The New York Mets could assuredly use one more ace-caliber starting pitcher.
Entering the 2025 season, the projected ace of the Mets’ staff is Kodai Senga, who only made one start in the 2024 regular season. Behind him, there’s returning veteran Sean Manaea, lefty breakout candidate David Peterson, the erratic Frankie Montas, and a former closer in Clay Holmes.
That’s a lot of question marks to assemble in a single rotation. Even if the Mets have depth, what they lack is high-end talent, and they should be willing to trade from that depth to land it.
The projected sixth available starter in the Mets’ rotation would be Paul Blackburn, who once made an All-Star team with the Athletics and could likely crack several teams’ rotations who are more desperate for innings-eaters.
On Sunday, FanSided’s Tim Boyle proposed that Blackburn could be part of a package the Mets send to the San Diego Padres to land fourth-play Cy Young finisher Dylan Cease, who is entering a contract year.
“The trade the Mets should try to make involving Blackburn would be to pair him with a younger player or two and acquire a more expensive, talented, and if we’re really lucky, controllable arm,” Boyle wrote.
“We’ll just take the first two. Blackburn plus two prospects to the San Diego Padres for Dylan Cease? We’ll pretend the 2022 postseason never happened.”
Cease, 29, had 224 strikeouts in 189 2/3 innings pitched last season, which was only four fewer than Tarik Skubal, the major league leader. He also threw a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals and finished the season with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts.
Because Cease is under contract for just one more season, the cost to acquire him may not be as high as it would be for other pitchers of his caliber. For comparison, the Padres sent three top prospects in a four-player package to the Chicago White Sox for him last March.
The Mets would have to throw in two quality prospects, as Blackburn isn’t going to headline any trade deals anytime soon. But the framework for a trade makes sense if San Diego is desperate to shed Cease’s salary.
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