Mets taking new approach to free agency in 2024

The days of blank checks and Uncle Steve spending sprees are seemingly long behind the New York Mets. 

With the blessing of owner Steve Cohen, Mets GM Billy Eppler dismantled the underperforming 2023 roster with his sights set on contending in the not so foreseeable future.

Despite selling several of their big-name free-agent acquisitions, headlined by co-aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Mets agreed to get stuck with the bill in order to recoup promising young prospects. New York sent $36 million for the Texas Rangers to acquire Scherzer, and will be stuck forking over $35 million or $52.5 million to the Houston Astros depending on how many innings Verlander throws in 2024 (he has a 140-inning vesting option).

The Mets top brass recognized that handing out record-breaking contracts to ailing veterans was not a recipe for sustained success and have done everything in their power to erase the memory of it ever happening. Now that the dust has settled around the MLB trade deadline, New York is equipped with a promising young farm system that Cohen believes will make an impact in 2025-2026, per the New York Post.

In the meantime, the Mets will not look to make any of the big free-agent acquisitions or trades that were a staple of Cohen's first three years as owner. When discussing the immediate future of the organization with Scherzer, Eppler allegedly said the team would be taking a step back in 2024.

"I was like, 'So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?'" Scherzer told The Athletic. "[Eppler] said, ‘No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. '24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.'"

Eppler affirmed the team's conservative approach in his own words during a news conference Tuesday, insisting the Mets will "field a competitive team" in 2024 and assess areas of need for the remainder of the season.

"Whether we go in for a couple of starting pitchers or not will be seen over these next couple of months," Eppler said, per SNY. "Whether we have to go in for a couple of outfielders, that might be the case as well. We’ll go in for some bullpen as well. We’ll just see how things unfold in the next couple of months."

The new-look Mets will now take a page out of the Wilpons' old book, opting to sign free agents to one-to-two year low-risk or bounce-back contracts. 

Looking to replenish the front-end of their now desolate rotation, the Mets could go after mid-tier pitchers on the market such as James Paxton, Kyle Gibson or Hyun-jin Ryu. In order to fill the designated hitter hole that's underperformed all season, they can turn to proven veterans like Justin Turner, Joc Pederson or Adam Duvall. And for the empty set-up man role in the bullpen, why not bring back a familiar face in David Robertson. 

New York spent like a big-market team and faced the consequences. Now, it's time to see what life is like on the other side.