Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports
The most successful Mets teams of all time were built on starting pitching. Harvey, Syndergaard, deGrom and Matz in 2015. Hampton and Leiter in 2000. Ojeda, Darling, Gooden and Fernandez in 1986. Seaver and Koosman in ’69 and again with Matlack in ’73.
That is why, despite having the best pitcher on the planet right now and two other all-star caliber starters in 2021, the future of the Mets pitching staff was concerning only a few hours ago.
While there is no reason to believe Steve Cohen will let him walk, Jacob deGrom can become a free agent after the 2022 season. deGrom will not come cheap, and deservingly so.
The two other starters the Mets have come to rely on this season, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker, will be free agents after the 2021 and 2022 seasons, respectively. Whereas only a few years ago, there were dreams of an all-homegrown rotation, Stroman and Walker were imported from elsewhere, and their next contracts will be even more expensive than their current ones if they continue this level of play.
Noah Syndergaard can also be a free agent at year’s end and is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Agreement on a qualifying offer could make sense for both sides but would be expensive and only a one-year solution. Carlos Carrasco is still an unknown quantity in New York and picking up his team option for 2023 is no lock.
This leaves Joey Lucchesi and David Peterson as the only (even moderately proven) Mets starters locked in through the end of next season contractually. Between their combination of injury and ineffectiveness, these two project more as back of the rotation or depth pieces going into the future.
Enter Kumar Rocker.
While speculation that Rocker could be starting meaningful Major League games for the Mets this year seems premature, his place in the organization’s future plans is already solidified.
With so many decisions to make about who will stay beyond 2022 between deGrom, Stroman, Walker, Syndergaard and Carrasco, and the young core of position players quickly making their way toward their own first big paydays, the Mets desperately needed to find a young, controllable contributor on a winning team to widen their competitive window.
In lieu of finding him, he simply dropped into their lap Saturday, as most experts pegged him gone well before the Mets’ spot at number 10 in the draft. And yes, the price may be steep to retain him- with an agreement around $6 million being reported, well over the expected draft slot amount. But it is so incredibly worth the money to find a pitcher like this, one who looks like he has an all-star ceiling and a floor of a solid number 3 or 4 starter.
Add that to how quickly Rocker can rise to the bigs and contribute to a playoff push, and the Mets landed exactly what they needed with this pick.
Rocker is 21 years old and formed one of the most dominant college baseball pitching duos with number 2 pick Jack Leiter, son of Al, at Vanderbilt this year. He has the stuff to be in the majors by the end of the 2022 season, which changes everything for this organization’s pitching plan.
Perhaps the most major league ready player in this year’s draft, the environment at Vanderbilt for baseball players is about as close to that stage as one can get, and Rocker excelled in it.
In three seasons at Vanderbilt, Rocker pitched to a 2.89 cumulative ERA, including a junior year in which he went 14-4, with 179 strikeouts in 122 innings.
The biggest concern with Rocker is why he fell to number 10 at all. His sheer availability in that spot, after appearing like a possible number 1 overall pick only a year ago, presents pause.
However, if the Mets have proven anything, it is their consistent ability to develop pitchers. The organization is built on the success of its great pitchers, and Kumar Rocker will have every opportunity to be the next.
The post How Kumar Rocker Changes Everything for the Mets first appeared on Metsmerized Online.
