Let’s start with the obvious. Dallas Keuchel looks like he’s got nothing left. That’s a massive reason why the Chicago White Sox designated him for assignment.

You don’t just give $18 million to someone not to play for you unless he can’t give you anything. From a New York Mets perspective, think Robinson Canó.

In terms of Canó, the San Diego Padres took a flier once he cleared waivers. For the league minimum, nearly anyone is worth the risk.

This season, Keuchel has made eight starts and has averaged 4.0 innings per start. He has a 7.88 ERA, 49 ERA+, 6.20 FIP, and a -1.1 WAR.

This came off of what was his worst ever season in 2021. He was actually fine in the first half last year, but it all seemed to fall apart in the second half.

There could be many reasons for this including the crackdown on pitching substances like Spidertack. Whatever the case, he just seems to get worse and worse.

On that point, the Mets just started Thomas Szapucki, who was not ready to make that start. That was readily apparent when he allowed nine earned over 1.1 innings against the San Francisco Giants.

That’s not as bad as Keuchel’s April 20 start where he allowed 10 earned over an inning. That said, even with Keuchel being terribly leading to the DFA, he’s been better than what Szapucki showed.

That’s all the Mets would need him to be right now, especially since they don’t seem to be inclined to stretch out Trevor Williams. Perhaps, Keuchel and Williams can piggyback starts.

It’s at least worth a shot right now. The Mets are still missing Jacob deGrom, Tylor Megill, and Max Scherzer. They may not get any of them back for at least a month.

At this point of the year, teams aren’t making trades. That leaves you taking flyers on players like Keuchel. It’s also why you have a pitching coach in Jeremy Hefner. He could have the mechanics tweak or sequencing change to get something, anything out of Keuchel.

Maybe in the long run, Keuchel can only be effective for 1-2 innings. That would be fine for the Mets with Chasen Shreve and Joely Rodriguez not pitching all that well.

And maybe, Keuchel has nothing. Here’s the thing – the Mets have nothing right now. As a result, take the flyer on him. If it works, great. If not, just designate him for assignment until the next arm is available or a pitcher returns off the IL.