Was Sean Manaea the Mets’ final starting pitching acquisition this winter?
Following a strong debut season in Queens, the Mets extended Manaea’s stay with a three-year, $75 million deal on Monday. Prior to this, they had added Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes to their rotation, though Manaea’s recent track record stands out as more impressive.
The Mets’ rotation still appears relatively shaky compared to other National League powerhouses like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves.
Following Sean Manaea’s signing, ESPN’s David Schoenfield speculated that the Mets might continue pursuing starting pitching, though likely not aiming for an ace. He floated the idea of a potential reunion with Max Scherzer, who spent the past year and a half with the Texas Rangers.
“The Mets still need more starting pitching,” Schoenfield remarked. “Manaea joins a solid rotation that now includes Frankie Montas filling Severino’s role, a hopefully recovered Kodai Senga, reliever-turned-starter Clay Holmes, and David Peterson. You do wonder if someone like Max Scherzer… might still get a call.”
Compared to Justin Verlander, Scherzer seems more capable of dominating lineups when healthy. However, injuries limited him to just nine starts in 2024, during which he posted a respectable 3.95 ERA over 43 1/3 innings.
Scherzer’s last truly dominant stretch came with the Mets in 2022 and 2023, when he went 20-9 with a 3.02 ERA across 42 starts. His most recent All-Star appearance was in 2021, marking the eighth of his career.
Whether the Mets will reach out to Scherzer remains uncertain, but if he proves healthy enough for a solid workload in 2025, a reunion could be a logical move.
