USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
While the Mets still have a lot to do this season, including perhaps reaching their first World Series since 2015 and winning their first since 1986, the final calculation for the qualifying offer at $21.05 million does remind us just how close so many key offseason issues are.
And here is one that should be easy for the Mets: Place the qualifying offer on Sean Manaea and Luis Severino.
One NL executive not with the Mets called it “a no-brainer,” and he meant it for all 30 clubs. It is so much easier for Steve Cohen’s Mets.
Consider that Cohen agreed to pay Max Scherzer $30.83 million and Justin Verlander $25 million not to pitch for the Mets this year. So even if you saw the 2025 total outlay of $42.1 million on Manaea/Severino as a gamble — and I don’t — it is still a gamble on pitchers who will either pitch for the Mets or get them draft-pick compensation.