PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – When the rotation is perceived to be a team’s biggest concern and two of the projected five starters go down before March, it isn’t exactly a good sign.
The New York Mets aren’t panicking. It’s too early to panic. And perhaps, in end, there will be no reason to panic at all.
But left-hander Sean Manaea’s right oblique strain, on top of righty Frankie Montas’ right lat strain, only adds to the uncertainty for a team spending $331 million to reduce doubt. Advertisement All is well, the Mets say. We’ve built depth to protect against injury.
We don’t need to sign free-agent lefty José Quintana, who last season after the All-Star break gave us a 3.18 ERA. We can trade for a starter at the deadline, if necessary, figure it out as we go along.
The reluctance to add Quintana is understandable. The Mets again project to pay the Steve Cohen Tax, a 110 percent penalty for exceeding the fourth luxury-tax threshold. A one-year, $10 million contract for Quintana would effectively cost them $21 million.
Probably not the wisest use of dollars, not that Cohen always cares. The question is not whether the Mets find the bodies to cover for Manaea, who is expected to miss three or four starts, and Montas, who likely will be out until late May or June. After Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes and David Peterson, the team has Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill to compete for two spots, and prospects such as Brandon Sproat in development.
The quantity .