The New York Mets' offseason continues to raise questions in the Big Apple as they try to address their major shortcoming of adding pieces to the starting rotation puzzle.
This is why Tatsuya Imai from Japan would be ideal correspondgiven their needs on the mound and the short duration of his contract with the Houston Astros.
But that was not the view of Mets management. Actually, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.comUltimately, the Metropolitans decided not to play Imai in the derby due to internal concerns about his projected impact at the Major League Baseball level.
Mets were not sold on Tatsuya Imai as impact starter: report https://t.co/rb9OowYp6J pic.twitter.com/tU7fOYUFoz
– SNY (@SNYtv) January 3, 2026
The Mets still need starting pitchers, but sources said Imai has not been traded to the club as a starter. The top players in the starting lineup, namely Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez, are expected to receive long-term contracts, so it remains to be seen whether David Stearns will go all-in on one of them or look elsewhere, perhaps the trade market.
If that's the standard the Mets want, the rest of the winter looks promising. But we all know that's not the case in the wonderful world of New York City workout unicorns.
Imai carried minimal risk, having the option of exiting after each of the first two seasons of the pact. Having abandoned Nippon, the Mets now faced an ever-shrinking market and growing discontent in Queens.
The Mets don't seem to be looking at 2026 as the campaign where they can finally get to the next level, because if they did, the lame excuses would stop flying around.
This content was created using artificial intelligence.
