You can’t afford to show your weakest hand in the most important games of the season. By turning their do-or-die Game 162 into a desperate bullpen game, the Mets revealed they didn’t deserve any October games. After starting Brandon Sproat and Clay Holmes in the first two games, they didn’t have a better option than Sean Manaea, who was struggling with a 5.64 ERA in 15 appearances since returning from an oblique strain, in their season-deciding game against the Marlins. As expected, Manager Carlos Mendoza had to pull him after just 1.2 innings in the most important game of the season.

Now, with the regular season through, the blame game has started. The failed rotation is without a doubt the biggest culprit, leading to major suggestions on how to fix it. SNY’s Andy Martino believes the front office must be aggressive in fixing its biggest problem. Martino even pointed toward a blockbuster trade as he wrote, “David Stearns does not believe in using free agency to overpay top starting pitchers. But what if Paul Skenes or Sandy Alcantara can be pried from their teams? If there is a way to land one of those two without trading Nolan McLean, why wouldn’t the Mets be aggressive?” 

This is where things get interesting because Paul Skenes, the current NL Cy Young favorite with a 1.97 ERA and 10-10 record despite the team’s poor performance, can transform the team’s biggest weakness into its greatest strength any day. And a potential 2026 rotation led by Skenes, their own top prospect Nolan McLean, and a healthy Kodai Senga can challenge even the top rotation in all of baseball any day.

But it will be extremely difficult, as the Pirates have publicly stated they have—no chance, no way, no how—of trading Skenes. Unarguably, he is the only source of hope for a franchise that just finished its tenth straight season without a playoff appearance. But the Mets could test that resolve with some massive offers that can include some top-tier minor league talents, including OF Carson Benge (No. 20 prospect in baseball), SS/OF Jett Williams, and RHP Jonah Tong (No. 44), the 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The Mets would definitely love to make a deal without including McLean, but a Skenes trade, even if it costs McLean, would be hard to pass up.

But the question is whether the team’s President of Baseball Operations would even make such a move.

Can David Stearns change his bars?

David Stearns has a history of avoiding massive contracts for starting pitchers. His tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers is filled with examples where he made smaller trades that yielded significant results, like acquiring future All-Star pitcher Freddy Peralta. This philosophy has worked for him in the past. But it also led to the risky signings of Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, which backfired spectacularly on the Mets in 2025.

Even MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal recently said on Foul Territory, “They didn’t go for any of the frontline guys, and that’s something Stearns does not like to do. And maybe that’s the lesson here. Maybe you’ve got to go and go big for a starting pitcher in a way that they didn’t. They were in the Crochet talks but did not get him.” So, Rosenthal warned, “You cannot be that short on starting pitching. You’ve got to have better depth… depth, I should say.” 

So, if Stearns decides against a blockbuster trade, who could the Mets target? The market still offers several players who fit his approach. A classic “buy-low” candidate is former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, and he is coming back from injury and has a team-friendly contract. Other controllable arms available via trade could include lefty Jesús Luzardo or the Pirates’ other starter, Mitch Keller. And if Stearns looks to free agency, he could target former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, who has a player option for 2026. If he declines it, he would be a perfect candidate for a one-year “prove-it” contract. Talented but inconsistent pitchers like Lucas Giolito and Jack Flaherty also have player options and fit the same profile. 

But for now, it’s impossible to know what moves David Stearns will make this winter, to be honest. But what we do know is that the Mets’ season ended far too early, and they have three more months than the other teams that qualified for the playoffs to figure out how to get better. And for a team with so many questions, that extra time might be the biggest blessing of all.