The New York Mets could use another starting pitcher before the beginning of the 2025 MLB regular season. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller isn’t sure the Mets will make that acquisition before Opening Day. But on Feb. 27, Miller predicted the Mets to trade for St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray at some point during the regular season.
“St. Louis might need to retain a decent chunk of that 2026/2027 money to get a good return for Gray, but it sure is already looking like the Mets will be in the market for arms this summer,” wrote Miller.
Gray is entering his 13th MLB season this spring. Over the course of his career, he has earned $96.58 million.
The 35-year-old is due to make $25 million during the 2025 season. He will also have a $35 million payday in 2026 before a $5 million club option during 2027.
Mets in the Starting Pitcher Market?
In a video for Bleacher Report, MLB insider Jon Heyman named the Mets one of six teams still in the market for starting pitching. But Heyman added that New York has already spent a lot of money this offseason and might not be interested in opening the wallet again.
With that in mind, Gray might not be the best fit. However, acquiring him near the MLB trade deadline will make him more affordable.
The Mets could be shopping the starting pitcher market because they lost Frankie Montas to a serious lat injury. Montas may not return until early June.
Without him, the Mets rotation still has a high ceiling. But they don’t have much reliability.
“The Mets’ rotation before Montas went down had high upside, but was probably the biggest question mark surrounding the team. With Montas now out, the question mark regarding the starting staff gets bigger,” wrote SNY’s Danny Abriano on Feb. 18.
Why Mets Could Target Sonny Gray
At 35 years old, Gray doesn’t offer a ton of upside, but he is reliable. Last season, he went 13-9 with a 3.84 ERA and 1.088 WHIP with 203 strikeouts in 166.1 innings.
Two years ago, he made his third All-Star team with the Minnesota Twins. Gray was also an All-Star with the then Oakland Athletics in 2015 and Cincinnati Reds during 2019.
Gray has pitched more than 160 frames each of the past two seasons. He’s also been over the 100-inning plateau every season since 2014 except for the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign.
The Mets have great potential in their rotation with Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes this season. But none of them have pitched a full MLB season as a starter. Gray would bring that ability to the Mets.
Whether Gray is the right fit, though, could depend on Montas’ injury recovery. If Montas is back fully healthy in June, then New York might pull themselves out of the starting pitcher market.
In a perfect world, the Mets will add a starter as a bridge to Montas’ return.
Gray could be that if New York acquires him months before the MLB trade deadline. But that would likely mean the Mets agreeing to pay Gray more of his 2025 salary.
The Mets may begin the season with their current rotation and see how things progress. If the rotation struggles early, then perhaps the team will have more urgency to acquire Gray before Montas returns.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Mets Projected to Acquire $96 Million Starter appeared first on Heavy Sports.