Five things the Mets need to address at upcoming GM meetings. Starting pitching tops the list

With a lockout looming over Major League Baseball, the  general managers' meetings Tuesday through Thursday in Las Vegas are likely to be the final time this year that the sport’s leading executives will gather in one place — a summit that will have massive ramifications for teams scrambling to make moves before the collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1. And few executives are facing more heat than Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, whose club is coming off back-to-back disastrous seasons.

Here are five areas for him to address as agents and front office officials descend on Las Vegas:

1. Starting pitching

And that’s not limited to two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, though that’s certainly a good place to start. The Mets’ rotation is populated by promising young starters, but for two years now, they’ve lacked a much-needed ace. Nolan McLean could mature into the role, but until then, the Mets appear likely to enter the Skubal Sweepstakes and attempt to pry this free-agent class’s biggest fish away from the incumbent Dodgers.

The GM meetings are a place to lay the groundwork, particularly if Skubal and agent Scott Boras intend to have the lefty sign before the lockout begins, potentially avoiding possible salary cap restrictions.

The Mets need more than Skubal, though. While McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton had excellent showings in 2026, the Mets lack depth — an area Stearns has said he intends to address.

Sean Manaea had a mercurial season and Kodai Senga might be destined for the bullpen. Players with proven track records and high durability — say, Clay Holmes or Michael King — will receive a lot of interest. But even Steve Cohen’s dollars aren’t infinite, and there’s no doubt Stearns will be examining what should be a fruitful trade market.

2. How the market develops

Time and time again this season, front-office executives have been asked how an impending lockout will influence their offseason transactions. Stearns, among many others, has said he first needs to see how the market develops. This year’s GM meetings will be a good gauge.

Transactions will be frozen if the CBA expires without a new one in place, meaning that these next three weeks-plus will be vital. Free agents  no doubt will want to secure their futures before the sport goes dark, but front-office executives could be more tentative, instead waiting to see the terms of the next CBA. The latter could lead to a more robust trade market.

That said, in-demand players could come off the board a lot quicker than they have in recent years, when big signings often occurred weeks after the December winter meetings, which almost certainly will be canceled. For teams that aren’t afraid to spend — and the Cohen Mets have never been afraid to do so — that could mean a downright frenzy.

3. Who’s on first? And who’s on second, for that matter?

Jared Young did a fine job filling in for Jorge Polanco and Mark Vientos, but he largely profiles as more of a platoon first baseman. The Mets certainly could use more pop from that position, and it’s abundantly clear that Polanco and Vientos aren’t serious candidates. Does Stearns start laying the groundwork for former Gold Glover Ty France? Do the Mets get in on Japanese international free agent Teruaki Sato? Sure, he’s a third baseman, and they’ve had bad luck transitioning players to first, but a 40-homer Triple Crown season is hard to ignore.

Stearns also acknowledged that Marcus Semien, who hit .215 in what also was a defensively down year, likely is not the everyday answer at second. In September, he floated the idea of Brett Baty supplementing Semien at the position, and there also is the possibility of promoting an up-and-coming prospect (the precocious Jefferson Rojas is the likely candidate there). But could the Mets look to bolster their middle infield via trade?

Either way, improvements to both positions should address an all-encompassing need: more production and, ideally, more power.

4. How will they rebuild the bullpen?

The Mets' bullpen is a bit of a cipher at the moment. A slew of reliable arms were dealt away at the trade deadline, and their back end remains an enigma. Though some late-year call-ups looked promising, it’s not nearly enough to carry them through next season.

Then there are Devin Williams and Kodai Senga. Williams has carried an ERA over 4.00 for two seasons now, and though the Mets say he’s their closer, it’s hard to trust that he’ll regain his previous form. Senga acquitted himself well in the role after Williams went down with an injury, but there’s no way to know if that will translate to tangible results when the games actually matter.

The Mets are in desperate need of insurance in the form of several high-leverage arms. There’s a lot of work to be done — something exacerbated by the unit’s many variables.

5. Will Stearns really address the mistakes of yesteryear?

In his September postmortem, Stearns vowed to learn from the missteps that led to two straight years of bloated payrolls and no postseason appearances. Before that, Cohen said he was hoping to bring in more voices to perhaps better complement Stearns’ skill set. We’ve already seen two high-profile examples: hiring Andy Green as manager, giving him more influence at the major-league level, and bringing in former Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey to the front office.

Now we get to see if any of that actually influences how Stearns goes about his business and maybe get a peek into what should be an evolving team-building philosophy.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.