Was it good luck from Grimace? The energy brought by infielder Jose Iglesias’ budding music career? The leadership of veteran bats Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso?

One thing that certainly played a role in the team’s success was the offseason decision to take one-year fliers on veteran pitchers Luis Severino and Sean Manaea. After failing to find longer-term deals in free agency, the two rejuvenated their careers with the Mets this season, earning three postseason wins between them.

Now the Mets are left to renegotiate with the veteran pair or to seek out their rotation replacements. Assessing the landscape for offseason deals, Mets insider Joel Shermana trade idea that could bring in a similar “reclamation project” for 2025.

“On the subject of a reclamation project, Jordan Montgomery just had a disaster in Arizona to the extent that owner Ken Kendrick all but said he wants him out of town,” Sherman wrote. “To get rid of the $22.5 million owed in 2025, would the Diamondbacks take on the $33.5 million Jeff McNeil has stretched over the next two years? If I were the Mets, I’d try that.”

After failing to find a long-term deal in free agency, Montgomery signed relatively late with the Diamondbacks and saw a 6.23 ERA over 21 starts. It was enough for him to earn a $22.5 million vesting option for 2025 in addition to the $25 million he earned for 2024, but not enough to make him many friends among the Diamondbacks’ front office.

Still, there’s reason to believe Montgomery is better than this past season’s performance showed. In 2023, he helped lead the Texas Rangers to the World Series championship after being traded there at midseason. And he has a career 4.03 ERA across 161 starts in eight big-league seasons.

If the Mets feel like they can help Montgomery return to his previous form, as they did with Severino and Manaea, they should be interested in a trade. Particularly if they want to offload McNeil’s contract.

At 32 years old, McNeil missed much of the Mets’ playoff run with injury. He returned in the National League Championship Series for 11 at-bats, logging two hits and one strikeout, with a .182 batting average.

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