David Stearns and the Mets are playing a dangerous game of chicken with the free-agent pitching market, and they might be the first to swerve. With the team likely to sign one or two quality starting pitchers, the way they’re handling the pitching search this offseason might keep them from landing the best starters available.

Will Sammon of The Athletic has reported that the Mets are growing reluctant to offer long-term deals to starting pitchers. Meanwhile, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, and Tatsuya Imai are all expecting to land on deals in the six-to-eight-year range, a fair expectation for top arms in their prime looking to cash in.

The Mets, on the other hand, invested a whopping $765 million in Juan Soto just last offseason, and the contract hasn’t exactly paid dividends yet.

However, if the Mets are firm on short-term commitments only, they might end up missing out on the best arms. With the Blue Jays signing Dylan Cease to a $210 million, seven-year contract, it’s evident that the market is trending long-term now.

So, maybe, the Mets could shift their focus to the next line of free-agent starters.

In that tier, we’ve Michael King, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly.

Meanwhile, according to Eric Treuden of Just Baseball, the Dodgers are planning to steal Edwin Díaz from the Mets in free agency. Jim Bowden of The Athletic predicts that Díaz could land a strong deal in the $88 million range.

Even though the Mets would like to bring Díaz back, that doesn’t mean they’ll move mountains to land him. So, if he lands somewhere else, it could trigger some rearranging in their pitching staff. As it seems, the Mets’ choices for starting pitchers are pretty limited now.

The Mets could consider moving Clay Holmes to the bullpen, per an insider

There are many question marks surrounding the Mets’ pitching staff right now. David Stearns is expected to add a frontline starter, though he may be wary of options like Clay Holmes, who struggled down the stretch last season.

USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale has recently shared that Mets president David Stearns has never been one to bow to public pressure. He’s not ready to commit $100 million over five years for Díaz, especially after signing Devin Williams to a three-year deal.

If Díaz walks away, the Mets could target Robert Suárez. Otherwise, they could even move Clay Holmes back to the bullpen.

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Nightengale isn’t necessarily saying the Mets will make this move. It’s just intriguing to think about what the pitching staff would look like with Clay Holmes back in the bullpen instead of the starting rotation.

Doing so would help the team ease the current logjam of starters. They’re already in talks of adding another quality arm in the coming days while strengthening the bullpen, too. So if Díaz doesn’t return to Queens, this is definitely an idea worth considering.