Reese Kaplan -- David Stearns Still Has a Lot of Work To Do

As the off season progresses the Mets fans are getting a bit antsy watching top tier players leave while strong but not equivalent hitters get added.  Nothing has been done about pitching other than Devin Williams who is theoretically the new Edwin Diaz.  Nothing has been done at first base, left field nor center field.

There are lots of way for things to happen moving forward.  Rumors were swirling that the Mets were making a very long term contract offer to Framber Valdez who is indeed a star pitcher but is it the best use of capital resources to hook yourself to someone who might be 38 or 39 by  the time to deal ends.  Witness the multiple injuries experienced by former Mets Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to see how well those nearing 40 starting pitchers fare.

The other hot rumor was Michael King.  Aside from the obvious former Yankee connection and the reliever turned starter change mirroring what current Met starter (and also former Yankee) Clay Holmes has done.  The issue here is not a doubt of the man’s ability.  His numbers have been outstanding.  The concern is durability.  He only appeared in 15 games in 2025 and his high water mark came the year before when he made 30 starts.  He has appeared in as many as 49 games as a reliever but given the Mets horror show with pitching injuries this past year it is curious to lock yourself into someone still recovering. 

Many people are working up lists of who will stay and who will go if they instead execute trades to fill the roster.  We’ve heard the Kodai Senga and David Peterson rumors as most definitely available which is somewhat odd given that they are working on a thin starting rotation as it is.  Still, you have to give to get and both of these players have very high or moderately solid reputations as major league hurlers with a modest price for a 3.00 career ERA pitcher like Senga and a very low price on the not yet free agent eligible lefty Peterson would indeed make them desirable. 

Then there are the other offensive players whose names come up again and again.  Jeff McNeil is surely on this list but crazy rumors leaked about Francisco Lindor and early Tarik Skubal trade packages included Francisco Alvarez. 

The toughest part is deciding who in the farm system is part of the Mets future and who is part of a trade arsenal to appeal to other ball clubs.  Obviously they’re not offering up Nolan McLean in any deals, but after that it gets murkier.  Jonah Tong is arguably the most interesting one on which they can make a deal or sit tight.  His minor league numbers would make other GMs drool despite his 7.00+ ERA in his September major league failed trial.  Brandon Sproat is perhaps analogous to former Met Craig Swan whose career ended with a 3.74 ERA.  The problem with Sproat is that he goes between stellar and merely average, never fully embracing either level of performance. 

On the offensive side Carson Benge is said to be off limits given his moderate power, base running speed and ability to man center field. Jett Williams is even faster and may have his top slot usurped with the double play combo in place and his AAA performance not quite up to a starting major league level.  Ryan Clifford has good power but he needs more time at AAA to improve his batting average lest he become another Lucas Duda. 

Lower level prospects are in play as well but likely don’t hold quite as high a value on the open market since they won’t impact the acquiring team in 2026  Still, there are a great many there to help sweeten prospective packages.

For now everyone is waiting for the other shoes to begin to drop.