Korner Konfidential — Mets Hot Stove Report: Day 7
Day 7 — Thursday, November 5, 2026. Day three of open free agency, and still no Mets signing — but the owner's priority got said out loud today. Jim Bowden says Tarik Skubal is Steve Cohen's No. 1 priority, full stop. The Post put real price tags on the consolation prizes if Skubal lands elsewhere. The Mets added another coach, met with an 18-year-old Japanese phenom who throws 97, and opened a whole new winter league front in Puerto Rico. 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).
Bowden: Skubal is Cohen's No. 1 priority. Jim Bowden of The Athletic said it plainly on CBS Sports on Wednesday: “(Tarik) Skubal is the No. 1 priority of Steve Cohen, the owner of the Mets.” Bowden's reminder matters, too — Cohen offered Yoshinobu Yamamoto $325 million before the Dodgers matched it, so the owner has already shown he'll go to record money for the right arm. That doesn't settle the questions from earlier this week — the arm history ESPN's Kiley McDaniel flagged, or Jon Heyman's reporting that the club is still sizing up exactly how big to go and isn't treating this like the Soto pursuit. But it does settle the pecking order: Skubal first, everything else after. He is still expected to sign before the December 1 lockout, and the Mets remain one of the few clubs that can pay the record price that's coming.
The consolation prizes have price tags now. The Post did the backup-plan math, and it's useful reporting even if the Mets never need it. If Skubal lands elsewhere, the top fallbacks are two familiar converted relievers: Michael King, expected to get at least three years and $80 million (San Diego could simply keep him), and Clay Holmes, pegged at two or three years in the $40–50 million range after declining his $12 million player option with the Cubs. One National League scout told the Post: “Neither one of those two are gonna make you wish you didn't have Skubal, but I'd take either one of them as a consolation prize — and they wouldn't cost you $400 million, either.” Two more details worth filing: the Mets' new strategy coordinator A.J. Ellis, who was a special assistant in San Diego's front office, gives the club added insight into King — and possibly into Nick Pivetta, who dealt with a flexor strain. And the next tier down — Tampa Bay's Nick Martinez and the Cubs' Kevin Gausman — should both land around two years and $40 million. One structural note from the Post: David Stearns has never signed a starting pitcher to longer than a three-year deal. Something has to give this winter, one way or the other.
Sources: NY Post
Another coach: Johnny Washington as co-hitting coach. The Mets are hiring Johnny Washington as a co-hitting coach, Joel Sherman of the Post reports (via MLB Trade Rumors). Washington, 42, spent 2026 with Atlanta as minor league hitting coordinator. His path: drafted by Texas in 2003, coached in the Dodgers and Padres systems, served as San Diego's first base coach in 2017 and hitting coach in 2019 — overlapping with Andy Green, who managed the Padres from 2016 to 2019 — then a year coaching in Korea with Hanwha, assistant hitting coach with the Cubs in 2022, and hitting coach for the Angels in 2024 and 2025. In Flushing, Troy Snitker stays on as hitting coach, while director of hitting Jeff Albert is not returning. Washington may effectively take Albert's duties, or they may be split among Snitker, Washington and others. Kevin Long and John Mallee had also been connected to the Mets and did not join. It's the second staff addition in two days, after A.J. Ellis as strategy coordinator.
Sources: MLB Trade Rumors (Sherman, NY Post)
The Mets met with Shoki Oda, the 18-year-old phenom. Shoki Oda, an 18-year-old Japanese right-hander who wants to skip Japanese baseball entirely, met with the Mets, Phillies and Rangers this week, according to Yakyu Cosmopolitan (via Metsmerized). At least a dozen clubs are interested. Oda was drafted in the first round by the Yomiuri Giants, but he told reporters, “I want to play in the No. 1 (league) in the world. I want to be No. 1 in the world.” The hard facts: his 97 mph fastball is the fastest ever recorded at Japan's national high school tournament, he has drawn comparisons to Roki Sasaki, he pitched for Yokohama High School — Daisuke Matsuzaka's school — and scouts expect a $3–5 million signing bonus, against roughly $640,000 the Giants could offer under NPB rules. The honest caveats: industry insiders believe he wants to be a Dodger (his favorite player is Yamamoto, and the Dodgers are the only team he follows on Instagram), and as an international amateur he could not sign until the January 15 signing period opens. The Mets, Tigers and Blue Jays scouted him at the U18 Asian Baseball Championship (Francys Romero), and the Yankees will meet with him soon. This is a years-from-now play, not help for 2027 — but the Mets were in the room, and that belongs on the Board.
Housekeeping. A total of 504 players have been declared minor league free agents after the World Series; the notable Mets names include right-handers Xzavion Curry and Chris Devenski and outfielder Cristian Pache — Pache's long, strange October (claimed Paris, DFA'd, outrighted) now ends in free agency. Still no waiver resolution reported for Kyren Paris or Christian Cairo, three days after the sign-and-designate gambit; we'll move the Tracker the moment the wire does. One projection note for the optimists: FanGraphs' Steamer depth-chart rankings put the Mets sixth in baseball at 41 WAR for 2027 — fourth in offense (25.3 WAR), 17th in pitching (15.7) — which is Steamer politely confirming what this whole series is about: the bats project, the arms need buying. Next dates: the GM meetings in Las Vegas November 9–12, qualifying-offer answers and the Rule 5 protection deadline November 17, and the tender deadline November 20, all against the December 1 lockout clock.
Sources: Metsmerized Morning Briefing
🗣️ THE SPECULATION DESK — Talk, Not News
Eovaldi through the Texas door? Two layers here, keep them separate. The reported layer: Dallas Morning News reporter Evan Grant says the Texas Rangers are going to search for trade partners for Corey Seager and Jacob deGrom — and perhaps Nathan Eovaldi — to slash payroll. The talk layer: Sportsnaut argues Eovaldi is exactly the veteran Stearns could stomach — he turns 37 in February and had a down 2026, but he posted a 1.73 ERA the year before, ran six straight sub-4.00 seasons before that, and is owed only $24 million for next season, so a club can move on after a year without a long commitment. No talks between the Mets and Rangers have been reported. Availability reported, Mets pursuit imagined — for now.
The alternatives list, with a warning label. Sportsnaut also ran eight alternatives if the Mets pass on Skubal's price — a useful tour of the second tier, and a reminder to read these lists carefully: the headline name is Sandy Alcantara, who is NOT available as a free agent, because the Marlins exercised his 2027 club option back on October 31 (it's in our own Tracker). Lists are talk. Options exercised are facts.
Sources: Sportsnaut
A Torkelson package, drawn up. Rising Apple built the Spencer Torkelson trade out loud: the former No. 1 overall pick to the Mets as the everyday first baseman, with two buy-low prospects — first baseman Ryan Clifford and pitcher Will Watson — going to Detroit for Torkelson's two remaining years. The context is real (Torkelson was first linked to the Mets back in the 2024–25 winter, and a league source named him as a potential fit earlier this week), and the first-base need is real with Jorge Polanco a question mark. But this specific package is a writer's construction, not a report of talks. Filed as talk.
Sources: Rising Apple
Beat Tweets
The beat is quiet on the timeline today. We swept the 13-handle beat roster — DiComo, Puma, Sammon, Britton, Martino, Gelbs, Ragazzo, Heyman, Sherman, Goodman, Albanese, Mastracco and Pantorno — and no news-bearing posts with verifiable status IDs surfaced since yesterday's edition. The day's real news ran through articles and columns again: Sherman's Washington hire, Bowden's Cohen-priority line on CBS Sports, and the Post's consolation-prize pricing are all on the Big Board above with their links. We don't fabricate embeds; when the first big signing breaks on X, this section will carry it.
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. Fresh lines today, from Wednesday's games — including a brand-new league on the board.
PUERTO RICO (LBPRC) — NEW. The Puerto Rican Winter League opened Wednesday, and three Mets prospects are on the Leones de Ponce roster: Jacob Reimer, John Bay and Eli Serrano III (Mike Mayer, Metsmerized). Reimer got the first headline: looking to rebound from a groin-complicated season at Double-A Binghamton (.232/.335/.384, eight homers in 80 games; MMO's No. 6 prospect to start the year, No. 12 by August), he went 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts in Ponce's 4-1 Opening Day loss. Bay, the 25-year-old center fielder who hit 16 homers with a .789 OPS across Binghamton and Brooklyn this year, went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. Serrano is the third Met on the roster; no line for him on Opening Day. A fifth winter league with Mets in it — the watch just got bigger. (Metsmerized · Metsmerized Morning Briefing)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (LIDOM). Ronny Mauricio's second game was as loud as his first: 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a stolen base, a walk and a strikeout for the Tigres del Licey — one night after homering in his Dominican Winter League debut. The No. 1 prospect, Jefferson Rojas, went 0-for-2 for the Gigantes del Cibao and is now hitless in his last two looks after the 0-for-3 on Tuesday (7-for-34 overall this winter); the two homers from his second game — a 401-footer at 106 mph and a 429-footer — are right here. His Gigantes teammate Eddinson Paulino went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Also in the league this winter: Christopher Morel (Águilas) is off to a .200 start with a homer between first base and the outfield corners; Vidal Bruján (Escogido) sits 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 played right field for the second day in a row on Wednesday — the catcher's winter tour of the diamond continues — and this time the bat came with him: 1-for-5 with a double and two RBIs in Magallanes' 8-7 win. Francisco Alvarez, DH'ing again, went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts, a quieter night after Tuesday's patient 1-for-2 with three walks and Saturday's game-winning grand slam. Saul García allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout in one inning — his first earned run of this stretch after Tuesday's scoreless, win-earning inning. Joander Suarez (four appearances, 5.79 ERA) rounds out the Magallanes Mets. (Metsmerized)
MEXICO (LMP). A mixed Wednesday in Obregón: Marco Vargas, playing third base, went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and made his second error of the winter; shortstop Kevin Villavicencio went 1-for-3 and also made an error, cooling a touch after Tuesday's 2-for-4, three-RBI night had him at .313. The night's best Mets line in Mexico belonged to catcher Alejandro Urías: 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and three runs scored for Los Mochis. Urías, 24, went 5-for-12 with a homer in three games for Brooklyn this year — a name for the depth chart. (Metsmerized)
ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE. No new Surprise line since Tuesday's action — the countdown is the story now. Irving Cota (15 strikeouts in 12⅔ innings, 0.87 WHIP) and Ryan Lambert (still no hit or earned run allowed in six innings, 10 strikeouts) are Fall Stars, and the Fall Stars Game is this Sunday, November 8, at 8 PM ET on MLB Network, in a game that also includes 10 of MLB's top 100 prospects. The rest of the Surprise ledger stands: Calvin Ziegler threw two-thirds of a scoreless inning Tuesday (he has allowed 10 earned runs in 4⅔ AFL innings), Peyton Prescott's ERA sits at 6.52, Brendan Girton has yet to allow a run in 4⅓ innings, Boston Baro's OPS is .778 and Bruin Agbayani's is .440. The AFL wraps up November 14. (Grand Central Mets · 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 Thu Nov 5: Bowden (The Athletic, on CBS Sports) — Skubal is Steve Cohen's No. 1 priority; Cohen offered Yamamoto $325M before the Dodgers matched. Heyman: feeding frenzy, Mets sizing up how big, not Soto-style. Olney: agents float 6 yrs/$60M. McDaniel: some teams wary over arm history; $325M–$400M or short high-AAV. Status: unsigned; Mets vs. Dodgers is the fight, expected to sign before Dec 1.
Teruaki Sato — Britton/Sammon (The Athletic): Mets unlikely to make a big splash; less inclined with Bichette at 3B and Benge in RF. Posted Sun Nov 1; window runs to Dec 1. Status: cooled — pursuit downgraded, not closed.
Michael King — UPDATE Thu Nov 5: 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 — UPDATE Thu Nov 5: Post pricing — pegged at 2–3 yrs, $40–50M after declining his $12M Cubs option. SNY's Janes: both sides open to a reunion at the right price. Status: reunion watch, price now framed.
Shoki Oda — NEW Thu Nov 5: 18-year-old Japanese RHP (97 mph, fastest ever at Koshien) met with the Mets, Phillies and Rangers this week (Yakyu Cosmopolitan); a dozen clubs interested; Dodgers considered the favorites; expected $3–5M bonus as an international amateur, signable Jan 15. Status: meeting held — long-term play, not 2027 help.
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. SNY's Abriano urges the Mets to “go for it” anyway (talk). Status: trade watch at a known $20M price, Rays saying not available.
Nathan Eovaldi — NEW Thu Nov 5: 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). Sportsnaut floats the Mets fit (talk). Status: availability reported; no Mets talks reported.
Alec Bohm — The Phillies' third baseman is a free agent (Wed Nov 4). Was No. 9 on NorthJersey's ranked Mets target list. 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); flexor strain noted by the Post, Ellis's San Diego insight a possible factor. 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 (Bednar — Yankees; Morejón — Padres). Answers due Nov 17; rejecting and signing elsewhere costs the new club a draft pick. 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 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 — 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; Rising Apple drew up a Torkelson package Thu (Clifford + Watson — a writer's construction). 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.
Kyren Paris / Christian Cairo — Signed major league deals for 2027, then designated for assignment in the sign-and-pass gambit (MLBTR). Status: STILL no waiver resolution reported at press time Thu Nov 5 — third day on the wire.
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 — ignore any alternatives list that offers him as a free agent.
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, churn continuing: Paris and Cairo designated, still unresolved Thu. 504 minor league free agents declared, incl. Curry, Devenski and Pache from the Mets system. 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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