Key Takeaways
- • The New York Mets have a meeting planned with free-agent-to-be Tarik Skubal, the back-to-back Cy Young winner, next week in California, according to a source first reported by the New York Post and cited by Newsday columnist David Lennon.
- • Columnist Lennon estimates Skubal's contract could land in the eight-year, $360 million range, which would surpass Yoshinobu Yamamoto's record $325 million, 12-year deal and the $43.3 million record average annual value shared by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
- • Mets owner Steve Cohen, whose fortune Lennon puts at $26 billion, previously outbid the Yankees for Juan Soto with a 15-year, $765 million contract, and club president David Stearns said Cohen will support baseball operations this offseason.
- • Skubal's agent Scott Boras and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Padres and Mets are expected to compete, and Lennon expects the deal to be finalized before the December 1 expiration of the current CBA.
- • Lennon's projections are opinion and not confirmed by the club; the Mets have not announced terms.
Summary
Newsday columnist David Lennon writes that the Mets' pursuit of Tarik Skubal closely resembles their 2024 courtship of Juan Soto, which Cohen won with a 15-year, $765 million contract after outbidding the Yankees. According to a source cited by Lennon, and first reported by the New York Post, the Mets have a meeting planned with Skubal next week in California. The location is unclear, as Skubal's agent Scott Boras is based in Newport Beach. Boras also represents Skubal and previously represented Soto, and Cohen hosted Soto's group at his Beverly Hills mansion in 2024.
Stearns, the Mets' president of baseball operations, said Tuesday at the GM meetings that Cohen "has demonstrated repeatedly throughout his ownership tenure that he's going to support baseball operations and the baseball operations' needs," and he expects the same this offseason. Stearns declined to name specific players. Lennon notes that the Mets' biggest need is a top-of-rotation starter, and cites recent deals for Jacob Misiorowski with the Brewers and Drew Rasmussen with the Rays as context for the market.
Lennon projects that Skubal's deal could be around eight years and $360 million, a figure he describes as a conservative personal estimate. That would exceed Yamamoto's record $325 million, 12-year contract and the record $43.3 million average annual value shared by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Lennon also notes that the current CBA expires December 1 and that owners are expected to push for a lockout, which could compress the timeline. Competing interest includes the Dodgers and Padres, and Lennon suggests Skubal may initially prefer the Dodgers, who acquired him at the trade deadline. He also points to Stearns' 2023 pursuit of Yamamoto, which the Mets lost to the Dodgers, as a precedent for a possible rematch.
Stearns, the Mets' president of baseball operations, said Tuesday at the GM meetings that Cohen "has demonstrated repeatedly throughout his ownership tenure that he's going to support baseball operations and the baseball operations' needs," and he expects the same this offseason. Stearns declined to name specific players. Lennon notes that the Mets' biggest need is a top-of-rotation starter, and cites recent deals for Jacob Misiorowski with the Brewers and Drew Rasmussen with the Rays as context for the market.
Lennon projects that Skubal's deal could be around eight years and $360 million, a figure he describes as a conservative personal estimate. That would exceed Yamamoto's record $325 million, 12-year contract and the record $43.3 million average annual value shared by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Lennon also notes that the current CBA expires December 1 and that owners are expected to push for a lockout, which could compress the timeline. Competing interest includes the Dodgers and Padres, and Lennon suggests Skubal may initially prefer the Dodgers, who acquired him at the trade deadline. He also points to Stearns' 2023 pursuit of Yamamoto, which the Mets lost to the Dodgers, as a precedent for a possible rematch.
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