Korner Konfidential — Mets Hot Stove Report: Day 4
Day 4 — Monday, November 2, 2026. The market is OPEN. As of 5 PM ET, free agents can sign with anybody, and the Mets spent the hours before the bell doing roster gymnastics — four outrights on Sunday, three reinstatements off the 60-day injured list, two waiver claims and a re-signing to get legal at 40. No Mets signing landed in the first minutes, but the day still brought the headline every Mets fan wanted to read: ESPN says the favorites for the winter's biggest prize play in Flushing. Remember the real deadline hanging over everything — the expected lockout on December 1. Sorted, as always, into what's actually being reported, and what's just being talked about.
🔥 THE BIG BOARD — Reports
Tarik Skubal, dealing for Detroit. Photo: Jeffrey Hyde, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
ESPN tabs the Mets as the Skubal favorites. This is reporting, not a prediction page: in ESPN's Monday free-agency preview, Jeff Passan names the Mets and the Dodgers “the two most obvious suitors” for Tarik Skubal, and Jorge Castillo writes that the Mets “are considered the favorite to land the prize of this free agent class” — because the need is obvious, the farm system can support the rest of the roster, and Steve Cohen is one of the few owners willing to pay top dollar. The price, per Passan, runs “well in excess of $300M, potentially in the $400M-plus range,” and the expectation around the game is that Skubal signs before the December 1 lockout rather than waiting out the labor fight. The Cubs, per Passan, “badly” want him too — but there's skepticism inside their own building about winning a bidding war. Add the piece we carried last week from SNY's Chelsea Janes — David Stearns will be reluctant about the years, but Cohen is expected to push — and you have the shape of the winter: the Mets are in front, the Dodgers are lurking, and the clock runs out on December 1.
The great 40-man shuffle. Before the Mets could chase anybody, they had to get legal. On Sunday they outrighted outfielder Cristian Pache, infielder Eric Wagaman, lefty Philip Abner and righty Cameron Weston off the 40-man roster (Anthony DiComo, MLB.com), trimming it to 39. Monday brought the rest of the churn: Tylor Megill, Reed Garrett and Jorge Polanco were reinstated from the 60-day injured list, because there is no injured list in the offseason. Wagaman elected free agency rather than take the Syracuse assignment, while Pache was outrighted to Triple-A. Two of Sunday's cuts didn't even clear: Baltimore claimed Abner (SNY's Chelsea Janes) and Miami claimed Weston (Will Sammon, The Athletic). And the Mets used the wire themselves — claiming right-hander Jack Anderson off waivers from Minnesota (DiComo; 26 years old, a 2.19 ERA across seven big-league appearances for Boston and Minnesota in 2026, with option years left) and right-hander Pierson Ohl from Colorado (Janes) — and re-signed infielder Christian Cairo, the 25-year-old son of Miguel Cairo claimed from the Phillies in September, to a one-year split contract (DiComo). Depth moves, every one of them — but this is how a front office keeps its options open while the big fish decide.
Sources: Metsmerized (Monday Mets Moves) · MLB Trade Rumors (outrights) · MLB Trade Rumors (Anderson) · MLB Trade Rumors (Ohl)
A Gold Glove for the kid. Not a rumor — just news worth the ink. On Sunday night Nolan McLean won the National League Gold Glove Award for pitchers, becoming the first rookie pitcher in major league history to win it, the first Met to win a Gold Glove since Juan Lagares in 2014, and the first Mets pitcher since Ron Darling in 1989. Fellow finalists Luis Torrens and Carson Benge fell short — Arizona's Gabriel Moreno took catcher and Corbin Carroll took right field. McLean's glove is one more reason the front of this rotation has a homegrown anchor while Stearns shops for the rest of it.
Sources: New York Post · Amazin' Avenue
Housekeeping. One deadline the Mets didn't have to sweat: the qualifying offer. As the Post's primer laid out, the Mets have no qualifying offer to extend this winter — they ended the season with no unconditional free agents of their own, and Bo Bichette, having taken one from Toronto last year, wouldn't have been eligible anyway. The next dates on the stove calendar: the GM meetings in Las Vegas next week, qualifying-offer answers and the Rule 5 protection deadline on November 17, and the tender deadline on November 20.
Sources: New York Post
🗣️ THE SPECULATION DESK — Talk, Not News
The target list of the day. NorthJersey.com ranked the nine free agents the Mets “should consider,” and the top of the list will surprise nobody: Skubal first, Michael King second (“he might be the best free agent not named Tarik Skubal”), Clay Holmes fourth, with old friend Alec Bohm down at ninth. It's a well-argued shopping list — but understand the label: this is a newspaper telling Stearns what to do, not reporting what he's doing. The reporting on Holmes, for what it's worth, remains what SNY's Chelsea Janes wrote last week: people on both sides believe he'd be open to a reunion at the right price.
Sources: NorthJersey.com
Don't bury the closer — demote him. Rising Apple's Monday Morning GM argues Stearns should stay open to the original Devin Williams plan: Williams was signed last winter with the rumored intent of pairing him with Edwin Díaz, Díaz is gone, and the piece argues Williams — who blew only three saves in 2026 — might serve best as a high-paid setup man while the Mets add ninth-inning competition, whether from a thin free-agent class (Adrian Morejon headlines it) or the trade market (David Bednar's name surfaces). Opinion, clearly labeled — but it's the first real shape of the bullpen debate you'll be hearing all winter.
Sources: Rising Apple
Beat Tweets
The beat worked the phones, not the timeline. The news-bearing beat work today ran through articles rather than embeddable posts: Anthony DiComo (MLB.com) had the outrights, the Anderson claim and the Cairo signing, Chelsea Janes (SNY) had the Ohl claim and Abner's move to Baltimore, and Will Sammon (The Athletic) had Weston's claim by Miami — all of it is on the Big Board above with its links. When the first signing breaks, expect this section to fill up fast.
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 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. No newer winter recap had been published by press time Monday, so today's lines run through the weekend's games.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (LIDOM). The headline act is Jefferson Rojas, the Mets' No. 1 prospect, playing third base for the Gigantes del Cibao. In just his second game he went 3-for-4 with two home runs — the first a 401-foot shot at 106 mph off the bat, the second 429 feet — and both blasts are right here. Through his first seven games: .250/.308/.583 while learning a new position on the fly. Also in the league: Christopher Morel (Águilas Cibaeñas) is off to a .200 start with a homer, bouncing between first base and the outfield corners; Vidal Bruján (Escogido) is at .214/.343/.464 — and as of Sunday he's a Brave, signed to a minor league deal; infielder Eddinson Paulino is getting regular run at second; and reliever Ofreidy Gómez has thrown scoreless innings. (Baseball America)
VENEZUELA (LVBP). Francisco Alvarez gave Magallanes a night on Saturday: a game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning, 2-for-5 with five RBIs for the Navegantes del Magallanes. The big day lifts him to .308 with an .846 OPS in 14 at-bats this winter. He's sharing a clubhouse with Luis Torrens, who's been moonlighting at first base and DH (2-for-14 early; it's winter ball, folks). Reliever Joander Suarez has four appearances (5.79 ERA), and relief prospect Saul García is on the Magallanes roster. (Metsmerized)
MEXICO (LMP). Marco Vargas has cooled after his hot start — he's at .237/.293/.345 in 11 games for the Yaquis de Obregón, though the legs still work: four stolen bases, and his latest line was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. Catcher Alejandro Urías has seen spot duty behind the plate. (Metsmerized)
ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE. A rough Saturday for the Mets' contingent: the Surprise Saguaros lost 11–2 and fell to 12–9. Peyton Prescott's fifth start went sideways — five runs (four earned) in 2⅓ innings, and his AFL ERA jumped from 3.68 to 6.52 across 9⅔ innings. Irving Cota allowed two runs in 1⅔ innings (ERA up to 4.26). At the plate, Boston Baro and Bruin Agbayani both went hitless with a walk; Baro scored one of Surprise's two runs, and their OPS lines sit at .778 and .440. The lines that still shine from earlier in the fall: Ryan Lambert (five scoreless, hitless innings, seven strikeouts, 98.7 mph on the gun), Brendan Girton (4⅔ scoreless) and Cole Mathis (.580 OPS, with a homer). The AFL wraps up November 14. (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 Mon Nov 2: ESPN's Passan & Castillo call the Mets “the favorite” and the Mets/Dodgers the two obvious suitors; expected to sign before the Dec 1 lockout; $300M+, possibly $400M+. Status: market open, Mets in front per ESPN — for now.
Michael King — Free agent. Mets met with him last winter. Status: circle back.
Clay Holmes — Free agent. SNY's Janes: both sides open to a reunion at the right price. Status: reunion watch.
Teruaki Sato — Posted Sun Nov 1; negotiations OPEN as of today. Dec 1 lockout is the real deadline. Status: on the market; Mets interest real, price unknown.
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. MLBTR's No. 2 trade candidate, one year of control. Status: trade watch at a known $20M price.
Sonny Gray / Nick Martinez — Both free as of Fri Oct 30. Status: veteran fallback tier.
Nick Pivetta — Padres declined his $14M club option (Acee); elbow questions after 130+ days on the IL. 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.
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 predicts he's the Met dealt before Opening Day. 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 — NEW Mon Nov 2: Rising Apple argues for restoring him to a setup role with added closer competition. Status: opinion only — no club move reported.
Jack Anderson / Pierson Ohl — NEW Mon Nov 2: both claimed off waivers (Anderson from Minnesota, Ohl from Colorado). Status: depth arms with options; roster churn continues.
Christian Cairo — NEW Mon Nov 2: re-signed to a one-year split contract (DiComo). Status: infield depth, Syracuse/Mets shuttle candidate.
Bo Bichette — ✅ RESOLVED. Opted in for 2027 — see the Korner column, “Bo Knows: 42 Million Reasons.”
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 — ✅ RESOLVED Mon Nov 2: outrights (Pache/Wagaman/Abner/Weston), reinstatements (Megill/Garrett/Polanco), waiver claims in (Anderson/Ohl), Cairo re-signed; Wagaman elected free agency, Abner claimed by Baltimore, Weston by Miami. Next churn: Rule 5 protection deadline Nov 17.
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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