I didn’t mean to be prophetic with my last article questioning what if both prime free agents left but unfortunately I was. Gone first was Edwin Diaz and now off to Baltimore is Pete Alonso. Whew!
OK, so let’s take a deep breath and think a little bit about what needs to be done. Many Mets fans are vocally eviscerating David Stearns and the Mets for having lost three long term players in the trade of Brandon Nimmo and now the All Star reliever and first baseman with only Marcus Semien arriving at age 35 to help fortify the offense and defense during the 2026 season. The Devin Williams deal was greeted with mixed feedback.
The needs are still there. The bullpen needs to be addressed beyond the addition of Devin Williams. Stories appear indicating that the only acquisition done in July with solid effort, Tyler Rogers, is someone the Mets are considering in a return deal as he is now a free agent.
At first base they are beyond empty. Jeff McNeil hasn’t played there. Mark Vientos has but is even worse defensively than Pete Alonso. Ryan Clifford is not yet ready to advance to the majors until he spends quite a bit more time abusing AAA pitchers.
The outfield is even worse. Right now Tyrone Taylor is a starter. If Vientos is at first base then Jeff McNeil is a starter. Juan Soto must be wondering what the hell happened to the barely over .500 club he joined this past season.
Word has also appeared indicating that in addition to the Mets dangling Kodai Senga in trade discussions that they are now also soliciting takers for David Peterson. While those hypotheses are indeed interesting, you do have to wonder who they have in mind as replacements? With potentially Senga and Peterson gone they have just Nolan McLean, Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes are in the rotation. Christian Scott, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat are all behind them and mostly unproven. So making an already weak rotation even more vulnerable seems somewhat curious.
Many folks have mentioned problems in the clubhouse. We’ve all heard the rumors of discord between Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil, Juan Soto and several others, and the whole negative diatribe from Adam Ottavino about Carlos Mendoza’s ineptitude as a manager. When things go wrong people will talk. When things REALLY go wrong, they will shout. How much is true and how much isn’t is unknown but it’s clear the team was in rough shape leading to no October baseball.
Talk to some fans and the proclaim, “Just play the kids!” thinking that force feeding ill prepared minor leaguers into major league roles is a valid approach that generates interest and saves money. While it’s true that David Stearns’ success in Milwaukee was built upon making value picks to strengthen the roster, here he has Steve Cohen’s wallet with precious little to show for his greatly increased payroll that hasn’t led to postseason success.
The other approach many advocate in addition to palming off no longer desired veterans in trades is to use the AA or lower minor league prospects in deals for real major leaguers. Given how little the Mets have done in swapping players (and certainly not successfully under Stearns), it could be the way to go. Unlike George Steinbrenner’s heyday, you don’t generally build a winning roster by buying every available free agent.
It does seem that some pretty major changes need to happen and while some are quick to point out we’re not even halfway through December, player resources are a diminishing inventory that may no longer be available if you wait too long to do something that needs fixing — kind of like the late July arrival of mostly ineffective 2025 reinforcements long past the team’s horrific decline.
15 comments:
Stearns has 54 million in salaries not spent on Pete and Diaz. Time to fight back.
Right now with a bunch of value picks, call-ups, and a few remaining core veterans, we are the New York Pirates with a $250M payroll.
Payroll close to 300m
Will elaborate in next RANDOM THOUGHTS
The last thing a team, that is owned by someone with a net worth of 21,000,000,000 should be worrying about is a pissy luxury tax penalty
Currently the Mets are losing the war
Arm the nukes
1B Willson Contreras
3B Alex Bregman
CF Cody Bellinger
SP That Japanese guy MURA something
RP two somebodies
I’ll also have more on this tomorrow. I believe there is a method to all this madness. There will be moves & the team will be playoff competitive. The former core had five years to win: I nice run & four collapses. Playing 2/3 season below .400 ball requires dynamite.
Don't like Contreras?
Fine
1B Bellinger
CF TATIS
There better be.
A start of replacing Nimmo's BA/OBP/OPS with Semien's is a pretty slow start out of the gate
According to Sportstrac the 2026 payroll stands at 236M with escalations bring it up to 261M.
At the bare minimum they need 2 relief pitchers and a RH hitting OF (Maybe Marte) leaving them under the 2nd threshold.
Or they could trade for Tatis, sign Bellinger and King, along with 2 relievers and be right back to 340m.
Pass me the Tums.
I'm neither in the "force feed the kids" group nor the "give 5-year/big bucks to 30+ guys" one.
Stearns has turned our farm system from one of the worst to one of the best, in 2 short years.
While not many prospects are ML-ready within a year, many will be in 2 or 3 years. The decisions must be made to keep the best of the kids, at AAA or Queens, or trading some of them for top-tier players with 2-3 years left on their contracts.
I hate losing Pete and Edwin, but if we gave them the 5 years they wanted, it's more than payroll that would leave us blocked. I want to see Benge, Williams, Mauricio, Ewing, Morabito, et al, becoming part of our core in the next few years, not to mention the slew of pitchers nearing ML-readiness.
No new 5-year deals!
To me, Stearns has made two huge mistakes: 1. Montas 2. The trade deadline this past year. Other than that, he has done well. Offering Pete a contract would have been respectfully.
The reality is that the Mets were the worse team money could buy. In Stearns and Cohen's mentality they needed to change the core while not giving older players long contracts.
Lets not forget that Alonso started wanting a seven year contract. Diaz wanted a five year contract. The Mets did not want to commit to either of those.
The Mets have a lot of high end prospects that will need positions to play and you cannot lock yourselves into long and expensive contracts without first finding out what you have in-house.
I am not saying you don't improve the team right now if the right players are available but rather that you cannot expect to have a superstar at every position. The Mets can address the BP, bench, DH, etc.
But as I have said, 2026 should be about finding out what you have in-house to a large extent while picking up key free agents for the 2027 team and beyond.
What stops the Mets from going after Skubal next year?
I took a lot of years for the Dodgers to become the powerhouse they are. The Mets can do the same but it requires time and planning.
NO MORE BAND AIDS...Speed Defense and Pitching can beat the Dodgers
100%
At this point, this is a re-build. The org seems to have a lot of confidence in the wave of pitching they have coming, as well as in a select group of position prospects, but very few of them will be ready to contribute at a high level in ‘26 or even ‘27. That’s ok, as in ‘28, Soto will be mid-prime, Baty and Alvarez will be in their early prime years, guys like Benge, Ewing, et al should have their feet set at the level, and the pitching should be cheap, plentiful, and very good. Plus, the Dodgers should be aging and coming back down to earth.
The big question is, at this point, why hold on to Lindor, who will be entering his decline years just as the org’s next window opens? He has real value now in trade, which will be reduced each year going forward. Trade him now for players in their early 20’s who will be rising on the team’s timeline. We can dive back into the high-end FA market two years from now for a difference maker or two.
If you’re going to do it, do it.
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