What the Mets Need To Do To Build Their 2027 Starting Rotation

The failure of the 2026 season for the New York Mets can be attributed to many things, including injuries and some bad luck. One of the bigger issues, however, is the continued difficulty David Stearns has had assembling a competent starting rotation.

The Mets entered the year with six starting pitching options and traded away three of them: David Peterson, Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes. Another fell off the board as Kodai Senga pitched himself out of the rotation, leaving only Nolan McLean and Sean Manaea standing from the intended group of six the team began the season with.

The emergence of Christian Scott has helped and he became an untouchable piece for Stearns at the trade deadline. There is still a lot of work to be done for Stearns in the offseason, and there are a few different routes he can take to build a rotation capable of supporting a winner.

The Mets' internal rotation options

The only two locks for the 2027 rotation at this point figure to be McLean and Scott, which is good since they have the ability to be the second and third starters. Manaea hasn't been spectacular for the Mets but has been serviceable enough to function as a fifth starter if the team can't get anyone to take his contract in the offseason.

2026 hasn't been a banner year for the team's pitching pipeline as Jonah Tong failed to progress from his strong 2025 minor league campaign. The Mets have given Tong limited run this season while fellow prospect Jack Wenninger hasn't progressed like the team has hoped, failing to earn a big league call-up despite a myriad of injuries to the rotation at various points.

The one prospect who has stepped up is Zac Thornton, who has flashed potential to grab a rotation spot for the remainder of this season. A look under the hood at Thornton's peripherals is a bit terrifying, however, meaning he has a lot of work to do to earn a rotation spot in 2027 on a potential contender.

The top pitching prospect that the Mets currently have outside of Tong is lefty Jonathan Santucci, a 2024 second-round pick who recently earned a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse. While Santucci could be a long-term option for the Mets, it is unrealistic to count on him at the start of 2027.

The other lingering internal options are Senga, whose move to the bullpen may be his last one to stay in the organization, and Tylor Megill, who is out for this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Megill profiles more as depth at this stage and could be tossed into a competition with Tong, Manaea and Thornton for the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training.

External Options

The prudent move for the Mets would be to add two additional starters: someone to function as an ace and a dependable arm for the middle of the rotation. While Tarik Skubal is set to be a free agent, his likely preference for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Stearns' reticence to hand out long-term deals for starting pitchers likely puts him out of play for the Mets.

The more likely avenue for the ace is going to come via trade, which could see Stearns flip some of his newly acquired prospect capital to add a front-line starter. Two potential rentals could fit this bill, namely Minnesota's Joe Ryan and Miami's Sandy Alcantara, while a more controllable option like Reid Detmers may be Stearns' dream target.

Stearns did say at his post-deadline press conference that the Mets did explore adding controllable pieces at the deadline, like Toronto did when they added Jose Soriano in a deal with the Angels, but noted that they couldn't agree on prices now. That conversation could happen again in the offseason, but a trade appears more likely than splashing a lot of money for an ace type in free agency.

The most likely free agent addition would be a third or fourth starter who can slot between McLean and Scott in the rotation. Reuniting with Holmes, who is expected to opt out of his contract after the season in Chicago, could be a possibility but the fact that the Mets didn't seriously explore an extension with him does mute that possibility.

Two names that pop out on the free agent front are Michael King, who can opt out of his deal with the Padres, and Shane Bieber. King has been linked with this Mets front office for a while and is still only 31 years old, making a three-year deal with a higher annual salary something Stearns could pursue.

The fact that King has shown he can pitch in New York from his time with the Yankees should also appeal to Stearns, who has seen some of his biggest free-agent successes come with former Yankees. Bieber does carry some injury risk but has Cy Young upside, which could make a short-term deal and upside play if Stearns opts to go that route.

What the Mets should do with their rotation

We'll operate under the assumption that the Mets pull off a trade for Ryan and sign King to a three-year deal. That would give them a top four of Ryan, McLean, King and Scott while allowing Manaea, Thornton, Tong, Wenninger and Megill to compete for the fifth rotation spot in spring training.

Trading for Ryan would be a similar tactic to the Peralta deal, which had sound process despite backfiring on the Mets. It's not an approach they should shy away from. Neither player the Mets traded has made a major impact with Milwaukee thus far so if Stearns knows which assets he can part with, he should consider doing it again.

The worst thing the Mets could do would be to bring in one starter while assuming Manaea and Thornton can hold rotation spots for a full season. Considering Stearns needs to build out nearly an entire bullpen this winter, they need to ensure they have more innings certainty from their rotation, which a group like that would not provide.

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