In the final days of 2020, Steve Cohen came down from the high perch at Point72 Asset Management and into the owner’s box at Citi Field, seeking to save Mets fans from the mediocrity of their favorite baseball team. As a hedge fund manager, the new owner came in with an insurmountable amount of money and the ever-ambitious goal of taking an underdog Mets team to the World Series in 3-5 years. But entering the 2024 season, the Mets had only reached a Wild Card round after a 101-win season.

After the start of 2024, it looked like another losing season compared to the Wilpon years. Then something remarkable happened. On June 12, an adorable face donned a Mets cap, walked out of his home McDonald’s and headed to the mound before the start of the Mets game. A bit like the moon landing, that first step on the mound was something historic; Mets fans didn’t know that yet.

In a birthday appearance that unfortunately lacked purple milkshakes, the Grimace stepped back and threw out the first pitch. There was no immediate celebration, it was just an average first pitch like most others, but what followed was the biggest Mets underdog story since the Miracle Mets toppled the Orioles during the 1969 World Series.

From then on, losses become rare as victories accumulate. But it wouldn’t last. In Game 6 of the NLCS, the Dodgers ended the Mets’ World Series hopes, extinguishing the effervescent purple glow of Grimace magic that hung heavy over Queens. After coming so close, Cohen is aiming for 2025 to finish the job, and he’s ready to blow the vault doors down in pursuit of a championship. But which free agents can bring the Mets a trophy and which ones should they avoid?

For starters, targets like Juan Soto and Pete Alonso make perfect sense and are already on Cohen’s radar or being courted by him. So, let’s give some less obvious choices a well-deserved look.

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3. Teoscar Hernandez

Teoscar Hernandez represents a golden opportunity to acquire a reliable outfielder. In 2024, the reigning World Series champion slashed .272/.339/.501/.840 with a career-high 33 home runs, earning him a third Silver Slugger award. Let’s take another quick look at his 2024 season: career home run total, Silver Slugger, Home Run Derby champion and World Series champion. Clearly, Hernandez is coming off a dream season.

As of 2021, Hernandez has been a key source of RBIs for three different teams. His presence in the middle of the order has been key to pushing the 2022 Blue Jays and 2024 Dodgers into the postseason. But Hernandez’s one-year tenure with the Dodgers was more notable as he proved to be a central part of their lineup when several key players were injured and out.

But his regular season exploits aren’t the end of his accolades. In 75 postseason at-bats, Hernandez has five home runs and maintains a .341 on-base percentage. With his reputation, Hernadez should attract the attention of any competitive teams looking for a serious mid-range bat capable of hitting for both power and average.

2. Walker Bühler

One of the key issues the Mets addressed in 2024 was pitching. As a team, the Mets posted a 3.96 ERA, ranked 15th in MLB. Notably, Kodai Senga was injured for all but one match. The Mets will be in better shape when he returns, but their starting rotation will need an overhaul. An arm Cohen should look at could return to ace form at low cost.

When he began his career, Walker Buehler was a young dynamo ready to take the MLB by storm. Fast forward to today; Buehler has only thrown 140.1 innings since the start of 2022. Constant injuries have kept him on the mound, missing all of 2023. And to find a year where he pitched well, we have to go back in his final full year in 2021 when he achieved a career-best 2.47 ERA. Over his last 140.1 innings dating back to 2022, Buehler has posted a 4.75 ERA. So why would anyone want a frequently injured pitcher who hasn’t performed well over the last three years? A reason, and it is important.

Buehler, is one of the best playoff weapons in recent history. Over 94.2 postseason innings, Buehler maintains a 3.04 ERA with 119 strikeouts. In the 2024 postseason, Buehler pitched the worst start of his postseason career, allowing six runs in five innings to the Padres in the NLDS. He recovered by shutting out the Mets for four and the Yankees for five, then closing out the World Series with a single-run, 13-inning scoreless streak (including three innings after his second loss to the Padres). His ERA in the World Series stands at 0.47 over 19 innings.

Given that his injuries have hampered his career, he will likely be inexpensive, reducing his potential risks and giving Cohen some support in his pursuit of top stars like Soto and Alonso. If Buehler can stay healthy, he will likely provide his new club with the best bang for their buck.

1. Corbin Burnes

Corbin Burnes is undoubtedly the best ace on the market this offseason. It turns out that the Mets would be, according to several media, a preferred landing spot for him. With Cohen’s lack of financial constraints, there is a chance the Mets land several superstars this offseason and Burnes could be one of them.

Burnes is coming off another stellar season with a 2.92 ERA in 194.1 innings for the Baltimore Orioles. His strikeout rate of 8.38 per nine is the lowest in his 7-year career, but that doesn’t seem to have hurt his efficiency. As a full-time starter, Burnes has only finished one season with an ERA above 3.00, matching the 3.39 he pitched in 2023.

Burnes’ talent was on full display in 2021, when he won the NL Cy Young with a 2.43 ERA, also winning his only ERA title. The following season, he led the NL in strikeouts. Since becoming a primary starter, Burnes has been to the Cy Young race every season and has only won it once.

As one of the best pitchers in the game, Burnes is poised to earn a nice payday. But with the deepest pockets of any MLB owner and the attitude to spend big money, we can expect Cohen to keep the Mets in the mix.

2. Max fried

Max Fried is coming off another quality season with the Braves. In 174.1 innings, the star southpaw posted a respectable 3.25 ERA with 166 strikeouts. He missed nearly a month with a forearm injury midway through the season. Since 2020, Fried has thrown ERAs in the 2.00s and 3.00s. Adding to his list of accomplishments is his three Gold Gloves in three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022. He won a Silver Slugger in 2021, however, this achievement is not a factor in his impressive resume. But with a long list of accolades under his belt, why should the Mets avoid him?

For one, Max Fried hasn’t pitched a single season since 2018 without suffering at least one injury (Fried debuted in 2017 by pitching 26 innings). In 2023, injuries limited him to 77.2 innings. But his injuries are not that worrying. Unlike Walker Buehler, they rarely stopped him from throwing a qualifying number of innings. So why is Buehler a better bet?

First, Buehler will be cheaper since Fried had a great year and Buehler missed most of it. But the second reason creates a starker contrast between their reputations. Max Fried maintains a 5.10 ERA in the postseason over 67 innings. His last playoff start helped boost that number. Fried allowed five runs in just two innings. In his defense, he was very unlucky on softballs. But even a good start wouldn’t have made up for the many times he blew up in the playoffs. To his credit, Fried threw some gems in the postseason, including shutouts in six and seven innings. However, the number of instances where he has been beaten far outweighs his gems.

Make no mistake, Fried is a great pitcher. But for the money, it might not be worth it. If the Mets make the playoffs and are quickly kicked out for their unreliable pitching, all the investments Cohen made (in baseball terms) will be for naught. There are more reliable options than Fried on the market.

1. Luis Severino

Among the Mets’ free agents this offseason is a former star pitcher. Seemingly a flash in the pan during his early years with the Yankees, Luis Severino struggled to stay healthy and pitch well. From 2019 to 2023, Sevy had logged just 209.1 innings. Most of his absences were due to injuries, but in 2023 the Yankees had enough after Severino posted a staggering 6.65 ERA. However, he made a strong comeback in his first season with the Mets. Severino pitched to a 3.91 ERA with 161 strikeouts in 182 innings. But concerns remain.

Even though it was his best year in recent memory, his 3.91 ERA was nothing to write home about. He still displays elite stuff, but he has yet to return to his performance as a young Yankee when he posted ERAs of 2.98 and 3.39 in back-to-back years. The potential is still there, but the results don’t show it. In the 2024 postseason, Sevy posted an admirable 3.24 ERA. This includes two games with nearly identical performances where he pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs each. Sevy would bounce back by pitching 4.2 earned-run innings against the Dodgers. The Mets allowed three unearned runs on his watch. These past postseasons have lowered Sevy’s career postseason ERA to 4.62 over a total of 60.1 innings.

This offseason, the Mets offered Severino a qualifying offer which he declined. This could have been a devastating decision since the 2024 performance still left much to be desired. Truth be told, Severino still remains a question mark. We don’t know what to expect from him. He may still be an exceptional pitcher, but with the Mets looking to compete and sitting on a never-ending pile of cash, Luis Severino is not the risk they should take.