Mets meeting with Nick Pivetta as starting pitching search intensifies after Juan Soto splurge

A former NL East rival is on the Mets’ radar.

The Mets were scheduled to meet with former Red Sox and Phillies righty starter Nick Pivetta’s agents Wednesday, The Post’s Jon Heyman exclusively reported.

With Juan Soto now secured on a 15-year, $765 million deal, the Mets can turn their attention to upgrading a pitching staff that lost Luis Severino to the A’s and could be without free agent Sean Manaea.

Pivetta, 31, went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA spanning 27 outings (26 starts) with the Red Sox last season.

He’s 56-71 with a 4.76 ERA spanning his eight-season career with the Phillies (2017-20) and Red Sox (2020-24) and has experience as both a starter and reliever.

Pivetta has shown flashes where can be dominant, but there are times where he pitches like a No. 5 starter. He does generate strikeouts, averaging 10.0 per nine innings for his career.

The one caveat with Pivetta is that the Mets and any other suitor aside from Boston would have to forfeit at least one draft pick to sign him since he turned down the qualifying offer from Boston.

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The Mets already are already short on picks after signing Soto.

Pursuing a pitcher like Pivetta fits the Mets’ strategy under new baseball czar David Stearns, who has targeted mid-level starters — the Mets already added Frankie Montas — over pursuing the high-priced free agents, like newest Yankee Max Fried and current free agent Corbin Burnes.

The Mets have also added former Yankees closer Clay Holmes in hope of converting him to a starting pitcher, with the fallback option of him serving as Edwin Diaz’s setup man.

The Montas and Holmes deals are worth roughly $30 million per year combined, compared to the $27.25 million the Yankees are investing yearly on average to add Fried.

It’s possible the Mets could also reunite with Manaea, although he figures to command $20 million-plus per year thanks to his fantastic 2024 campaign.