Yankees are also considered among the suitors for the righty, who turned 28 late last month.
Executives who have checked in on Cease have said the White Sox’s asking price had been three premium prospects.
But beauty is in the eye of how a team values prospects. So, in the end, this could take one no-doubt prospect and then which group of two or three other prospects that the White Sox rate highest from among the suitors.
The Mets, who are valuing the long game over 2024, would consider moving prospects for Cease because he has two years of control as opposed to, say, the club not being interested in Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes, who will be entering his walk year (plus there is strong doubts on how seriously the Brewers will consider dealing Burnes, at least before the trade deadline).
Cease would be the kind of piece that would help fill the Mets’ twin objectives – to be competitive in 2024 and begin to push harder in 2025 when David Stearns has a clearer picture of what he has in the organization and much of the dead money on the books for players like Max Scherzer, James McCann and perhaps Justin Verlander will come off.
At present, the Mets rotation is Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Adrian Houser and probably a battle between Joey Lucchesi and Tylor Megill.
They hope to land one other more established starter as a way to turn Lucchesi and Megill into depth pieces.
With Quintana, Severino and Houser all due to become free agents after the 2024 season, the addition of Cease would allow the Mets to have one other certain piece along with Senga heading into next offseason.
It is one reason the Mets also have been tied to Brandon Woodruff, who Stearns knows well from their time together in Milwaukee.
Woodruff may not pitch in 2024 after undergoing surgery to the anterior capsule of his pitching shoulder following the season. But a team could sign Woodruff to, say, a two-year deal with the idea of rehabbing him for most or all of the 2024 season with the idea of having him in full to begin 2025.
In the Mets’ dream scenario, they also would have one or two from among Megill, David Peterson (when he returns from hip surgery), Dominic Hamel, Christian Scott, Tyler Stuart, Blade Tidwell and Mike Vasil establish themselves in 2024 as surer rotation options moving forward.
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