MLB Insider Thinks Mets Will Try for 'Big Splashes' More Than Yankees in Offseason

Signing Juan Soto to an MLB-record contract in 2024 might not stop New York Mets owner Steve Cohen from taking another major free agency or trade swing this winter.

ESPN's Jorge Castillo reported Wednesday that the Mets are "more likely to execute big splashes this winter" than their cross-city rival New York Yankees.

Those moves might include a free agency push for a first baseman, given that Castillo reported the Mets "probably aren't going to" offer a deal to Pete Alonso in free agency.

That would leave the Mets in need of a slugger who could fill in for the MLB-high 41 doubles Alonso posted, mostly while batting cleanup, in his seventh season with the Mets.

The Mets may also target a starting pitcher this offseason after watching their rotation struggle while missing the postseason in 2025.

AL Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal, who has been the subject of trade rumors since the Detroit Tigers' elimination from the ALDS, is heading into his final season of team control in 2026. He could be the highest-profile candidate on the market should the Tigers decide to shop him this winter.

Castillo noted, however, that any trade offer big enough to land Skubal would likely "require president of baseball operations David Stearns to venture beyond his comfort zone."

MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported in October that multiple MLB executives felt the Corbin Burnes trade, which sent the former NL Cy Young winner from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Baltimore Orioles in 2024, would serve as a baseline as to what the Tigers could expect to receive should they shop Skubal.

The Brewers received DL Hall, Joey Ortiz and the No. 34 pick of the 2024 draft in return for Burnes, who was coming off a 3.26 ERA campaign at the time.

Skubal's potential trade price could climb even higher after he led AL with a 2.21 ERA and MLB with a 0.891 WHIP through 31 starts and 195.1 innings pitched last season.

Should the Tigers decide to make Skubal available, Stearns would need to assess how much he is willing to dip into the Mets' prospect pipeline in order to address what became a major area of need last season.

The Mets missed the postseason in part because their starters finished the regular season ranked 18th in MLB with a collective 4.13 ERA, per FanGraphs.

Adding a competent pitcher to the middle of that rotation, and either extending Alonso or finding someone who could compensate for his production, could be key to Cohen's hopes of seeing the Mets make it to the World Series for the first time since he purchased the franchise in 2020.