Star free agent Trevor Bauer is now down to two teams according to his agent Rachel Luba. These teams are likely the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Mets have emerged as the favorites to land him. Where would Bauer fit in the current Mets rotation though?
The Mets already have the one of the best rotations in all of baseball, and adding the reigning NL Cy Young award winner can only help. The rotation starts with two-time Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom. DeGrom is a lock to be the ace in the rotation for the foreseeable future, as he is still an electric pitcher and one of the best pitchers in baseball at age 32 and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Many fans believe that if the Mets sign Bauer, he would be the “co-ace” of the rotation but the Mets are unlikely to go that route. However, Bauer would easily slide right in to be the second starter of the rotation, well, at least for now (until Noah Syndergaard is healthy). Bauer has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for the last two seasons. Once he was traded to the Reds his career really started to take off, and he is coming off of his best season ever. The Reds, similarly to the Mets, have a couple of good pitchers in Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo, so Bauer has already proven that he can perform well on teams that he’s not the #1 guy.
Marcus Stroman is going to be the third starter. Stroman opted out of the 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns and tested the free agent market for a good amount of time earlier this winter. He ultimately decided to accept an offer to return to Queens for about $19 million though. Stroman had a decent 2019 campaign with the Mets and the Blue Jays as he made the All-Star team. This upcoming season will be a big year for Stroman, since he will be looking to get a massive contract later in the year. He is in a pretty good position right now to do that too; he is well rested and reportedly fully healthy.
Next in the rotation is going to be a key acquisition in Carlos Carrasco. He was a part of the blockbuster trade involving Francisco Lindor last month, and he looks ecstatic to be a part of the Mets rotation. Carrasco has been solid these past couple of years in Cleveland. He was diagnosed with Leukemia back in 2019, but fortunately it looks like he is doing well and will be ready to go in a couple of weeks. Carrasco also expressed that he’d be happy if Bauer does end up joining him and Lindor in New York.
To round out the rotation will be second-year player David Peterson. Peterson had a fantastic rookie campaign going 6-2 while posting an ERA of 3.44. He was the Mets second best pitcher last year, so him being in the fifth slot shows how solid this rotation really is.
Additionally, the Mets have acquired Joey Lucchesi, and of course they still have Noah Syndergaard. Once “Thor” returns, hopefully as soon as June, the rotation will be almost unstoppable.
The Mets already have a stacked rotation and the addition of Trevor Bauer will make this rotation very difficult to stop.
Photo credit: Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire
