Kodai Senga: "Extremely Available"

[Frayed Knot]

... or so says ESPN's Jeff Passan who goes on to say that 'multiple executives anticipate the Mets trading the 32 y/o (33 in January) pitcher during this off-season as the yearly revamping of the pitching staff continues.

We all know the track record so far

- Year one was terrific: 29 starts, 2.98 ERA, 2nd ROY, 7th CY, All Star

- Year two was all but non-existent: 1 game/5.1 innings pitched

- Year three started out well: a 1.47 ERA thru his first 13 starts ... but then Pete broke him with an errant flip.

He missed a month then had a 5.90 ERA after that before finally being (reluctantly) sent down to the minors.

In all he's made 52 starts/113 IP over three seasons. 113 innings used to be considered barely over a half-season.

There are two years remaining on his contract.

Hard to know what "extremely available" means specifically, but the idea of a trade can't be too surprising even if they're not exactly selling high here.

I wonder also if the seemingly high-maintenance quality of Senga has maybe worn out his welcome to some degree, from his reluctance to pitch unless

he feels everything is perfect mechanically to his initial reluctance to rehab/regroup in AAA

[Gwreck]

That's 113 innings in 2025. 285 total Mets innings.

Senga's contract is for $14 million/season. By comparison, the Mets are paying Manaea $25M/year for 2026 and 2027; Montas was signed for $17M/year; the Tigers signed Flaherty last offseason for $17.5M/2 years; the Rangers signed Eovaldi for $75M/3 years.

Listen to trade offers? Sure. But there seems little incentive to sell low.

[The Hot Corner]

That's 113 innings in 2025. 285 total Mets innings.

Senga's contract is for $14 million/season. By comparison, the Mets are paying Manaea $25M/year for 2026 and 2027; Montas was signed for $17M/year; the Tigers signed Flaherty last offseason for $17.5M/2 years; the Rangers signed Eovaldi for $75M/3 years.

Listen to trade offers? Sure. But there seems little incentive to sell low.

 

Yup. Good analysis.

[Buck4Prez]

good god the Mets are stupid.

[Cowtipper]

It's mostly David Stearns being David Stearns.

[Edgy MD]

Or it is just a report citing anonymous sources, absent a ton of important context.

[smg58]

I'd trade Senga for a legit starting centerfielder. Otherwise, I don't see much point.

[Centerfield]

I have a hard time believing that anyone really knows what the Mets are planning. I get that Passan is well connected, and may have sources that have talked to the Mets, and can speculate based on those conversations. But this Cohen regime has been extremely tight-lipped. And even local guys have a hard time getting any nuggets of information.

It's a good article, and fun to speculate. But you know, grain of salt, blah blah blah.

[Edgy MD]

This is the nature of offseason storytelling on days when no other action is there to report.

I hear the Mets might sign John Rocker. I have a source, and he is a totally sourcey source.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I saw a headline in my Google feed the other day that said, "Mets Trade Juan Soto to the Dodgers". I wish I had a way to block these sources. I've tried, but it doesn't seem to work.

As for Senga, I feel that they would be selling low, and they do need many pitching options so I'd be inclined to keep him, hoping he'll have a 2026 similar to the first few months of 2025. We've seen that it takes him a while to recover from injuries. I think a healthy Senga (if he remains healthy, of course) will be very valuable to have next April.