It remains to be seen how the New York Mets will fill the offensive voids left by the departures of Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte, but those are not the only concerns for a team that also has multiple question marks in its bullpen, even after signing Devin Williams, a proven closer in the league.
The team managed by Carlos Mendoza already saw its great relief star, Puerto Rican Edwin Diaz, leave, but they will also not have the services of Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsley and, most likely, Ryne Stanek. Soto returned to the Pirates, Rogers agreed to a three-year deal with the Blue Jays and Helsley has already signed with the Orioles.
This forces the Mets to make moves to strengthen their bullpen, which in 2025 had episodes of collapse, as it was the second most saves wasted (28) in the National League, only surpassed by Arizona (29). In general, the New York relievers were eighth in ERA (3.93) in their circuit, with 32 wins, 36 losses and 40 saves.
One of the names most strongly rumored as a reinforcement for the Mets in this role is Mason Miller, the fastest pitcher in Major League Baseball at present. The San Diego right-hander is in trade talks for the current offseason and the New Yorkers are keeping a close eye on a potential deal with the Padres.
A very high price
Mason Miller is one of the best relievers in MLB without any kind of discussion. At 27 years of age, the pitcher has a 2.81 ERA in 125 appearances, in which he has struck out almost 40% of his opponents (246 of 622). In three seasons he has 50 saves despite working most of the time on a losing team like the Athletics and not occupying the closer role in San Diego.
Since joining the Padres, he has been even more dominant, with an ERA of 0.77 in 22 appearances and a brutal strikeout rate of 17.4 per nine innings. His WHIP during this period was 0.729, a life insurance policy for San Diego. As if that wasn’t enough, the right-hander is under control for the next four seasons.
Definitely, to get a weapon of this caliber you have to pay and the Mets know it. Although no official exchanges between the two franchises have been disclosed, it is known that the Padres would seek to obtain young pieces that have already been tested in the Major Leagues and the main talents of the farm system, whether pitchers or position players.
According to Will Sammon, a journalist who covers the Mets for The Athletic, some of the names that could come up in the conversation for a trade are Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, Jonah Tong, Jonathan Pintaro, Carson Benge and Jett Williams. Of all of them, McLean and Tong have already made their MLB debuts as starters and made a good impression.
They would fit in a potential trade as they would bring youth to the Padres’ rotation, which lost Dylan Cease (signed by Toronto) and Yu Darvish (injured) for the 2026 season. In addition, Michael King is a free agent. On the other hand, Joe Musgrove is returning from Tommy John and Randy Vasquez’s performance is also not very convincing.
Miller, generational talent
Although Mason Miller has only been in the major leagues for three seasons, he has become one of the pitching references for his dominant velocity. Since making his debut in 2023, he is the second pitcher with the most pitches (977) of 100 mph, only surpassed by Jhoan Duran (1000).
In 2025 alone, Miller threw 426 pitches over 100 mph, by far the most in MLB. His closest pursuer was Hunter Greene (Cincinnati), who made 296 triple-digit deliveries. The most striking thing about Miller is that 43% of his pitches exceeded 100 mph.
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