![\"Mets](\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/new-york-mets-owner-steve-91822442.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\nEither way, Cohen \u2014 who was at an event for his New York Golf Club in the TGL golf league \u2014 is confident the Mets will be good in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens,\u2019\u2019 Cohen said of the offseason. \u201cWe built a great team last year and I fully expect to do the same this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
For that to happen, they\u2019ll need more than just Soto.<\/p>\n
And Monday, teams began to find out what the starting pitching free-agent market will look like, as left-hander Yusei Kikuchi agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal with the Angels, first reported by The Post\u2019s Jon Heyman.<\/p>\n Will Sean Manaea and Luis Severino be far behind?<\/p>\n The pitching market, like most of free agency, has been quiet for the first month of the offseason. Perhaps the 33-year-old Kikuchi\u2019s move will impact some veteran pitchers the Mets \u2014 and plenty of others \u2014 are interested in.<\/p>\n The first on that list would be Manaea, only seven months younger than Kikuchi and also a left-hander coming off a strong season.<\/p>\n Unlike Kikuchi, who was traded from Toronto to Houston last season and not eligible for the qualifying offer, Manaea declined the qualifying offer from the Mets, meaning the team will get a draft pick after the fourth round if he signs elsewhere.<\/p>\n Manaea opted out of the second year of his two-year, $28 million deal signed last offseason.<\/p>\n Severino also turned down the qualifying offer and is hitting free agency after a strong bounce-back season with the Mets following an ugly end with the Yankees in 2023. He made $13 million on his one-year deal this past season.<\/p>\n Both Manaea and Severino figure to get deals similar to Kikuchi\u2019s, since all are pitchers with experience, but who have dealt with inconsistency.<\/p>\n Kikuchi, after struggling with Toronto to start the season, pitched much better following a July trade to Houston. He pitched to a 4.05 ERA overall in 175 \u00b9\/\u2083 innings. With the Astros, he was 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 60 innings (10 starts).<\/p>\n Manaea, who signed with the Mets last offseason following subpar seasons with San Diego and San Francisco in 2022 and 2023, was solid throughout his year in Queens, pitching to a 3.47 ERA over 181 \u00b2\/\u2083 innings, before getting knocked around by the Dodgers in Game 6 of the NLCS.<\/p>\n Severino had his best season since he was an All-Star with the Yankees in 2018, pitching to a 3.91 ERA over 182 innings, and there was some thought the right-hander could accept the $21.05 million qualifying offer from the Mets, since he\u2019s had a hard time staying healthy.<\/p>\n Kikuchi\u2019s signing likely is good news for both Mets pitchers, part of the second tier of free agents after Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell.<\/p>\n The Mets rotation is filled with question marks, with Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn all signed for next year, but Jose Quintana is also a free agent, so the Mets could look to bring back Manaea or Severino \u2014 with or without Soto.<\/p>\n MLB announced several changes Monday to the Rays schedule for next season, with the team set to play at the Yankees\u2019 spring training home of Steinbrenner Field in Tampa because Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., is unusable due to damage from Hurricane Milton.<\/p>\n Instead of visiting the Angels in April, the Rays will host them from April 8-10 and the Twins will play in Tampa from May 26-28.<\/p>\n Both moves were made to minimize the amount of home games played by the Rays during the summer, because Steinbrenner Field, unlike Tropicana Field, doesn\u2019t have a roof.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He may have more control over the situation than some, but like everyone else, Steve Cohen is waiting on Juan Soto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65,44,52,17,50,45,474],"class_list":["post-12597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-juan-soto","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-free-agency","tag-new-york-mets","tag-sports","tag-steve-cohen","tag-yusei-kikuchi"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Yankees](\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/new-york-yankees-right-field-92378660.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"Yusei](\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/yusei-kikuchi-16-houston-astros-90388939.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/sean-manaea-59-new-york-92071955_8c3651.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n