What The New York Mets Should Do This Offseason

• Move Rafael Montero to a setup role

I’ll start with smaller moves. Montero was a former top prospect for the Mets, and in fact just 18 months ago was ranked higher on their depth chart than ace Jacob deGrom. However, Montero hasn’t fully lived up to his potential and it’s clear there’s no room for him in the starting rotation. Thus, the Mets should make it a priority to try to develop Montero into a top reliever. There have been so many former starters that were once top prospects, but didn’t play up to standards. However, those starters have been outstanding once transferred over to the bullpen; emerging as some of the top relievers in baseball (Andrew Miller, Wade Davis, and even Mariano Rivera came up as a starter). Montero certainly contains the talent level of the likes of Davis and Miller when they came up as starters, and the Mets have a gaping hole between their starters and stud closer Jeurys Familia. They should definitely begin to develop their 25-year-old former top prospect into a full-time reliever, with the hope he can re-establish himself as a valuable setup man, like many failed starters have done.