A big reason the New York Mets collapsed down the stretch and missed the 2025 postseason entirely was their starting rotation.
They just couldn't get the consistency they needed out of their starters on the mound.
There's no time like free agency to try and remedy that.
On Tuesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan released an article outlining the "perfect move" for teams to make this offseason.
For the Mets, he wrote that it would be to sign left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez, formerly of the Houston Astros.
"The Mets have plenty of options to recover from their collapse in 2025 -- and it starts with pitching," Passan writes. "Bringing back Edwin Díaz makes sense, yes, but the more pressing issue is in the rotation. As reticent as president of baseball operations David Stearns is to sign starting pitchers to long-term deals, the alternative is to dip into their farm system and trade for them. And while that remains a possibility, one thing owner Steve Cohen has is money, and free agency is the optimal vessel to utilize it. So who better to go after than the most consistent starter available to join a rotation that is anything but consistent?
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Valdez has a 3.36 career ERA and was at 3.66 this past season.
He turns 32 on Nov. 19, but Valdez is a pitcher that depends more on movement than he does velocity, so it seems he should age gracefully.
Even after the odd late-season controversy with Valdez and his catcher, he's going to command a big free agent contract from somewhere.
Steve Cohen certainly has the money to get it done, and the Mets could definitely use Valdez.
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