New York Mets look like a threat to sign SF Giants lefty ace

Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell will have an easy decision to make to begin the offseason. Where the SF Giants lefty ace lands could be a much more difficult question to answer today but the New York Mets look to be a potential threat to sign him away.

New York Mets look like a threat to sign SF Giants lefty ace

Mets team president of baseball operations David Stearns held his post-mortem press conference on Wednesday while offering signs of their plans for the offseason. He discussed the team's needs, which includes adding "multiple starters" this winter.

Plus, Stearns recognizes that the Mets have considerable financial flexibility and the ability to sign just about every free agent in baseball. While that statement seems like a hint that they could be real players for Juan Soto, it is also a sign that they will likely be players for just about every big free agent in baseball.

In some sense, Stearns is relatively new to running a big-market club. He served as the Milwaukee Brewers' general manager for eight seasons starting in 2015. The 2024 campaign was his first year at the helm in New York.

Of course, there are inherent financial restrictions when operating a team like the Brewers that are just not as much of a restraint while running the Mets.

Plus, they have a lot of contracts coming off of the books. This includes a pair of players who are no longer with the team in Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Pete Alonso, J.D. Martinez, Harrison Bader, José Quintana, and Sean Manaea are some of the other names who will be off of the books as well.

When you factor this with the Mets' spending ability and the fact that they reached the NLCS this season, they look like a team that is poised to spend big.

Manaea does have an opt-out but he is set to receive a nice payday in free agency. There is mutual interest in a reunion.

Bringing back Manaea would cross one pitcher off of the list, could Blake Snell be the other? The Mets certainly have the ability and motivation to make a big move this offseason. Adding the southpaw pitcher would check that box.

Snell got off to a slow start due in part to signing so late in the offseason. When he did finally hit his stride, he was arguably the best pitcher in the second half.

Overall, he pitched to a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts with San Francisco. Starting in July, Snell posted a 1.23 ERA with 114 strikeouts and 30 walks in 80.1 innings for San Francisco. He actually had more starts (14) than earned runs allowed (11) during that stretch.

The Giants have a framework for what a rotation could look like in 2024 but that unit needs to show considerable improvement as well. Retaining Snell would go a long way in achieving that goal.

Of course, they will not be the only team in on Snell. His market is not yet known but the Mets look like a fit on paper and based on Stearns' comments.