David Stearns speaks on just how far Mets could go in pursuit of ace

LAS VEGAS — The Mets could use an ace for their rotation, but for now president of baseball operations David Stearns is just trying to size up the inventory.

“I don’t know how many true No. 1 starters are available right now,” Stearns said Tuesday at the general managers meetings. “I don’t know how many are actually going to be traded. I don’t know how many are truly available in free agency. But you would always like to find that top of the rotation guy.”

It’s a dance Stearns performed last season before the trade deadline, when the Mets were unable to land a clear rotation upgrade and stood pat in starting pitching.

That letdown — and the rotation’s subsequent struggles — contributed to the team’s nosedive over the final two months that culminated with the Mets finishing a victory short of the playoffs.

The free agent market includes names such as Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez. Stearns, who in his first two winters with the Mets resisted handing out a megadeal for a starting pitcher, still remains committed to the possibility of a homegrown ace.

On the trade front, it remains unclear if Tarik Skubal can be pried from the Tigers before entering his final season ahead of free agency. It’s also possible the Marlins could look to deal Sandy Alcantara.

“It certainly makes building out the rest of the rotation, the rest of the pitching staff, a lot easier,” Stearns said of a rotation ace. “And if one of those guys happens to be available we’ll be right there with him.

“I also go back to what I have said many times and the way ultimately to have a true ace on your staff is to develop the ace on your staff. I think we’re on our way to doing that. I think we will do that, and we’re going to continue to try to supplement that any way we can.”

Nolan McLean showed glimpses over his seven starts for the club last season that he could emerge as that potential ace.

The Mets were banking on Kodai Senga to fill that role, but the right-hander disappointed after his return from the injured list in July and ended the season in the minor leagues.

David Peterson, Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes are three veteran returning starters behind McLean, and Brandon Sproat, Christian Scott and Jonah Tong are relatively inexperienced pieces.

“I think we have numbers in the starting pitching staff,” Stearns said. “I remain very optimistic about the younger starters that we have, about the guys we have coming even behind the group that we saw getting its feet wet at the major league level.

“We’re also certainly not going to turn away from any opportunities that we think make ourselves better at the major league level. And so we will be looking at starting pitching in free agency and trades.”

The three-year contract worth $75 million that Manaea received last winter is easily the largest for a Mets starting pitcher during the Stearns era. But Manaea pitched to a 5.64 ERA last season after emerging in 2024 as a trusted top of the rotation option.

Stearns’ biggest misfire was the two-year deal worth $36 million that Frankie Montas received. Montas missed half the season rehabbing from a lat strain and was ineffective in the rotation before tearing an elbow ligament and undergoing Tommy John surgery. Montas will spend next season rehabbing and collecting on the final year of his contract.

Stearns was asked specifically about the idea the Mets could trade young talent for a top starting pitcher.

“There are limits to what we do, as there would be for any player,” Stearns said. “But we do have the depth and quality of farm system at this point that we can both have those players impact our major league team in a real way and potentially trade some of them to really get some near-term help if that is available.”