The Mets undeniably made the single biggest splash of the entire winter when they brought superstar slugger into the fold on a record-shattering $765MM deal back in December. Along with the clubs reunion with and some complementary additions like and , the Mets offense appears to be in a very strong place as they look to build off their NLCS appearance last year. The same cannot be said for the rotation. Despite rumors that connected the Mets to top starters on the trade market like and (as well as plenty of early speculation about the Mets as potential suitors for and ), the club took a far more measured approach to its starting staff. With and already in the fold, the club reunited with southpaw in free agency while bringing in , , and to Gabriel Landeskog Jersey replace , , and on the depth chart. Its an interesting group of names, and its not hard to see the potential upside in those moves. Holmes becomes the latest well-regarded reliever to try his hand at starting, and succe s stories like Crochet, , and offer a tantalizing glimpse at what Holmes could provide the Mets with should the move work out. Meanwhile, Montas was a well-regarded No. 2 starter as recently as three years ago, and Canning is just one year removed from being a solid back-of-the-rotation arm for the Angels. Still, theres plenty of very real risk involved with each of the clubs additions. Holmes could instead follow in the footsteps of le s-succe sful rotation converts like or even . Montas has struggled to stay healthy in recent years and struggled to remain effective even when he is on the mound, and Canning was arguably the single worst qualified starter in baseball last year. Even Manaea is coming off a career year that he may not be able to repeat in his age-33 season this year. The question marks in the rotation came to a head earlier this week when it was that Montas is currently suffering from a lat strain that was expected to shut him down for six to eight weeks. The veteran righty has since that hes set for just four to six weeks of no-throw, but that still suggests he may not have even begun throwing when Opening Day rolls around, at which point hell still need to make up for the lost preparation time caused by him mi sing a full spring training. Its not at all unreasonable to suggest that the Mets will be without Montas until sometime in May. If they still intend to use a six-man rotation, that would likely mean that Senga, Manaea, Peterson, and Holmes will be joined by Canning and . Naturally, questions have arisen about whether the club should make another addition. (MLBTRs Steve Adams argued that the even before news of Montas injury.) A number of veteran starters are still available in free agency, including four who made MLBTRs Top 50 free agents list at the outset of the offseason. A suggested that fans views Quintana as the best of those remaining arms, though the Mets in his market despite interest in a reunion from the veteran southpaws side. Even if the Mets arent enamored with the po sibility of a Quintana reunion, both and are still available and could be used either in the rotation or out of the bullpen depending on the clubs needs, affording the Mets flexibility when Montas returns. and are among the other veteran arms still available in free agency. On the other hand, its worth noting that the clubs rotation already runs six names deep even without Montas. Neither Canning nor Blackburn can be optioned both have five-plus years of service but righties and are both on the 40-man roster and likely ticketed for Triple-A to begin the season. Top prospect will likely make his debut at some point in 2025 as well. If the Mets dont add anyone right now, they could look for rotation help closer to the trade deadline if it proves nece sary. That would allow them to find out more about their offseason rolls of the dice on guys like Montas and Canning before deciding if they need another arm. There will also likely be a larger supply of arms available in July, as the number of sellers will increase relative to spring training, where optimism abounds throughout the league. Perhaps the risk of having to surrender an exciting young piece from their farm system to add an arm this summer makes adding depth now for nothing but money a more attractive option. Each side has its pros and cons. Where do MLBTR readers stand on the i sue? Are the Mets too light on talent in the rotation to compete with the Braves and Phillies for the NL East crown this year without another arm? Or should they stick with their internal options to open the season and rea se s their starting depth at the trade deadline this summer? Have your say in the poll below: Should the Mets add another starting pitcher before Opening Day? Yes, add another arm to the rotation mix. 72.38% (3,017votes) No, see how the current group fares before rea se sing this summer. 27.62% (1,151votes) Total Votes: 4,168 Chris Drury Jersey