“You have to remind yourself,” he added, “that there’s this ebb and flow over the course of the season related to health and performance.”

The Mets’ ebbs were many last year. Once the team’s backbone, the rotation posted a 5.14 earned run average and logged 865 ⅔ innings, the team’s lowest total in a non-strike-shortened season, and one that increased the strain on an imperfect bullpen.

The Mets used 12 starting pitchers last season, just above the major league average over the past couple of years. Historically, the teams with the healthiest rotations are more likely to make the playoffs.

“We need to get back to the point where seven or eight guys are starting all of our games, not 11, 12 or 13,” Alderson said. “If we can do that, we’re going to be pretty good. Jason really helps us in that regard.”

Vargas posted a 4.16 E.R.A. and an 18-11 record for Kansas City last year, and he was an All-Star thanks to a strong first half. But a different achievement probably mattered more to Alderson and Callaway: Vargas pitched nearly 180 innings, which would have been second on the Mets last year, and his 32 starts would have ranked first.

DeGrom (3.53 E.R.A. over 201 innings) was the only Mets starter to pitch all season. Next best was Gsellman, a rookie who threw just under 120. At the time, the Mets’ depth was so strained that they gave 18 starts to Montero (5.52 E.R.A.) and even called up the prospect Chris Flexen (7.88 E.R.A.) from Class AA Binghamton.

As free agents languished on the market in this historically sluggish off-season, the Mets saw an opportunity and some affordability in Vargas for two years and $16 million.