"You’ll see them need to use 10 or 11 starters": MLB scouts express concern over Mets' 'flawed' rotation as Sean Manaea gets added to lineup

The New York Mets signed Sean Manaea to a two-year $28 million year deal that rounds off their starting rotation for a while. In hindsight, their approach in past winters has been completely different, though.

After a disappointing campaign in 2023 despite having the biggest payroll, Steve Cohen and the New York management decided to take a measured approach aiming at long-term sustainability than short-term competitiveness.

That made them acquire young prospects from big trades and sign free agents that have formidable years ahead of them.

However, what that has meant is that the Mets haven't had to spend big on any player. The biggest splash they have made was on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Apart from him, their signings include Luis Severino and now Sean Manaea. Along with Kodai Senga at the top and Jose Quintana and Adrian Houser to support, the quintet rounds off the rotation.

However, insider John Harper, in discussion with a scout in New York, wrote for SNY TV that the Mets need more backup.

“I’d suspect you’ll see them need to use 10 or 11 starters,” one scout said. “They have some fringe guys like (Joey) Lucchesi and (Tylor) Megill.

"They’ll probably get (David) Peterson back (from injury) at some point, and a few of their top minor leaguers should be major league-ready as the year goes on.

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Mets rotation 'flawed' with underperforming talent

Harper also discussed in his column that new Mets manager David Stearns has set up a new pitching lab in Queens while signing talent who are not out-and-out top stars.

“From what I can see, this offseason he’s signed some flawed pitchers -- starters and relievers -- with upside that he believes will benefit tremendously from changes that will come out of their evaluations in the lab as well as what their analytics tell them.”

The aim is to develop players like Sean Manaea into big stars through the use of analytics and expect them to be competitive by the end of the season.