So let’s take a moment to figure out what the Mets currently have and what it will mean for the standings at the end of the 2026 season.
Infield
Right now it would appear that the guys taking the field would include Jorge Polanco as a converted first baseman, newly obtained Marcus Semien at second base, superstar Francisco Lindor at shortstop and hopefully a more consistent Brett Baty at third base. (Frame of reference — in 2024 Mark Vientos in 50 more ABs had 27 HRs and 71 RBIs but fielding was an adventure). Catcher Francisco Alvarez should be returning as well with hopefully healthy hands and fingers.
Behind the plate remaining the same along with the left side of the infield is nothing new. However the right side of the infield has some serious question marks. Marcus Semien was once a true star of the game but in 2024 at age 33 he seemed to have hit the wall. His batting averaged dipped to .237, HRs dropped to 23 and RBIs down to 74. Then in 2025 it got worse.
The batting average was just .230, the HRs and RBIs were 15 and 62 respectively. Does that sound like the output of a $26 million per year player, Gold Glove or not? The Mets are now obligated to pay him that salary again in 2027 and it drops to $20 million in 2028. They have taken on $72 million in payroll over the next three seasons though from a purely financial standpoint they wind up saving over $30 million over what they would have paid to now ex-Met Brandon Nimmo who provided 25 HRs and 92 RBIs last season.
Outfield
It’s brief here. You tolerate Juan Soto’s defense for his fantastic offense and surprising base running. That’s pretty much it unless you honestly believe Tyrone Taylor will morph into a starting ballplayer after never having excelled as one.
Starting Rotation
Here thus far a big fat nothing has been done. Returning are Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and September Sensation Nolan McLean. Pretty much everyone is in agreement that 2025’s demise was caused by horrific starting pitching and injuries. One would think improving this glaring weakness would have happened already but thus far as Simon and Garfunkel would say, the sound of silence. Christian Scott, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat are the depth options here. Think of them as the new Tylor Megills.
Bullpen
Conclusion
Right now the club is offensively far worse than they were in 2025. Starting pitching is very much unknown as we’ve seen excellent innings from a healthy Kodai Senga but banishment to Syracuse in September, a half season of dominance from David Peterson followed by a horror show. The 2024 version of Sean Manaea is a distant memory that now costs the Mets three years and $75 million.
Clay Holmes had a successful transition from pen to starter and if Nolan McLean was not doing it with mirrors then at least two of the starting five are solid. The pen can be quite good but the work is not done there either.
David Stearns has a lot of work to do.
Semien
ReplyDeleteWhen you put it this way, it does look like a questionable signing. I can't remember the last person in this age range that turned around this kind of negative bat return
Outfield
ReplyDeleteIMO
Taylor will hold down center until the all-star break
Lets will be a one-year contract dude
Benge will emerge in July... Ewing quickly after him
Rotation
ReplyDeleteIMO
You have the five that will start off this season
You don't pay the kind of arbitration money you are paying Peterson unless you plan on pitching him
Tong, Sproat, and Scott are in the wings
Pen
ReplyDeleteIMO
You may not see any new, big names here.
The big names could come from the excess amout of current starters
The pen will have Dylan Ross, and soon thereafter, Ryan Lambert. If injuries hit like 2026, though, the Mets will be sunk. Butto gone, and Garrett, Megill, and Nunez in sick bay? Gaping loss of innings. Add a starter, and move Clay Holmes to pen after his successful conversion to starter? I doubt that hewould be happy with that. Puzzle pieces still need to be added.
ReplyDeleteSemien ? I think it was mistake. He hit like crap in Texas at his home park last year. He hit like crap in the second half. Sometimes age related the client shows up as the season wears on.
ReplyDeleteBaseball Reference has him with just 475 at bats and .231/.303/.364 in 2026. But boy, oh boy, he can field. They made a mistake signing Brandon to such a long contract, but he was putting up numbers. His on base numbers had declined, but his power numbers had jumped. His feeling may not be as good, but fans felt energized from him and liked him a lot. I thought at the time of the trade, OK let’s see what happens from here. What I’ve seen since I don’t like, but again, David is not done, and will have to see where he ends up the preseason. Just please do not sign JD Martinez. Thank you for your attention to this matter
The pirates were 28th In batting average, and had a/line of.231/.305/.350. The 28th best team batting average and their slash line looks a little too similar to Marcus‘s 2025 stat line. I am going to conjecture, and I know I’m going out on a limb in saying this, but I’m going to conjecture that he will actually be a year older than he was in 2025. I am not very comforted by the thought
ReplyDeleteSo...
DeleteStearns two big signs so far... an old second baseman that can't hit anymore and a first baseman who has never worn a first baseman mit.
And I'm a fan of what David is doing??????
Ryne Stanek, nicknamed by me as Stinky Stanek, has signed elsewhere, and the Mets have a lot more pen appearances and innings to replace.
ReplyDeleteIn the Post article about it, I read these disturbing comments:
Following the season, Stanek told The Post how he received tons of hateful messages due to his poor play in Queens, arguing that sports gambling played a role in the troubling comments.
“I get death threats all the time — every day,” Stanek told The Post in November. “It’s not anything that every baseball player doesn’t deal with all the time. Like, ‘You cost me my parlay, I hope your family dies.’
“Gambling in baseball is doing nothing but making the day-to-day lives of players substantially worse. It’s just people that recklessly bet their money on just anything that they can and if you mess up their bad life choice, you’re the problem and you should die.”
WOW
I bet he's pissed
DeleteAll this gambling crap is bad for baseball. My guess is there are many, many stories like this.
DeleteI used to go to Aqueduct Raceway when my father was a security guard there. Angry betters made death threats directly in the face of jockies.
DeleteFor some reason, they left the horses alone
Hi for one thing of pitching stuff starting and relief look a lot better than it did last year.
ReplyDeleteMcLean being a number one and pushing everyone else down a notch is Send it very good. And the 3 young guns that you mentioned are way better than talent wise than Megill. So I love the depth we have with also even more than that to come as season goes on.
As far as relief, Hoping Minter Comes back strong and a full season of Raley, in addition the 2 new guys we got. We are in good hands. Also the additions of Ross, Lambert and the rest of the Syracuse starters that can help them as well.
If the season started today, I would put Ewing in centerfield and Benge in Left. Vientos and Polanco at 1st base/Dh. I would also have Mauricio get his feet wet with some games in the minors in left field.
I think we are not as good offensively as last year but feel another addition is coming.
Why not sign Bo Bichette to play Left Field? Especially if he doesn’t get the numbers he was looking for?
I'm not giving Bichette or Tucker what they want
DeleteYou would think Mauricio would at least play the outfield in winter ball, like Acuna’s doing… nope. Mauricio is ticketed for Syracuse third base. The guy has missed alot of playing time and the one video I saw of him, he looks slow, rusty, and confused.
DeleteSemien: we are stuck with him. Thought the trade was ridiculous from the beginning. It is what it is we have to move forward with yet another Stearns mistake. St this point I would accept a .250/18/70 slashpine, with great defense and very good clubhouse presence.
ReplyDeleteOne last thing on Semien, if we build the team up over the next year, forgetting his salary, if he was batting 8 or 9 on the team it wouldn't be bad.
Mack, what the hell did Nimmo do you get banished like this? You alluded 2 weeks ago about more to the story but never mentioned it again.
Outfield: they have tp pick up a 1 year stopgap. Can't go into the season like this. Also, can't rely on Benge to make the OD roster. It would be terribly irresponsible of Stearns. Like Mack, said I would look for a mid season call up. I actually don't see Ewing or Morabito in 2026 ) Hope I'm wrong)
Pitching: I'm going on the assumption Manaea, Senga and Peterson (second half) can't possibly be any worse While I would be careful of appointing McLean the #1 and seriously monitor his innings this year. I would pick up a Bassett type.
Relief: Still need at least one decent pickup. You can't count on Ross or Lambert on OD. If Scott is healthy, he would be my long man on OD. With an occasional spot start to build up some innings.
I think Nimmo’s contract is three years longer than Simeon. But Simeon is three years older than Nimmo. So I too am baffled over what was gained by the trade. It certainly is not implausible that.Semien could hit 215, 200, and 185 over the next three seasons. I keep going back to Jose Reyes who, at Semien’s current age, hit 189 and retired. I certainly hope there wasn’t a political or racial component to shipping out Alonzo and Brandon. The fans loved both of them. We have all seen the slick Fielding, light hitting players of the New York Mets over the decades. Fans don’t like that sort of player unless the team is winning and makes the playoffs. But David deserves time to finish painting his portrait here for 2026, and will then be able to clearly judge whether what he’s doing makes sense or is causing us all to say oh no.
DeleteGus, Mauricio seems to mentally be out of it. I wish we had kept Jake Mangum instead. Jake was a very serious player in terms of improving himself.
ReplyDeleteMauricio? I have not seen it.
Hitting just .212/.276 in 14 games in winter ball? That cries out “not serious” to me. Those pitchers suck and you’re hitting .212? Two errors in 10 games? Come on. His first pro play was all the way back in 2018. Get serious.