PORT ST. LUCIE -- The feeling in the Mets organization in the immediate aftermath of Kodai Senga’s posterior capsule strain in his shoulder was one of disappointment, but not panic.
Senga could miss a few months, but the team does expect him to pitch for a significant portion of the season.
As such, the first-blush reaction among league sources with knowledge of the Mets’ thinking was that Senga’s injury would not push the team to sign one of the top-of-the-rotation starters still available on the free agent market.
The team would pay a 110 percent luxury tax on every dollar spent on Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, or anyone else, pushing the cost of those players into the $70-to-$80 million range for this year.
To put it another way, if the Mets did not see a fit before Senga’s injury, that remains the case after the team learned that news. An injury that the team hopes will only last a few months has not yet moved them to consider committing to other players for multiple years.
The team has also not expressed interest in free agent Trevor Bauer.
It’s possible that the Mets will look to acquire more rotation depth. The usual caveats apply that a team’s thinking can always change -- but as of now, this looks more like an opportunity for Tylor Megill than it does for a Snell or Montgomery.