Reese Kaplan -- So As the Roster Dust Begins to Settle...

After 48 hours more media coverage and heated discussions between Mets fans have led to no unified conclusion about the Brandon Nimmo trade for Marcus Semien.  Yes, the Mets will save some years and overall capital in this deal but by opting to shake up the core and improve the infield defense it has laid bare the outfield and no indications are made as to what will happen next.

The Mets needs are indeed simple (though fulfilling them is not).  They need a left fielder and a center fielder.  They need to commit to Brett Baty at third base if they believe he’s still on an offensive upswing while providing far superior defense to Mark Vientos.  They need to break up the bottleneck of infielders that includes Baty, Vientos as well as Ronny Mauricio, Jeff McNeil and Luisangel Acuna (with Jett Williams in the wings at Syracuse).  They need starting pitching and they need relief pitching.

To some extent these needs are a bit more difficult to address when the two great unknowns may or may not be back.  Both Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz have exercised their opt-out clauses in the hopes of raising not only their average annual rate of pay but also the number of years they will receive that level of compensation. 

From the front office perspective, it’s difficult to know how much money you have to spend in 2026 (and beyond) until you know if one, both or neither of these players will be suiting up for the Mets once again.  Think about it for a second.  If you decided that the best free agent option to pursue would be, for example, Michael King, would you want to saddle yourself with a $22 million payroll obligation before you know if you are already contractually obligated to pay Alonso $30-$34 million and to pay Diaz $22-$24 million? 

On the flip side, why would you approach the tier two level free agents until you know how much budget is available for tier one?  A lot of the fans and pundits are advocating that now the Mets have opened up the outfield to pursue the likes of Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger.  No one would be upset if the Mets indeed moved in that direction but again what is the goal for the overall payroll obligation?  The rumors around Tucker is that he’s looking in the $400 million range for many years while Bellinger might be had for a shorter duration but at a rate approaching $29 million per year. 

There are many who say, “Just play the kids!” expecting that an outfield that includes an unproven Carson Benge or a first base assignment might go to an equally unproven Ryan Clifford.  Now you might be able to get away with that kind of roll of the dice if in other areas you were securing the likes of Kyle Schwarber or Marcell Ozuna at DH while adding Robert Suarez or Devin Williams or Pete Fairbanks to be your closer and you somehow convinced one or both of the pair of Japanese starting pitchers to park themselves at Citifield.  That’s a whole lot of ifs. 

One of my friends suggested my criticism of David  Stearns not yet bringing a pennant (even at the division level) to the Mets is too harsh and that this blockbuster level trade is a sign of many things to come.  Not being a spiritual person I am not comfortable embracing signs, instead preferring facts and contracts.  Right now there are more open holes on the roster that need to be addressed and a number of infielders and high level prospects who might be dealt to help address them.  In the past the Mets were far more inclined to buy their way into filling out their roster.  Hopefully this Sunday trade suggests that they have rediscovered the concept of trades and more action will be taking place. 

The best thing you can say about the front office and this deal is that it happened early and was not leaked to anyone.  That clarity would have been considered atypical of the Mets in the past.  The other related positive is that the trading of a 10-year Met who was relatively popular should send a signal to the players, the media and the fans that the club is serious about a rebuild after its exclusion from October baseball last season.  Changes are indeed necessary and whether this particular one is an overall plus or minus is not yet known.  When the rest of the roster takes shape and the season begins for both teams involved in the trade folks can then draw more accurate conclusions.