Reds HOFer claims Sean Manaea "better than Jack Flaherty," on par with Blake Snell, Max Fried; urges Carlos Mendoza to sway Steve Cohen to re-sign ace
Former Cincinnati Reds star Sean Casey has said that he would rate Sean Manaea over Jack Flaherty while responding to the power rankings from MLB.com for starting pitchers in the current free agent market.
Casey said that he would put Manaea in the same bracket with Blake Snell and Max Fried and urged the New York Mets front office to re-sign their best pitcher of the 2024 season.
Sean Casey played seven and a half seasons with the Cincinnati Reds during his 12-year MLB career. He made three All-Star Game appearances with the team and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2012. Casey served as an analyst for MLB Network after his retirement and was also a hitting coach for the New York Yankees during the 2023 season.
Currently, he's the co-host of The Mayor's Office with Sean Casey podcast. He offered his thoughts on the power rankings for the top free agent starting pitchers during the latest episode of the show. As per MLB.com, Jack Flaherty occupies fifth position on the list, followed by Sean Manaea at sixth.
"I would take Manaea right now, with what he looked like last year after the adjustment he made dropping down that arm angle," Casey said (13:23).
"I would take him definitely over Jack Flaherty. I'll probably put Manaea in the same category as [Max] Fried and [Blake] Snell. Maybe he's sitting at five, but for me, he's better than Jack Flaherty.
He feels New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza ought to be pressing team owner Steve Cohen to re-sign Sean Manaea.
"That should be high on the list, seriously," he added. "Mendoza should be in Stevie Cohen's office and saying, 'Please bring back Manaea.'"
Corbin Burnes is the top-ranked pitcher in the free agent market this off-season, according to a list from MLB.com. Japanese newcomer Roki Sasaki is second and is followed by Blake Snell and Max Fried.
Outstanding 2024 season of Sean Manaea
Sean Manaea had joined the San Francisco Giants as a free agent last year before getting traded to the New York Mets at the start of the season. Following a couple of diffuclut seasons, Manaea made adjustments to his pitching delivery during the previous offseason by lowering his arm angle.
The rewards of that little tweak proved bountiful, as Manea produced the best season of his nine-year major league career in 2024. He made 32 starts for the Mets during the regular season and pitched 181.2 innings, posting a 12-6 record with a 3.47 ERA, including 184 strikeouts.