Mets pick up Carlos Carrasco’s 2023 option

The Mets are picking up Carlos Carrasco’s $14 million option for 2023, per Billy Eppler. The move is an unsurprising one for a team with a lot of holes to plug in its rotation next season. Now, there will be one fewer slot to fill. Carrasco went 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA over 152 innings in 2022, striking out 152 batters and walking 41. Carrasco notably struggled against teams over .500, posting a 6.71 ERA in 52 ¹⁄₃ innings against such teams. But his 2022 season still represented a rebound from his injury riddled 2021; he did suffer an oblique strain in August that cost him a few weeks, but was otherwise healthy.

The Mets also announced that they will be picking up John Curtiss’ $775,000 option for 2023—another expected move. The Mets signed Curtiss in April to a big league deal with the 2023 team option, knowing that he would miss the entire 2022 working his way back from Tommy John surgery. After a breakout season with the Rays in 2020, Curtiss pitched to a 3.45 ERA in 2021 between his time with the Marlins and the Brewers.

The qualifying offer deadline is this evening at 5:00pm and the Mets must decide which players to give a QO; expect the Mets to give a QO to several players, including Jacob deGrom, Brandon Nimmo, Chris Bassitt, and possibly Taijuan Walker as well.