Mets not addressing starting rotation at trade deadline was massive mistake

The New York Mets made a massive mistake by not addressing a struggling rotation at the trade deadline.

Sep 6, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (64) walks to the pitchers mound in the seventh inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. Reds won 6-3. | Frank Bowen IV-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

The New York Mets are desperately trying to hold on to the final Wild Card spot in the National League, but poor play of late has resulted in things getting tight.

They simply haven’t been a good team for quite some time now, and missing the playoffs altogether is a possibility. Fortunately, some of the teams that are chasing them were sellers at the trade deadline and might not have the firepower to make a comeback.

If New York can hold on and make the playoffs, anything can obviously happen. However, a glaring concern has held the team back during their slide; that has been the starting rotation, which, outside of the recent emergence of Nolan McLean, has been a disaster.

Read More: New York Mets face intriguing dilemma with Nolan McLean

This wasn’t a new problem for the Mets and has been something going on all the way back to the trade deadline. While there weren’t a ton of starting pitchers moved this summer, a few of the ones that were could have helped the team.

Mets’ Decision at the Trade Deadline Has Come Back to Haunt Them

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the Mets not making a move to improve their starting rotation at the trade deadline being a massive mistake.

"Yes, the meteoric rise of Nolan McLean has been a sight to behold every fifth or sixth day for the past month," Miller wrote. "Aside from that overnight sensation, though, Mets starting pitching has been a travesty for a while, mostly responsible for this team's freefall from grace... not making any moves ahead of the trade deadline to address the state of this rotation remains a grave mistake."

While it was widely considered to be a strong trade deadline for New York, the one area that they didn’t address was the starting rotation. This was a unit that, during the hot start to the campaign, was one of the best in baseball. However, for multiple months now, the unit has struggled and is the main reason why the team is heading in the wrong direction.

Key pitchers like Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea have been demoted to the minors and the bullpen, respectively. Furthermore, David Peterson has also struggled quite a bit, and Clay Holmes has looked like more of a relief pitcher than a starter these days. If not for calling up McLean, this unit would be a complete disaster.

Expectations were extremely high for the franchise coming into the season after making the NLCS last year and then signing Juan Soto during the winter. However, with the rotation in the current state that it is in, it’s hard to believe that the Mets will be able to make a similar run like they did in 2024.

Not adding some depth pieces at the trade deadline to help the rotation has proven to be a massive mistake for the franchise. If New York misses the playoffs or gets eliminated early, it will likely be because of the rotation.