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NEW YORK -- At this moment, the Mets employ only two pitchers who are clear and obvious members of their 2025 rotation: Kodai Senga and David Peterson. Nearly two-thirds of the innings from this year¡¯s pitching staff -- more than 800 in all -- were contributed by players who are currently either free agents, in other organizations or set to miss next season due to injury.

The Mets, in other words, need to find some pitching. A lot of pitching.

¡°I think ¡®multiple¡¯ is kind of what I¡¯m going for,¡± vice president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday at the GM Meetings in San Antonio, Texas, when asked about his appetite to add starters.

¡°How many multiples, I don¡¯t know yet. We talked about this last offseason, too. You can build pitching staffs in very different ways. You can do it via adding starting pitching and going for length at the front end of games. We could structure our bullpen a little differently next year where you¡¯ve got more multiple-inning options that can eat up innings. But certainly, we need to find some innings, and a part of that is going to be adding to the starting rotation.¡±

To build out a staff, the Mets can indeed operate in multiple ways. Some options available to them include:

? Re-signing Sean Manaea, who will likely reject his $21.05 million qualifying offer in search of a larger, multiyear contract

? Re-acquiring Luis Severino, who could accept his own QO or negotiate a different deal to return

? Pursuing Corbin Burnes, Max Fried or any other top-flight free agent from outside the organization

? Employing a similar strategy to the one Stearns used with Severino and Manaea last year, finding reclamation projects or older players for short-term deals

? Dipping into the trade market, which was a common place for Stearns to seek pitching at his former job in Milwaukee

? Spending on high-quality relievers to shorten games and neutralize a lesser rotation

The Mets won¡¯t go down all those avenues, but they will certainly explore some of them. Their next move could depend upon Severino¡¯s QO decision, which must come down by Nov. 19.

In addition to Burnes and Fried, available arms include Blake Snell, Jack Flaherty, Nathan Eovaldi, Yusei Kikuchi, Shane Bieber and another of the Mets¡¯ own free agents, Jose Quintana.

¡°I think there are some good options there,¡± Stearns said. ¡°We¡¯re at the very front end of this whole thing, and sometimes free-agent markets move quickly, and sometimes they take a long time to sort out. We¡¯re beginning all of those conversations. I look forward to having those conversations.¡±

Despite all the pitching they lost to free agency, the Mets can fill in the gaps with Senga, Peterson and some combination of Tylor Megill, Jos¨¦ Butt¨® and Paul Blackburn. By midseason, various prospects could be ready to contribute, including top-tier arms Brandon Sproat and Blade Tidwell as well as older prospects Mike Vasil and Dom Hamel.

¡°I think we¡¯re seeking to build another successful rotation however that occurs, and you can do it in a variety of different ways,¡± Stearns said. ¡°So I don¡¯t feel beholden to do it in any particular one way.¡±