SAN ANTONIO — Pete Alonso, Sean Manaea and Luis Severino all have offers for a return to the Mets for next season.
All three on Monday received a qualifying offer from the club — valued at $21.05 million for next season — and have until Nov. 19 to accept or decline.
By extending the qualifying offers the Mets are ensured of receiving draft-pick compensation for any of the three players who might leave through free agency.
The qualifying offer attachment could be a deterrent to some teams seriously pursuing the free agents.
Alonso and Manaea were easy calls for the Mets based on their production last season and projections on what they will receive as free agents.
There may have been more uncertainty on Severino, who pitched to a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts after arriving on a one-year contract worth $13 million.
But the 30-year-old Severino stayed healthy the entire season — after struggling on that front in recent years — and has shown he can handle all that comes with performing in New York, with the Mets and Yankees.
“He had a great year and we want him back,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said at the GM meetings. “This is sort of the first step in this process and we’ll see where it goes.”
The Mets certainly have the need for starting pitching with Manaea, Severino and Jose Quintana free to sign elsewhere.
Manaea figures to be among the highly coveted left-handers on the market after pitching to a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts and emerging as the Mets ace.
The Mets have Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Tylor Megill as starting pitchers under club control for next season.
Another possibility for the rotation is Jose Butto, who spent most of last season in the bullpen.
One of the team’s depth options, Joey Lucchesi, elected for free agency on Monday after he was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse.
Stearns said he’s looking to add “multiple” starting pitchers.
“How many multiple, I don’t know yet,” Stearns said. “We talked about this last offseason, you can build pitching staffs in very different ways and you can do it by adding starting pitching and going for length at the front end of games.
“We can structure our bullpen a little bit differently next year where you have got more multiple-inning options that can eat up innings. But certainly we need to find some innings and a part of that is adding to the starting rotation.”
It’s a market that includes high-end options in Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Max Fried.
With rising expectations for the club, Stearns was asked about the importance of maybe adding a true ace after last season going with pitchers in Manaea and Severino who were looking to rebuild their value as the Mets were in a reset mode.
“I think the way we built our rotation last offseason was successful,” Stearns said. “I think we are seeking to build another successful rotation however it occurs and you can do that in a variety of different ways. I don’t feel beholden to do it in any particular way.”
It would be surprising if Alonso or Manaea — both of whom are represented by Scott Boras — accepted the qualifying offer, as both look toward longer-term deals.
Alonso posted a .240/.329/.459 slash line with 34 homers and 88 RBIs and could be seeking a deal that leaves him as MLB’s highest-paid first baseman. Alonso has indicated he would like to return — and Stearns has echoed that sentiment — but that might mean having to accept a smaller contract than he could secure elsewhere.
