Mets could take another swing on Cy Young winner?

Mar 26, 2022; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; The New York Mets logo stands in center field before the game against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets may not have learned their lesson the first time around with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Monday that the Mets could end up being a fallback option in free agency for newly-minted NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell. Heyman also says that he expects Snell to get over $200 million on his next contract.

The left-hander Snell should have a pretty robust market, especially coming off a brilliant individual season with the San Diego Padres where he went 14-9 with an MLB-low 2.25 ERA and a glowing 11.7 K/9 in nearly 200 innings pitched. But he does come with risk at his expected price tag since he is 31 years old now, is a notoriously slow starter, and is still only a few years removed from arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow.

For the Mets, their swings on Verlander and Scherzer, two other Cy Young winners, backfired pretty badly, forcing the team to trade both of them at last year’s deadline. While Snell is still several years younger than both of those guys were, the Mets might be better off going for this more cost-effective lefty instead.