The Mets won’t say it out loud, but by last season’s end, Kodai Senga had pretty much tested every ounce of their patience. His slow injury recovery, constant need for extra rest, fixation on his mechanics, and that surprisingly blunt September admission, that he wasn’t ready to help their Wild Card push, all added up. So this winter, the Mets haven’t exactly hidden their willingness to move him.

In fact, per The Athletic, Senga recently contacted David Stearns to say he wants to remain in Queens. Yet, per Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, the Mets are expected to sign either Ranger Suárez or Michael King in the coming days.

“Shortly thereafter (or maybe even before), they will trade away Kodai Senga, who has two years and $30M remaining on his deal and who ended this past season in Triple-A after a disastrous run through the first six weeks of the second half,” Miller wrote.

“While the Mets might be done with Senga, there should be quite a bit of interest in a very reasonably priced pitcher with a career ERA of 3.00 and career K/9 of 10.1. We’ll get semi-specific here and say he lands with one of the non-Seattle teams in the AL West, all of whom have rotation needs and probably not enough room in their budget to sign a Valdez or a Suárez.”

Michael King, 30, isn’t exactly a newcomer to New York. Born in the city and breaking into the majors with the Yankees, he knows the territory well. His career took a turn in 2024 when the Yankees dealt him to the Padres, a move that turned him into a full-time starter, and he ran with it.

He posted a sharp 2.95 ERA that season and finished seventh in the NL Cy Young race. Injuries cut his 2025 campaign down to just 15 starts, but even then, he managed a solid 3.44 ERA.

When it comes to Suárez, he has been a reliable presence for the Phillies all along. He wrapped up the 2025 season with a 3.20 ERA, a 1.220 WHIP, and 151 strikeouts across 157.1 innings, his second straight season under a 4.00 ERA, and the fifth time he’s pulled that off in his career.

He’s exactly the kind of pitcher Philadelphia would hate to lose. But with reports linking as many as five other teams to him, there’s a real chance he could be wearing a different uniform next year. For the Mets, landing Suárez would be a major win, especially after already bringing in Devin Williams.

After missing the postseason by the slimmest margin, the Mets are clearly pushing hard to upgrade every corner of the roster for 2026. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen are also reportedly on their radar, and all signs point to New York adding at least one more starting arm before the offseason wraps up.

So, it looks increasingly likely that the Mets will be trading Senga. But will that move benefit the Mets? This question was asked to several MLB scouts and executives this week. And intriguingly, the general answer was no.

Why do MLB scouts and execs think the Mets shouldn’t trade Kodai Senga?

Well, the reason is certainly his proven upside, and not to forget, his relatively affordable contract makes keeping him the smarter move. Referring to his 2023 and pre-injury 2025 seasons, one scout even praised him for pitching at a “high level.”

Trading him now would probably mean selling low. The Mets probably wouldn’t get comparable value in return. He has the talent to help a team win a championship. And so, the consensus is to wait and hope he’s healthy when it matters most.

That was agreed by many responders. Meanwhile, others argued the Mets could use the $30 million remaining on Senga’s contract. However, NY insider Jon Heyman has a different take, which he shared during a December 1 Bleacher Report live stream.

“Senga odds [of getting traded]? I did see that it was reported by The Athletic that he’d prefer to stay with the Mets. I don’t think that will weigh; they’ve got to do what they need to do, what they want to do. He’s obviously being shopped.”

Heyman believes it’ll be odd for Senga to return now. As he sees it, the chances of a trade are actually pretty good. Well, let’s see where Kodai Senga will end up after this year.