Mets begin gearing up for pursuit of Juan Soto by clearing space, money from roster

NEW YORK — The housecleaning has started and the Mets, as well as other teams, are clearing space off the 40-man roster and clearing money from the payroll gearing up to pursue free agent outfielder Juan Soto.

After all, he said he’s available to all 30 teams right?

Obviously, a superstar like Soto isn’t going to go to a place like Sacramento to play in a minor league ballpark for pennies. No offense to Sacramento; as a native to the area I can assure there is plenty to offer there, but not an owner willing to spend on elite talent or really, well anything these days. By that logic, you can rule out several other teams as well (looking at you, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and probably a few others too).

This is where the Mets and Yankees stand apart from their competitors. The lasting image of Soto in pinstripes is him with his batting helmet in his hands, watching dejectedly as the Dodgers celebrated their title on the field at Yankee Stadium. His agent, Scott Boras, says Soto’s priority is winning, telling ESPN one day after the series that he’s seeking a team with an owner that wants to compete and “a system that provides great players and great pitching.” That certainly sounds like Steve Cohen, but the Mets are not tipping their hand on anything yet.

The reality is that it’s just too early to tell. There is a lot of money coming off the books, but the Mets will have to remake much of their pitching staff next year and a free agent like Soto will want to see what the team has committed beyond next season as well, or have a promise of certain moves that will be made.

Which brings us back to the housekeeping.

The Mets announced Monday that they plan to retain their entire coaching staff. That’s a solid step for a team that has had nonstop change in coaching and philosophies over the last eight years. Manager Carlos Mendoza should get some NL Manager of the Year votes.

Roster moves started almost immediately, though they were mostly minor until Monday, when the club declined the team option on right-handed reliever Phil Maton’s contract, and left-handed starter Sean Manaea officially opted out of his contract for the 2025 season. The Mets reportedly extended a qualifying offer to Manaea and also to right-hander Luis Severino, but after the season Manaea had, he can get himself a raise on a multi-year contract by opting out. He turned in one of the best seasons of his career going 12-6 with a 3.47 and a 3.83 FIP over 32 starts. The work at Driveline over the last few years has been extremely beneficial for Manaea and his personality was perfect in a light, loose Mets clubhouse.

However, Manaea has said he’s open to returning to the Mets and the feeling appears mutual. A renegotiation could be on deck, but again, it’s unclear what Manaea wants right now.

With the general manager meetings getting underway outside of San Antonio this week, we could start to know more about what free agents of Manaea’s caliber are looking for. The Mets have to replace Manaea, Severino and left-hander Jose Quintana, at minimum. If Manaea and/or Severino reject the qualifying offer, the team will receive draft-pick compensation.

But without them, the rotation looks pretty sparse. Currently, it’s headlined by Kodai Senga and David Peterson, but it then drops off from there with right-handers Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill. The team could also choose to put right-hander Jose Butto back in the rotation.

The club was hoping to see progress from starting pitching prospects like Christian Scott, Blade Tidwell and Mike Vasil, but Scott will be sidelined next season after undergoing elbow surgery in September, and the Triple-A Syracuse pitching staff struggled this season. Maybe the Mets can pencil in top prospect Brandon Sproat, but that would likely be a spring training battle.

So, that leaves them needing to fill quite a few holes. Megill can’t be trusted as a rotation option, but the team has long been high on him so it wouldn’t be surprising to see if they roll with him again. Butto was fantastic out of the bullpen for the Mets for most of the season before falling back to earth in the postseason.

The bullpen needs work too, and we haven’t even started to discuss what happens with Pete Alonso, and what to do with the infield quartet of Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña.

Soto might be the hot topic as the offseason action begins, but there is a lot of work for David Stearns and his front office before they can start getting to the juicy stuff. Until then, enjoy the rumor mill, but don’t get too caught up in it. Always remember, the MLB offseason is a marathon, not a sprint.