The New York Mets need starting pitching.
And there's plenty of optimism on that front, because the free agent market for starters has moved quite slowly. The big names, including Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez, are still available.
Will the Mets get one? ESPN's Buster Olney thinks so.
"With the Mets still needing help in their rotation, it seems inevitable they'll land one of these two -- and Suarez makes a lot of sense, given his calm mound presence and experience pitching in a big market for all of those years in Philadelphia," Olney wrote on Tuesday.
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It'd be an added bonus for the Mets to land a guy like Suarez from the rival Phillies. But if it was Valdez from the Astros, that'd work just fine, too.
New York's late-season collapse in 2025 was in part because they never really had a guy they could give the ball to and just know he was going to be reliable.
Suarez or Valdez would both change that.
Dylan Cease is really the major starting pitcher signing so far. He went to the Blue Jays for seven years and $210 million, which was higher than expected.
The starting pitcher market otherwise will likely only get rolling once one of Valdez or Suarez finally signs.
"Suarez and Valdez should go first," ESPN's Jesse Rogers wrote on Tuesday. "In general, it's been a slow developing market and they are examples of that."
The Mets have a chance to get things moving, both for themselves and everyone else.
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