Jake Arrieta could be headed to Mets after Trevor Bauer miss
By Matt Rappa
The Philadelphia Phillies division-rival New York Mets missed out on signing 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer on Friday, despite offering him more money than any other team.
Bauer will instead return to his hometown team — the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Mets reportedly have interest in former Phillies starter Jake Arrieta.
Currently, the Mets have Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson, and Joey Lucchesi listed as starting pitchers on their depth chart. Do they become satisfied with this group after the Bauer miss, or continue to seek starting pitching ahead of spring training?
According to recent reports, it is the latter — and the next pitcher rumored to be atop their list is no other than former Phillies starting pitcher, Jake Arrieta.
light. Related Story. Phillies catch break as Trevor Bauer turns down Mets
The SNY Network’s Andy Martino reports the Mets have interest in Arrieta, and “not as much” interest in James Paxton. He continued that the Mets have no interest in fellow free-agent Jake Odorizzi nor Taijuan Walker.
Arrieta, 34, is a free-agent for the first time in three years. His multi-year pact in red pinstripes did not turn out as the Phillies hoped it would. Through 64 starts, the 2015 Cy Young Award winner — and 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs — went just 22-23 with a 4.36 ERA.
The Mets have seen plenty of Arrieta over the years, particularly recently during his time with the Phillies. The Missouri native had considerable success against them this past season, going 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA and an 11-2 strikeouts-to-walks ratio through 12 1/3 innings. Against all other teams, however, he went 2-4 in seven starts.
If they’re looking for that depth-type starter, sure Jake Arrieta seems to fit that bill. But make no mistake - he is a diminished pitcher at this point in his career. He’s pitching to way more contact and allowing more baserunners. So they’d need to be careful here. https://t.co/rvvtT81kE5
— Michael Baron (@michaelgbaron) February 6, 2021
As the Mets seek out rotation depth, the Phillies have been adding their own in recent weeks with southpaw Matt Moore and right-hander Chase Anderson — complementing Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, Spencer Howard, Vince Velasquez, Ranger Suarez, and others in the mix.
Time will tell just whether Arrieta will be the Mets’ consolation prize after failing to sign Bauer.
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