New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns and team owner Steve Cohen are reportedly “going to wait this out as long as possible” before they possibly punt on the rest of the 2026 season.
It sounds like they may be running out of patience with Kodai Senga, who was viewed as the club’s potential future ace not all that long ago.
Mets can afford to show Kodai Senga the door
“Short answer: yes,” MLB insider Chelsea Janes of SNY responded when asked for her latest mailbag if the Mets could soon part ways with Senga. “Doing so now would cost them whatever is left of the $14M he is owed this year and the $14M he is owed next year, so it would not be cheap. But the Mets can afford that financially, while they might not be able to afford to keep him emotionally.”
Senga earned an All-Star nod for 2023, his first MLB season, after he went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts over 29 starts and 166.1 innings of work. Since that time, he has made a total of just 28 big-league starts, and he seemingly hasn’t been the same since he suffered a hamstring injury while covering first base in June 2025.
Last September, he accepted a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse. He hasn’t pitched for the Mets this season since April 26 due to a reported back injury.
Why Kodai Senga may get one last chance with Mets
“Senga had another rough outing this week, pushing his ERA on this rehab assignment to 5.25 in 12 innings,” Janes continued. “Whether he is still figuring things out physically with the back discomfort that sent him to the injured list initially, or whether he is just struggling to find his command and best stuff, he is struggling again. And the Mets cannot afford to have any more starting pitchers figuring things out at the major league level. It’s possible the Mets’ sheer lack of starting pitching will mean they give Senga one more chance in the big leagues. But I would not expect him to get many chances after that.”
The Mets are desperate to find any possible help for their rotation with starter Clay Holmes out of action indefinitely due to a fractured fibula. Senga likely won’t be part of any magical mid-summer run for the Mets this year, but they don’t have much to lose by giving him a shot whenever he is deemed ready to face MLB hitters once again.