Yankees Should Trade for Mets Ace

Senga's Up and Down MLB Career

Though Senga's not as flashy as some of the other top names rumored to be on the trade market, such as Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal or Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins, he carries immense upside.

The 32-year-old signed a five-year deal worth $75 million with the Mets in December 2022 after spending parts of 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Senga didn't skip a beat in his first year as a major leaguer following a successful career in Japan, as he was named a National League All-Star as a rookie in 2023 while finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year voting with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings.

He was viewed as the Mets' ace entering the 2024 campaign, but he was limited to just 5 1/3 regular season frames after sustaining a shoulder injury during spring training before suffering a calf strain in his first start back.

Senga was among the league's top pitchers over the first few months of the 2025 season, as he owned a 1.47 ERA across his first 13 starts, but he was placed on the injured list in June with a hamstring strain.

He made his way back to the Mets just before the All-Star break, but he simply wasn't the same from that point forward. Senga pitched to a 5.90 ERA in his final nine outings and 39 2/3 innings of the year and even accepted a minor league assignment to Triple-A in September as he tried to sort through his issues.

Though there's some doubt about Senga's effectiveness and durability moving forward, that could work in the Yankees' favor to a certain extent if they believe in what he brings to the table.

Why Yankees Should Go After Senga

Though the Yankees would hardly be alone amongst the potential suitors for Senga, they'd have the necessary pieces to get a deal done with the Mets if they were open to sending him to The Bronx from Queens.

The price to acquire Senga would hardly be astronomical either after his rough finish to the season, and the fact that he's on such an affordable contract (two years, $30 million remaining) makes him all the more attractive of a target for the Yankees.

It helps in this case that Senga is comfortable playing in New York and facing the media attention that the market comes with, and the fact that he's essentially become a buy-low candidate despite boasting a 3.00 ERA over 285 big-league innings presents such an enticing opportunity for the Yankees as well.

Senga's strikeout numbers were down quite a bit in 2025, as his percentage dropped to 22.6 from where it stood at 29.1 percent in 2023, but he kept the ball on the ground at a high rate (47.6 percent) while still generating plenty of whiffs (27.4 percent) and holding hitters to an expected batting average of .227.

With Carlos Rodón (elbow) and Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) both expected to miss the beginning of the 2026 campaign, the Yankees really need someone to step in and fill some important innings in their absence.

The club could use rotation help regardless of that fact too, and if they could ever find a way to land Senga, he'd fit perfectly with their current group.

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