The New York Mets have not made the postseason since signing Juan Soto, and something needs to change.
They have been held back by a weak starting rotation, and president of baseball operations David Stearns has already noted that the team needs to add starting pitching. Tarik Skubal will be a free agent soon, and adding him would give the rotation a much-needed boost.
"I do think it is necessary for us to add to our rotation," Stearns said in his end-of-season press conference. "We can do that in a variety of different ways. We've talked about this plenty before -- you'd always love to add to the top of your rotation, any team would love to do that -- over the long term, what we need to do is develop pitchers at the top of our rotation, and I think we are proving we can do that, and we'll continue to do that."
Skubal would not only be a great player on the field, but he would be a great resource to the young pitchers on the team. Rookie Zac Thornton made it clear where he stands on the team signing Skubal.
"I talk to (Nolan McLean) all the time about it, and he had some good talks with Skubal when they were in the WBC together," Thornton said, per the New York Post's Mike Puma. "It would be awesome to bounce ideas, especially coming from another left-handed pitcher. Sean (Manaea) and I talk a lot, just about being lefties — there are not many around here, so it would be awesome to have another powerhouse left-handed pitcher around here."
Thornton and McLean were bright spots in the Mets rotation this year, and adding a true ace to take some pressure off of them could help. The Mets would be in a much better spot if their No. 2 and No. 3 starters were McLean and Thornton going into next year.