Korner Konfidential — Mets Hot Stove Report: Day 12

Day 12 — Tuesday, November 10, 2026. Day two in Las Vegas, and the verdict we waited for last night is in: Carson Benge is not the National League Rookie of the Year — he finished a strong second to Cincinnati's Sal Stewart, and the near-miss costs the Mets a draft pick, too. The waiver wire finally finished its work, with Kyren Paris clearing and staying while Christian Cairo is a Dodger, so the sign-and-designate gambit ends two-for-three. And a genuinely new name moved onto the trade board today — Kodai Senga, of all people, is drawing interest from other clubs. Still no Mets signing, still no Skubal deal. Sorted, as always, into what's reported and what's just talked about.

🔥 THE BIG BOARD — Reports

Tarik Skubal, dealing for Detroit. Photo: Jeffrey Hyde, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Benge finishes second — and it costs a pick. The BBWAA announced Monday night that Reds first baseman Sal Stewart is the National League Rookie of the Year, with 20 of 30 first-place votes and 170 points. Carson Benge was second — seven first-place votes, 107 points, on all but two ballots — and St. Louis' JJ Wetherholt was third with 99 points (MLB Trade Rumors; the Post). Benge's teammate Nolan McLean, who was not a finalist, finished fourth. The numbers tell two stories at once: Stewart won it on the traditional line — .263/.330/.457, 32 home runs, 112 RBIs, all 162 games, a Reds rookie record for RBIs — while Benge carried the broader case, a .282/.346/.430 line with 20 homers, 22 steals, a franchise rookie-record 168 hits, the first 20/20 rookie season in Mets history, a Gold Glove finalist nod, and roughly double Stewart's WAR (4.3 to 2.0). Anthony DiComo put the writers' logic in one line on X: in the end, traditional stats prevailed over Benge's more well-rounded case. There is a real cost attached, and Sports Illustrated flagged it: Stewart's win earns Cincinnati a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick after the first round of the 2027 draft, because he was a qualifying prospect who opened the year on the roster and won. Benge met the same criteria — a second-place finish earns the Mets no such pick. The award is gone; the player, happily, is still here, and he still holds right field, which still matters to the Sato fit question below.

Sources: MLB Trade Rumors · NY Post · Sports Illustrated

Paris clears — the gambit ends two-for-three. The other loose end from last week tied itself off Monday, after yesterday's edition had gone to press: the Mets outrighted Kyren Paris to Triple-A Syracuse after he cleared waivers, Anthony DiComo reported (via MLB Trade Rumors). Paris was designated November 2 in the same sign-and-designate move as Christian Cairo — sign a pre-arbitration player to a major league deal, run him through waivers, keep him as non-roster depth if he clears. Paris cleared. It is his first career outright and, with under three years of service time, he has to accept the assignment; MLBTR expects a non-roster invite to big league camp, where the out-of-options infielder will try to win his way back. So the final accounting on the Mets' November gambit, which MLBTR calls the most aggressive use of the maneuver in the game: Robert Stock stayed on the 40-man, Paris stayed off it in Syracuse, and Cairo was claimed by the Dodgers. Two stashed, one lost. The wire watch that ran seven days in this column is closed.

Sources: MLB Trade Rumors (DiComo)

Senga is drawing trade interest. Here is the day's new reporting, and it cuts in the opposite direction from everything else this winter: Kodai Senga is attracting trade interest from multiple teams, people briefed on the matter told The Athletic — Will Sammon, Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo on the bylines, carried by Metsmerized, Yardbarker and Heavy. The context is the tale of two seasons Mets fans lived: Senga opened 2026 in the rotation and was, by the numbers, a disaster — 0-7 with a 9.66 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP in eight starts, with an injured-list stint mixed in — before a move to the bullpen, and eventually to the closer's job after the deadline sell-off, revived him as a late-inning arm. He has long preferred to start, which is part of why other clubs are calling: a team that believes the starter is still in there gets him for $14 million in 2027, the final guaranteed year of his five-year, $75 million deal, with a $15 million club option for 2028, and Senga can block trades to 10 clubs. No teams were named in the reporting, and no Mets asking price was reported. File it honestly: interest is real, a deal is not reported, and whether Stearns sells a reliever who just learned to close — from a bullpen that already needs help — is a live question for the rest of the meetings.

Sources: Metsmerized (The Athletic) · Yardbarker (The Athletic) · Heavy

Sherman: it's Mets vs. Dodgers for Skubal, like Yamamoto. No Skubal deal, no Skubal offer reported — but the shape of the race hardened again Tuesday. Joel Sherman of the Post, on the paper's podcast, said he has yet to talk to an executive or scout who doesn't think the Skubal pursuit comes down to the Mets versus the Dodgers, in a rerun of the Yoshinobu Yamamoto chase (via Sportskeeda's account of the podcast). That aligns with Monday's reporting here — Sharma's Cubs-unlikely read against Vassegh's strongest-interest counter — and Sherman's colleagues add two useful edges: Jon Heyman has said he favors the Mets, and Mark Feinsand reported little expectation at the GM meetings of a serious Yankees attempt, with a rival executive saying he would be shocked if the Yankees made a real play because they have too many other holes. The Post's back page wrap of the meetings adds the Mets' other agenda items in one line: their major positional need is at first base, and they will explore bullpen help as well. Sherman's own argument for signing Skubal despite the risks runs on the Speculation Desk, where opinion belongs.

Sources: SportsKeeda (Sherman / NY Post) · NY Post

First base and the bullpen: the Post maps the rest of the checklist. Two Post reports from Las Vegas frame the non-Skubal work. At first base — the club's major positional question a year after Pete Alonso walked — the Post's inventory runs: Jared Young, who took much of the playing time last season (.266/.330/.429, nine homers) and profiles as at least part of the answer; Brett Baty as a utility option who could factor in; free-agent Jake Bauers as the highest-profile name at the position (he carries a qualifying offer, which complicates any signing); part-time fits like Paul Goldschmidt and Rhys Hoskins to share the job with Young; Teruaki Sato as the expensive conversion idea (Sato to first, or Bichette to first), with the Post doubting Stearns commits $100 million-plus to a bat with pitching the priority; and Ryan Clifford, the farm's best hope, coming off a second-half regression at Syracuse. In the bullpen, the Post expects the Mets to look for help despite last season's rebuilt pen succeeding after the deadline, and names the tier to watch: David Bednar, Adrián Morejón and Raisel Iglesias (2.55 ERA, 34 saves for Atlanta, turning 37 in January). Bednar and Morejón both carry qualifying offers — answers due November 17 — so that market may not move until the QO clock runs out.

Sources: NY Post — first base · NY Post — bullpen

Housekeeping. The Manager of the Year winners are announced tonight, Tuesday, November 10, on MLB Network — after this edition's press time, so no winner is claimed here; the Mets have no finalist in either league. The GM meetings run through Thursday, November 12. The calendar behind them is unchanged: qualifying-offer answers and the Rule 5 protection deadline on November 17, the tender deadline November 20, the Arizona Fall League wraps November 14, and the December 1 lockout over all of it. No Mets signing or trade was reported Tuesday by press time.

🗣️ THE SPECULATION DESK — Talk, Not News

Sherman argues: look past the risks and sign Skubal. The Post's Joel Sherman argues in print that the Mets should look past the risks to sign Tarik Skubal (via the Post's Tuesday back-page wrap). It is a columnist's argument, not a report of club intent — but it is worth filing because Sherman is as plugged-in as columnists get, and his case is essentially the Cohen case: the Mets' need is now, the window is now, and ace pitchers with this résumé do not reach free agency often. The counter-arguments have lived in this column all winter — McDaniel's reporting on teams wary of the arm history, Janes' reported hard stop on years — and they have not gone away just because a column says swing. Read the argument as argument.

Sources: NY Post

Where could Senga land? The destination game begins. The Athletic's report named no teams, so naturally the idea pages named three: Rising Apple's Tuesday exercise sends Senga to the Pirates, the Angels or the Nationals, with the honest warning to aim low on the return for a $14 million pitcher whose 2028 option nobody expects to be picked up. Chelsea Janes' broader read — that the Mets will look to make trades for starting pitching rather than going full free agency — has been quoted around the Senga coverage as well; treat it as an insider's expectation, not a reported plan. No talks with any specific club have been reported. The interest is the news; the destinations are talk.

Sources: Rising Apple

The Astros as a first-base trade partner — an idea with a Manaea twist. Heavy's Tuesday construction pairs the Mets with Houston: the Astros have an infield glut, the Mets need a first baseman, and a deal built around Christian Walker (36 next season) or Isaac Paredes — with Sean Manaea going back to balance money and give Houston a starter — would fix both. It is a tidy piece of speculation and nothing more: no talks reported, and Manaea's name has lived on this Desk before (Sportsnaut predicted in October that he would be the Met dealt). If a first-base trade does materialize this week, this is the shape it would probably take — a veteran bat, money balanced, no $100 million commitment. Probably is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

Sources: Heavy

SI ranks the trade targets — with a Morosi warning attached. Sports Illustrated's ranking of the Mets' five most likely trade targets runs Willson Contreras, Spencer Torkelson, Logan Gilbert and Christian Walker up to Joe Ryan at No. 1 — a familiar list, all of it fit-mapping rather than reporting. The useful nugget buried in it is a reported caution from MLB Network's Jon Morosi: clubs are hearing that one-year-control trade candidates — Gilbert, Ryan, Steven Kwan, Sandy Alcantara and their peers — are unlikely to be moved for prospects this month, because sellers don't know what shape the 2027 season takes under a new CBA, which pushes prices up. Alcantara, a reminder, is not a free agent — Miami exercised his option on October 31, a fact this column has flagged before when he appeared on alternatives lists. Rankings are talk; Morosi's market read is the part to keep.

Sources: Sports Illustrated

Beat Tweets

The beat is quiet today. A Tuesday sweep of the 13-handle roster — DiComo, Puma, Sammon, Britton, Martino, Gelbs, Ragazzo, Heyman, Sherman, Goodman, Albanese, Mastracco and Pantorno — produced no news-bearing posts with verifiable status IDs since yesterday's edition. DiComo's reporting drove two of today's Big Board items — the Paris outright and his one-line verdict on the Benge vote, posted on X and quoted in the coverage — but no clean, verifiable status ID surfaced in the sweep to embed, and the Senga news ran through The Athletic's article. We don't fabricate embeds; when a signing breaks with a verifiable post, this section will carry the iframe itself.

WINTER BALL & FALL LEAGUE WATCH

The stove isn't the only thing still warm. A small army of Mets — big leaguers, top prospects, and a few names only the true sickos know — is playing real baseball right now in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Arizona. This section stays in the Korner all winter, updated as the numbers move, because on the slow news days this IS the baseball. Today's lines run through Sunday's games, from Metsmerized's Monday recap — no newer full winter recap had published by press time Tuesday, and the section runs text-only: no verifiable fresh highlight from games since the last edition surfaced, so there are no embeds, per the house rule.

PUERTO RICO (LBPRC). Jacob Reimer had the weekend. The third base prospect went 3-for-4 Sunday with a home run and a double, a stolen base and a walk in Ponce's 8-4 win over San Juan — a two-run double in the first and a two-run homer to left in the eighth — and he is 6-for-13 through four Puerto Rican Winter League games. Context that makes it better: Reimer left Thursday's game early after running out a double-play ball, was back in the lineup Saturday, and the scare was apparently minor. MMO's No. 12 prospect was limited to 88 games by injuries this year — a healthy, loud winter is exactly the prescription. In the same game, center fielder John Bay went 1-for-5 with a double, and on the other side Mets infield prospect Antonio Jimenez had two hits including a game-tying grand slam in the second inning; Jimenez is 5-for-10 to start his winter. Eli Serrano III is the third Met on the Ponce roster. (Metsmerized)

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE — FALL STARS GAME. It is played, and the Mets in it did their jobs. The National League beat the American League 6-4 in Sunday night's 20th annual Fall Stars Game (Metsmerized): Irving Cota threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts, and Ryan Lambert faced two batters, striking out one and walking the other. Reds outfielder Yerlin Confidan took MVP honors. The week around it: Surprise is 16-10, tied for the league's best record; Lambert still has not allowed an earned run all fall; Cole Mathis is getting hot (16 walks, only eight strikeouts); Boston Baro remains the best of the Mets' three AFL hitters; Bruin Agbayani has drawn 12 walks; Brendan Girton's ERA sits at 3.86; Peyton Prescott is 3-1 with a 0.92 WHIP; Calvin Ziegler strung together two good outings; and Cota is Rule 5-eligible, so how he finishes in the AFL's final week — the league wraps November 14 — could bear on the November 17 protection decisions. (Metsmerized)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (LIDOM). A quieter Sunday for Ronny Mauricio: 1-for-4 with a run scored for Licey, and his winter line now reads 6-for-19 with a home run in five games (Metsmerized). The rest of the LIDOM ledger carries from Wednesday's lines: Jefferson Rojas is 7-for-34 with the two second-game homers for the Gigantes; his teammate Eddinson Paulino went 0-for-3 Wednesday; Christopher Morel (Águilas) was off to a .200 start with a homer between first base and the outfield corners; Vidal Bruján (Escogido) sat at .214/.343/.464 and is now a Brave on a minor league deal; and Ofreidy Gómez has thrown scoreless innings. (Metsmerized)

VENEZUELA (LVBP). Luis Torrens keeps doing a little of everything for Magallanes: 1-for-2 Sunday with two RBIs, two runs scored and two walks, and his winter line is now 12-for-41 with three doubles in 12 games (Metsmerized). Carried from Wednesday: Francisco Alvarez went 1-for-3 as the DH (after his game-winning grand slam the weekend before); Saul García allowed his first earned run of this stretch in an inning of work; and Joander Suarez (four appearances, 5.79 ERA) rounds out the Magallanes Mets. (Metsmerized)

MEXICO (LMP). Marco Vargas found the gap Sunday: 1-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored in Obregón, and the third base prospect is 15-for-69 with a homer in 21 Mexican Pacific League games (Metsmerized). Carried from Wednesday: shortstop Kevin Villavicencio went 1-for-3 and is cooling from his .313 perch of Tuesday; and catcher Alejandro Urías had the week's best Mexico line on Wednesday — 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and three runs scored for Los Mochis. (Metsmerized)

Full winter ball stats for every Mets farmhand, updated weekly, live at Baseball America. If a Met does something down there, you'll read about it here.

📋 RUMOR TRACKER

Tarik Skubal — UPDATE Tue Nov 10: Sherman (Post podcast) — no exec or scout he has talked to thinks it is anything but Mets vs. Dodgers, like Yamamoto; Heyman favors the Mets; Feinsand — little expectation of a serious Yankees attempt. Sharma — Cubs unlikely to enter a bidding war; Janes' Mets shape stands: 7 yrs/$340M, hard stop on years. Status: unsigned; expected before Dec 1.

Carson Benge — ✅ RESOLVED Mon Nov 9: finished SECOND in NL Rookie of the Year voting — Stewart (CIN) won with 20 first-place votes/170 pts; Benge 7/107, Wetherholt 99; McLean finished 4th. Stewart's win earns the Reds a PPI draft pick; Benge's second place earns the Mets none. Status: award closed; Benge still holds RF.

Kyren Paris — ✅ RESOLVED Mon Nov 9: cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse (DiComo via MLBTR). First career outright; must accept; likely non-roster spring invite. Status: stays as non-roster depth — the gambit worked on Paris.

Christian Cairo — ✅ RESOLVED Mon Nov 9: claimed off waivers by the DODGERS. Status: gone — the one gambit piece the Mets lost.

Kodai Senga — NEW Tue Nov 10: attracting trade interest from multiple teams (The Athletic — Sammon/Rosenthal/Woo). 0-7, 9.66 ERA in 8 starts, then revived as a reliever/closer; prefers to start; $14M in 2027, $15M club option for 2028, can block 10 teams. Status: interest reported; no teams named, no deal reported.

Robert Stock — One-year Major League split contract; out of options, so any trip to Triple-A requires a DFA and waivers first. Still on the 40-man — the gambit arm who stayed on it. Status: depth arm.

Jacob deGrom — Grant (Dallas Morning News) believes the Rangers will shop a highly paid star, deGrom front and center ($37M for 2027, $20M club option for 2028, full no-trade). Rising Apple argued a Mets reunion is the best Skubal backup plan, and its Tuesday follow-up notes Janes splashing cold water on the idea. Status: availability reported; NO Mets talks reported.

Eric Wagaman — Elected free agency per his MLB.com log (MLBTR, Nov 8). Status: free agent; low-cost depth option.

Teruaki Sato — Heyman links Mets/Phillies/Padres/Yankees (via B/R) — against Britton/Sammon's reporting that the Mets are unlikely to splash, with Bichette at 3B and Benge in RF. Post (Nov 9) floats a $100M-plus Sato-to-1B conversion and doubts Stearns commits with pitching the priority. Posted Nov 1; window to Dec 1. Status: cooled/downgraded — link reported, pursuit doubted, not closed.

Michael King — Post pricing — expected at least 3 yrs/$80M; San Diego could keep him; Ellis hire gives Mets added insight. Mets met with him last winter. Status: top consolation prize; circle back.

Clay Holmes — Post pricing — pegged at 2–3 yrs, $40–50M after declining his $12M Cubs option. Janes: both sides open to a reunion at the right price. Status: reunion watch, price framed.

Shoki Oda — 18-year-old Japanese RHP (97 mph, fastest ever at Koshien) met with the Mets, Phillies and Rangers; Dodgers considered the favorites; expected $3–5M bonus as an international amateur, signable Jan 15. Status: meeting held — long-term play.

Kaima Taira — Posted Sun Nov 1; Mets among the clubs that scouted him. Status: on the market; negotiations open.

Hiromi Itoh — Posted from Japan (Hokkaido) Sun Nov 1. Status: posting watch — no Mets link reported.

Si Hwan Roh — KBO third baseman posted by Hanwha; 30-day window ends Dec 1 (Sherman). Status: posting watch — no Mets link reported.

Drew Rasmussen — Rays exercised his $20M option — NOT a free agent; Neander reiterates he intends Rasmussen to lead Tampa Bay's 2027 rotation. Status: trade watch at a known $20M price, Rays saying not available.

Nathan Eovaldi — Grant (Dallas Morning News) — Rangers will search for trade partners for Seager and deGrom, and perhaps Eovaldi ($24M owed for 2027; turns 37 in Feb). Status: availability reported; no Mets talks reported.

Michael Soroka — Declined his mutual $10M option with Arizona (9–5, 3.41 ERA in 22 G). Status: veteran-arm tier; no Mets link reported.

Alec Bohm — Free agent since Wed Nov 4. Just Baseball's landing-spots map does not include the Mets. Status: on the market; no fresh Mets link reported.

Sonny Gray / Nick Martinez — Both free as of Fri Oct 30. Martinez also named in the Post's next tier (2 yrs/~$40M, with Gausman). Status: veteran fallback tier.

Nick Pivetta — Padres declined his $14M club option (Acee). Status: veteran-arm tier; no Mets link reported.

Emilio Pagán — Declined his $10M player option with Cincinnati (Romero); 25 saves, 3.38 ERA. Status: bullpen tier; no Mets link reported.

David Bednar / Adrián Morejón — Both received $23.15M qualifying offers — answers due Nov 17; rejecting and signing elsewhere costs the new club a draft pick. Post (Nov 9) names both, plus Raisel Iglesias, in its Mets bullpen-help inventory. Status: bullpen market, with a QO price tag.

Kenley Jansen — Free agent after Detroit declined his club option. Status: veteran closer on the market; no Mets link reported.

Luis Robert Jr. — Orioles declined his $20M option ($2M buyout). The ex-Met is a free agent. Status: on the market; no reunion reporting.

Dustin May — Free agent: declined his $20M mutual option with Milwaukee. Status: veteran-arm tier; no Mets link reported.

Jeff McNeil — Free agent: the A's declined his option and the Mets cover the $2M buyout. Status: ex-Met on the market; no reunion reporting.

Sean Manaea — Sportsnaut predicted he is the Met dealt before Opening Day; Heavy's Nov 10 Astros construction sends him to Houston in a Walker/Paredes idea (talk only). Status: speculation only — no shopping reported.

Rafael Devers — MLBTR lists him as a trade candidate in San Francisco; the Mets link is an idea piece only. Status: watch, don't believe yet.

Devin Williams — Rising Apple argues for restoring him to a setup role with added closer competition. Status: opinion only — no club move reported.

Trevor Megill / MacKenzie Gore / Spencer Torkelson — Floated as trade fits by Rising Apple/FanSided; Torkelson also appears on SI's Nov 10 ranked trade-targets list. Status: fits list only — no talks reported.

Jack Anderson / Pierson Ohl — Claimed off waivers Mon Nov 2 (Anderson from Minnesota, Ohl from Colorado). Status: depth arms with options.

Mark Vientos / Francisco Alvarez — Rising Apple (Nov 9) floats Vientos as the realistic GM-meetings trade and Alvarez-for-pitching as the bold one. Status: scenario talk only — no talks reported.

First base — Post (Nov 9) inventory: Young incumbent/part-answer, Baty utility option, Bauers the top FA name (with a QO attached), Goldschmidt/Hoskins as part-time fits, Sato as the $100M-plus conversion idea Stearns is doubted to fund, Clifford regressed at Syracuse. Status: the club's major positional need; no move reported.

Bo Bichette — ✅ RESOLVED. Opted in for 2027 — see the Korner column, “Bo Knows: 42 Million Reasons.” His return at 3B reshaped the Sato pursuit.

Sandy Alcantara — ✅ OFF THE BOARD: the Marlins exercised his 2027 club option. Status: staying in Miami.

Vidal Bruján — ✅ RESOLVED Sun Nov 1: signed a minor league deal with the Braves, with a spring-training invite.

40-man roster — Gambit closed: Stock on it, Paris outrighted to Syracuse, Cairo claimed by the Dodgers. Next churn: Rule 5 protection deadline Nov 17 — Cota's AFL finish could bear on it.

That's the stove for today. Same time tomorrow — if the Mets do something at 11 PM, the Tracker hears about it first.

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