Another year, another Spring Training injury to a New York Mets starting pitcher. Last season, presumed Opening Day starter Justin Verlander began the season on the IL. The season before that, presumed Opening Day starter Jacob deGrom began it on the IL. Now, Kodai Senga is slated to do the same thing.

The Senga injury is a big blow to a Mets team trying to get into Wild Card contention in the 2025 season. With how their rotation looks without him, that looks like a hard sell. For the Mets to be seriously considered a threat in the race, they’d need to add another arm.

The dream signing would be Jordan Montgomery, but chances are if they weren’t willing to pay him by now, chances are they won’t at all. Fortunately for the Mets, there is another option who won’t be looking for nearly as much money who’d be an upgrade over the Tylor Megills and Joey Lucchesis of the world sitting in free agency.

Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic ($) reported that the Mets have been in touch with free agent Michael Lorenzen, but even then, a deal doesn’t sound so likely.

“The New York Mets have recently checked in on free-agent starters, including Michael Lorenzen, league sources said, though the communication likely reflects a desire to stay connected if they have another injury rather than imminent, serious interest.”

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported just a couple of days ago that Lorenzen is looking for a two-year deal worth around $20 million, a very affordable price for a starting pitcher in today’s market. Even with that, the Mets don’t appear to be interested. They’ve shied away from multi-year commitments for the most part this offseason with an eye towards the 2025 offseason.

The Mets would likely be more interested if Lorenzen was willing to sign for one year, but who knows if that’s a possibility. Lorenzen deserves a multi-year deal coming off the year he just had. Sure, it didn’t end well with the Phillies, but he was an All-Star with the Tigers and had a solid 4.18 ERA in 29 starts and 153 innings overall.

If the Mets truly want to compete in 2024, getting Lorenzen on a one-year deal gives them a better chance of doing just that. Worst case, if they underperform they can trade him at the deadline. If he struggles, they can let him walk in free agency. Passing on Lorenzen if he’s willing to sign for one year with Tylor Megill as the fifth starter would be a mistake.