DALLAS — Scott Boras saved one of his best (or worst, depending on your sense of humor) lines to address the status of free agent left-hander Sean Manaea during his annual state-of-baseball press conference at the Winter Meetings Wednesday. “There’s a new Sean arising,” Boras said from the Hilton Anatole lobby while standing in front of a custom Boras Corp banner. “It’s something that teams have recognized. The demand is really something that I think is going to happen soon.” The Mets are still interested in bringing Manaea back to Queens. The interest level could increase after the team missed out on right-handed ace Garrett Crochet, who was traded to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday morning. The White Sox received a haul, headlined by Boston’s top catching prospect Kyle Teel. The Red Sox also sent outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez to the South Side for the ace that still has two seasons of team control. The Mets were engaged in talks with the White Sox, but president of baseball operations David Stearns is unsure of how close the Mets came to landing Crochet. It’s a steep price to pay and while the Mets do have highly-ranked infield prospects to spare, the team still has to balance the future with the present. “Certainly there have been times where we’ve done it and will continue to do it, and there are times where the price just gets too steep for us and we choose to keep our prospect value,” Stearns said. “We’re going to have to keep having those discussions and kind of keep having those judgment calls as we engage on different players.” Stearns is confident that the farm system is in a good enough place to be able to make up for any talent dealt in trades. But the prices for starting pitching — be it though trades or free agency — are steep right now. After seeing how expensive pitching became last winter, the Mets got ahead of the curve by signing right-handers Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes last week. They would like to add more, possibly Manaea, but Stearns doesn’t see it as a “necessity.” “We have options to fill out our major league rotation and I think it’s certainly a possibility that we’ll continue to add,” Stearns said. “But if we were to go in as we are right now, I think we have options to fill out our major league rotation that we feel good about.” RULE 5 A year ago, the Mets had right-hander Mike Vasil and left-hander Nate Lavender penciled into the 2025 big league rotation and the bullpen. But with Vasil no longer considered a top pitching prospect and Lavender having undergone Tommy John in May, the Mets left them exposed in the Rule 5 draft and they were both selected by other teams. Lavender was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays and Vasil by the Philadelphia Phillies, who then traded him to the Rays. The two are close friends, but as Stearns noted, there are no guarantees they will stay in Tampa. They each have to be on the injured list the entire season or on the active roster to stick with the Rays. “You never want to lose pitchers or any player in a Rule 5 draft,” Stearns said. “There’s a long way to go between having a player selected and actually losing the player. But those are two good pitchers. We knew, certainly, because of the unique circumstance with Nate, and because of Vasil’s pedigree, that these were possibilities.” FEELING 22 Juan Soto will wear No. 22 with the Mets, with his contract ensuring he is allowed the number. Brett Baty currently wears the same number and will have to select a new one.