Starting pitching is a fairly obvious need for the New York Mets at the upcoming trade deadline.
Most of the Mets' starters have performed quite well this year, but the injury bug has been an unfortunate constant. It claimed Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas early in the year, then Kodai Senga went on the shelf, and most recently, Griffin Canning suffered a devastating season-ending Achilles injury.
Reinforcing this group should be the top priority for president of baseball operations David Stearns. Could an old friend be the solution to the Mets' current problem?
Newsday's David Lennon believes New York should try to bring back Seth Lugo, who pitched the first seven seasons of his career as a primary reliever with the Mets, in a trade with the middling Kansas City Royals.
"I'd love to take a crack at a Seth Lugo homecoming," Lennon said on SNY's "Baseball Night in New York."
"It's interesting to see where the Royals position themselves right now, they're about four games out of the Wild Card, so I think they could be sellers on that. [Lugo] is gonna be a free agent at the end of this year, so he's a guy that could bring back something."
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Entering play on Saturday, Lugo owned a 2.93 ERA in 14 starts, with an excellent 1.05 WHIP. He's truly the one that got away for the Mets, as his ERA as a starter since leaving New York in 2023 now sits at 3.19 in 73 starts.
Now could be the time for the Mets to right the wrong. Lugo is nearly certain to opt out of his third and final year under contract, as $45 million turned out to be a crazy bargain for those three years. And the Royals won't want to lose him for nothing.
Every day that ends in a Royals loss has to be considered good news for the Mets from this point forward until we know they aren't going to bring back Lugo at the deadline.
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