Paul Articulates – All about Francisco Lindor

Here we are, deep in the midst of the hot stove season, and stories abound on so many players – Alonso, Diaz, Benge, McLain, Vientos, Polanco, and on and on.

There is one very big Mets impact player that we have not talked about, and that is Francisco Lindor.  The reason for this is that Lindor is positioned as the key component in the Mets core that anchors the team.  Lindor has performed well for the Mets and is expected to continue in that role for some time.  All the chatter has been about players moving in and out of the orbit around Francisco Lindor.

Let’s first discuss why he is at the center of Mets universe.  Since he came to the Mets in 2021 on the verge of free agency and was then signed to a 10-year, $341 million extension, Lindor has been the steady leader of the team.  Well, almost.  There was that shaky first year and then the “thumbs down” indiscretion urged on by rogue teammate Javy Baez that got Francisco off to a bad start with the NY fan base.  

But since then, he has been a model of maturity and consistency.  He has provided solid offensive and defensive numbers for the Mets every year, and those numbers do not begin to define his impact on the team.  He is a hard worker, always trying to improve his game.  He invites younger Mets players to winter workouts to train that work ethic in future teammates.  He is a leader on the field, always involved in discussions on defensive placement and providing the example of consistent focus with every play he makes.  He is also very involved in the community and charities, winning prestigious awards like the 2023 MLB Players Trust Philanthropist of the Year and the 2025 Roberto Clemente award.

Here is a look at the metrics for Lindor for his Mets tenure and his career:

Having just turned 32 years old, he is still in the prime years of performance so we can expect more from him in the next few years.  The numbers in the table above are not the best among shortstops in MLB, but they are very respectable, and as mentioned before they are only a piece of his contribution to the team. 

Lindor, known as “Mr. Smile”, openly enjoys the game and he projects a very mature, calm demeanor in all situations.  Sometimes it is almost too calm, as some might say it is impassionate, but in baseball the ability to limit emotional ups and downs leads to better consistency both at the plate and in the field.

Francisco Lindor’s contract runs through the 2031 season, paying him $32M annually and offering bonuses for things like all-star, MVP, and gold glove awards.  He is the type of player that a front office would build a team around, and it certainly appears that David Stearns is willing to do that here as he rebuilds a Mets team that exposed some fatal flaws last year.

In the upcoming season, I expect to see a better version of Lindor.  He will be teamed with Marcus Semien as a dynamic middle-infield combination that will assuredly make some highlight reels.  He and Semien also share common traits in work ethic and community involvement, so I expect that duo to hit it off immediately.  They also have the opportunity to train the next generation of middle-infielders, as there are some special prospects coming up behind them like Acuna, Williams, and Ewing who will benefit greatly from the example.

The one thing I would like to see Lindor do differently is to be more visibly vocal in his leadership of the team.  Other than a few rumored run-ins with Jeff McNeil we have not seen Lindor drive this team demonstratively towards success.  Particularly in last year’s slow motion decent into the terrain, the team needed to be violently shaken awake and that did not come from Francisco Lindor or from the even keeled manager Carlos Mendoza.

2026 is the year that Francisco Lindor must step up and carry this team to the next level of performance and success.  With a young procession of talent coming out of a winning farm system, the expectations must be set high to launch the team into a sustainable championship legacy.

Reese Kaplan -- A Look at Three Trade Candidates to Play LF

One of the more interesting topics to ponder is the list of potential candidates other than Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker to fill the left field and center field vacancies.  There are trades that can be made or other free agent possibilities but thus far the Mets have been fairly tight lipped about which alternatives are appealing.  A few names have come up and are worth a few mental calisthenics to consider if they are net positives or not.

One potential player whose name has come up fairly frequently is the now Sacramento Athletics multi positional slugger Tyler Soderstrom.  He came up as a catcher, moved to first base and then to left field.  A lefty swinger, Soderstrom posted a nice line in 2025.  He hit .276 with 25 HRs and drove in 93.  Those are Brandon Nimmo type numbers with much more positive outfield defense.  His 4.3 WAR reflects a combination of his offense and defense.  For comparison, Nimmo earned just 2.9 WAR given his defensive decline.  Playing this upcoming season while turning just 24 would make him a most appealing candidate to try to prospect-bundle to his current employer to engineer a trade.  Given his very limited tenure in the majors he makes nearly nothing and would be a Mets property through his controlled and then arbitration eligible years.

Another name that’s come up more than once is the now San Diego outfielder Ramon Laureano.  More of a veteran who will turn 31 in the upcoming season, Laureano has a nice bat when he gets to play.  He’s floated between the Athletics, Guardians, Orioles, Braves and Padres.  While he’s never posted a 500 AB season, he’s twice been in the high 400s and delivered 24 HRs in each of those seasons and four times he has had double digit stolen bases.  For his career he’s just a .253 hitter but with 24 HR power (potentially 30 if he had 100 more ABs), he might be worth considering.  Given that he earned just $4 million last year and had before Baltimore dumped him a $6.5 million option for 2026, he wouldn’t break the bank but would cost quite a bit more than the youngster Soderstrom. Is he worth it?

The third name that’s frequently mentioned is stellar defender Steven Kwan of the Guardians.  He has been in the majors since 2022 and while patrolling left field in Cleveland he has been awarded the Gold Glove each of the four seasons he’s been in the majors.  He’s not just a defensive wizard.  He has a career batting average of .281 and steals about 20 bases per year.  He’s up to $4.175 million in salary this past year and is in his arbitration years keeping him around for 2026 and 2027 before potentially becoming a free agent in 2028.  While the numbers are not middle-of-the-order type with high water marks being 14 HRs and 56 RBIs, he makes up for it in the run prevention side of the equation.

The real question for David Stearns and Steve Cohen to decide is how much they want to spend, what the meta data for having an All Star is worth vs. a more reasonably priced candidate and what it would take to form attractive trade packages to bring any of these three players to Citifield.

SAVAGE VIEWS – The Right Man

With great fanfare and after a long courtship, the Mets hired David Stearns as president of baseball operations a little more than two years ago. Seems like a lifetime ago. Many fans are questioning whether he is the right person for the job.

Certainly, there have been missteps along the way, beginning with the hiring of Carlos Mendoza as manager. Mendoza’s mishandling of the pitching staff was the prime reason the Mets failed to make the playoffs. His tendency to pull starters early led to an overworked pen that fizzed out due to exhaustion.

 

Also, got to wonder what Stearns was thinking when he signed Jose Siri and Frankie Montas to contracts. The Montas signing for two years at $34 million is especially troubling. Sometimes you wonder if he realizes he is not in Milwaukee anymore.

Now that the winter meetings are over with few positives, the question remains are we heading in the right direction.

Trading away Brandon Nimmo was probably the right move. It opens a roster spot for prospects who are close to being major league ready while improving defense at second base.

While I hated seeing Pete Alonso depart, I could not justify offering him a five-year contract. Hope he does well in Baltimore and helps them take down the Yankees.

I’m really surprised that Edwin Diaz ditched the Mets for the Dodgers. The offers were comparable. Seems the lure of Dodgertown was too hard to pass up. Gosh, I hope he breaks a leg so to speak.

There’s still a lot of work to be done. Signing Devon Williams and Luke Weaver to the pen are moves in the right direction. 

Lots of smoke about the team talking to the Padres to acquire Mason Miller and an outfielder. The cost would be high, but we have good prospects to offer plus young, seasoned veterans such as Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio. Adding Mason Miller would immediately transform the pen into one of the best in the majors.

Losing two hundred RBIs and sixty plus homers from Nimmo and Alonso will not be easy to replace. The expectation is that improvements from Baty, Alvarez and Polanco will make up most of the difference. Also, Carson Benge and Jett Williams will likely make their debuts in 2026. I’m not worried about our offense.

There’s a lot of speculation that the Mets will add a solid starting pitcher over the winter. At this stage, barring trades, we have a lot of bodies, young and old competing for spots.

Here we are with the top farm system and getting better with news that top international prospect Wanry Asigen will be joining the organization. We are being built for long-term success.

Mr. Stearns is doing what he was hired to do: 

• Lowering costs by avoiding long term contracts.
• Building a strong pipeline of prime talent.
• Improving run prevention through a strong defense.
• Developing position players who are more contact oriented.

Personally, I like the direction Stearns is taking the team. We will definitely be a strongly competitive team in 2026.

This is my last column as an 84-year-old. In a few days, I’ll be much older at 85.

Ray

December 14, 2025

Tom Brennan - The Painful Mets Saga of Yoenis Cespedes

HIS HIGH-RIDING METS CAREER WAS THROWN FROM ITS HORSE

It all started out so incredibly well. A Flushing marriage made in heaven.

His hitting immediately after joining the Mets in a late July 2015 trade, and through 2016, was phenomenal.

He felt almost like a hitting version of a young Doc Gooden:

In 2015 and 2016, 792 at bats, 39 doubles, 5 triples, 48 HRs, 130 RBIs.

The Mets had the most anemic hitting team in the MLB in 2015, until he arrived.  Thereafter, they had the most potent offense that season.

He started out clutch in the 2015 playoffs, and despite a late fade, he had 2 HRs and 8 RBIs in 54 ABs.

In 2016, he made the ASG for the Mets.

The chance for a dynasty after 2015 was cut short by the foolish failure to re-sign Daniel Murphy, who had back-to-back Hall of Fame caliber years with the rival Washington Nationals.  And, of course, by injuries to Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and, of course, Yoenis Cespedes himself, not to mention Travis d’Arnaud.

Yo missed 2017 with foot spurs and 2019 with spurs and a wild boar calamitous encounter on his ranch.  Some ranch, to have wild boars around.  It cost him a lot of money with his 4 year contract extension, during which he provided little and was frequently incapable of playing.

That wild boar saved the Mets a lot of cabbage.  The 4 year deal was $110 million from 2017-20, and his boar injury violated some clause in his contract about not being negligent.  So, it saved the Mets as follows (source: Spotrac)

• 2019 salary reduced to $14.M (injury settlement)
• 2020 salary reduced to $6M from $29.5M (injury settlement)
• 2020 salary escalates to $11M if he starts on the active list or IL for a non ankle/heel injury (It did not for 2021 - he cost them just $331,000 for that year.)

Anyway, in those 4 seasons, Cespedes played in just 127 games.  28 total HRs, and 75 RBIs.  He was still drastically overpaid, despite the salary scale-backs causing him a loss of income of about $37 million. (But think of the taxes he saved).

Bottom line: 

In terms of money flushed down the toilet, probably the Cespedes deal was twice as bad as the Frankie Montas 2 year fiasco. 

It was probably more on a par with the contract disaster named Robinson Cano.

Good luck, David Stearns, in rebuilding the roster for 2026. So much of doing so is a crap shoot.  It has been an interesting start to a remake so far, with Semien, Polanco, Weaver, and Williams.  No looking back. Let's WIN in 2026.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, folks.

Tom Brennan: Bad Defense is a Silent Season Killer

EVERYONE LOVES STRONG DEFENSE 

Our exceptional Mack’s Mets writer, RVH, wrote on December 17 about Mets’ costly and bad defense.  Compelling…read it here:

https://macksmets.blogspot.com/2025/12/rvh-mets-didnt-lose-because-they-didnt.html

Bad defense can help a spiraling team cascade downward faster, no doubt.

I rank it, however, as the 3rd of 3 main disaster factors in 2025.

First, IMO, 2025 primarily was a pitching disaster over the last 97 games. Close to the worst ERA in baseball over that stretch.

Secondly, bad clutch hitting hurt them almost all season. Part of that, IMO, was due to guys (like Vientos) who shouldn’t be taking first strikes, because they sucked at 2 strikes.

Thirdly, weak defense, the silent assassin. Here is a prime example…The Phillies allowed 41 unearned runs, while the Mets allowed 71 unearned runs. And there is no category I am aware of called “earned runs that would have not happened if defense was better.” I am sure the Mets did poorly there, too. So, maybe a much better defensive team in 2026 would surrender 50 fewer runs based on superior D alone. 

Here is a Fangraphs.com table posted in the middle of 2025, when the Mets were seemingly playing well. It still shows a huge defensive liability, as they ranked 20th in a 30 team league.  That is not playoff-bound performance so it is not surprising that they stumbled and face-planted in the final month of the season.

Stearns is on to something.  He did an appropriate post-mortem analysis on the 2025 season and is doing what he needs to address this deficiency.  It is not easy, and he will feel the wrath of the fan base if his movements do not work.

Iron Hands Chuck Hiller need not send David a job application.

MACK - SUNDAY OBSERVATIONS -Ryan Clifford, Daniel Duarte, Christian Pache, Devin Williams, Roberto Clemente

 

LouisAnalysis      @LouisAnalysis

It will be interesting to see what the Mets do with Ryan Clifford.

- 53.1% Hard-Hit%.

- 12.3% Barrel%.

- 111.0 MPH MaxEV.

- 107.4 MPH 90thEV.

- 23.09% Chase%.

Clifford has been young for all the levels he's played at and is a must-follow as 2026 Spring Training starts.

MACK - Is there anyone out there that doesn't hope this guy works out at first someday?

Mets sign RHP Daniel Duarte

Daniel Duarte is a 29-year-old right-handed relief pitcher from Mexico.

He previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds (2022-2023) and Minnesota Twins (early 2024), but missed most of 2024 and all of 2025 recovering from elbow surgery (UCL revision/Tommy John).

Pitch Repertoire

Duarte features a five-pitch mix, relying primarily on hard stuff with good velocity for a reliever.

Four-seam Fastball — ~96 mph (primary pitch in some seasons)

Sinker — ~94 mph (his most-used pitch at times, e.g., ~28% in 2023; effective for groundballs and limiting hard contact)

Cutter — ~92 mph

Slider — ~84 mph (a key breaking pitch, often effective with good drop)

Changeup — ~89 mph (used as an off-speed option)

He generates solid groundball rates (~47% career in MLB) and has shown the ability to limit left-handed hitters at times, though control has been an issue (high walk rates).

His stuff plays up in short relief stints, but injuries have limited his big-league sample.

 

The Mets and outfielder Cristian Pache are in agreement on a minor league deal with a non-roster invite to MLB spring training

Cristian Pache is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder born on November 19, 1998, in Santo Domingo Centro, Dominican Republic. At 27 years old (as of December 2025), he stands 6'2" (some sources say 6'1") and weighs 215-220 lbs, batting and throwing right-handed.

Career Highlights

Once a highly touted prospect (ranked as high as No. 12 by MLB Pipeline), Pache is renowned for his elite defense, especially in center field, with a strong arm and excellent range.

His offensive production has limited his MLB role, with a career batting line of around .181/.243/.275 over parts of five seasons (through 2024), including high strikeout rates.

Recent Updates

Pache last appeared in the majors in 2024, splitting time among the Phillies, Orioles, and Marlins.

In 2025, he played exclusively at Triple-A Reno (Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate), slashing .251/.351/.389 with 5 HR, 25 RBI, and 8 SB in 70 games.

As of December 15, 2025 (yesterday), the New York Mets signed him to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training, adding outfield depth as a potential defensive specialist and fourth/fifth outfielder.

Daniel Wexler                    @WexlerRules

Pache is a + to a++ glove but an ATROCIOUS hitter. 80 wRC+ in the PCL last season (86th/98 hitters with at least 250 PA's)

MACK – Just what in the hell are the Mets doing still signing dumpster trash like these two? Looking for more lighting in the bottle? Ya know, if you fill the jar up with too many fireflies, there won’t be enough O2 for any of them and they will all die. This is just plain stupid going forward.

 

Codify                   @CodifyBaseball

83+ MPH Pitches In 2025 With 18"+ Of Armside Horizontal Movement and 42"+ Drop:

Devin Williams, 203

Everyone Else, 94

 

Jim Koenigsberger        @JimfrombaseballI

"When Clemente die it was so big in Puerto Rico people stop everything. Nobody have any more parties for New Year's. Everybody go to the beach to try to find him. Try to find the body or at least something. I remember we went out with a group of people. Friends all out on a boat.

The waves were so high and people would jump in the water and swim down with their scuba gear 20-30 feet into the water.

They helped me put on the gear and I jumped in and I swam down and when I got deep enough, I saw these massive sharks and I immediately came back up.

We were out there for a long time.

The current was so strong, you would’ve thought it was a tsunami.

It was tough for all of us.

One thing I’ll never forget is that Roberto was so afraid of flying. He would always tell me, ‘Manny, I have this feeling that when I fly, the plane is going to crash'.

And look, it’s terrible, but it’s what happened.

I was really hurt for Roberto`s wife. Vera went to beach every day, too, to pray or see what she could do.

I think she is still going down there.

Roberto Clemente is still on the ballclub.

His spirit belong here and he gives his life for somebody he don't know".

Manuel de Jesus Magan Sanguillen.

RVH - The Mets’ Decision Tree: Controlled Deconstruction, Not Chaos

 

When you zoom out from the exits, non-tenders, and familiar names disappearing from the roster, it’s easy to conclude the Mets are acting haphazardly — tearing things apart without a clear replacement plan. For many fans, this offseason doesn’t feel slow. It feels chaotic.

That reaction is understandable. Core pieces are gone. The roster looks thinner in places. And the replacements haven’t arrived all at once.

But what looks like disorder is actually a highly controlled dismantling, paired with a disciplined exploration of alternatives. Under David Stearns, the Mets aren’t improvising. They’re removing fixed assumptions so better structures can be built in their place.

Wednesday’s run-prevention piece explained why last season failed. This piece explains how Stearns is addressing it — and why the process feels uncomfortable before it feels complete.

Why Polanco Matters: Stabilization Without Commitment

Jorge Polanco’s signing didn’t solve first base or DH. It stabilized the roster while preserving choice.

At age 32–33 during the 2026–27 window, on a two-year, high-AAV deal that’s easy to buy down or move, Polanco creates no long-term dead money, doesn’t block Clifford or Reimer, provides floor offense during transition, and converts cash into flexibility.

This is not a reckless addition. It’s a reversible one — exactly what you add when you’re deliberately exploring multiple paths.

The Real Fork: How the Mets Solve Center Field

Center field is the most revealing decision node because it determines how much stress the pitching staff absorbs, where Carson Benge plays, how Juan Soto is protected defensively, and how much long-term risk is accepted.

Three clear paths remain.

Path A: Short-Control, Defense-First Center Field

This includes Luis Robert or Lars Nootbaar-type profiles.

Elite defense. Short control horizon. No long-term payroll drag.

If Robert hits, you keep him. If not, it’s one-and-done. This path immediately improves run prevention, allows Benge to play every day, stabilizes pitching outcomes, and preserves maximum optionality.

Path B: Portfolio Bundles (Offense + Defense + Pitching)

Some moves replace players. Others rebalance the roster.

St. Louis can offer Contreras plus an outfielder like Nootbaar and bullpen help in a single transaction. San Diego can supply outfielders bundled with starting or relief pitching. In both cases, pitching is addressed inside the deal — not as a secondary move. This isn’t chaos. It’s bundled problem-solving.

Path C: The Controlled Exception

Cody Bellinger offers OF and 1B flexibility, defensive insurance, and two-way value — but introduces long-term decline risk. If chosen, it would be one intentional exception, not a philosophical shift.

Pitching Isn’t Parallel — It’s Embedded

Across all scenarios, expect one established starter and multiple leverage relievers on short-term deals. San Diego solves OF plus pitching. St. Louis solves 1B plus bullpen. Pitching is the connector, not a separate checklist.

The Trade Capital That Makes This Work

Stearns’ usable currency sits one tier below the core: Acuña, Vientos, Mauricio, Peterson, second-tier arms, and cash. Enough to rebalance the roster without touching the future.

The Bottom Line

What feels reckless to fans is actually the opposite. The Mets are intentionally removing rigid structures so better ones can be built — using short-horizon bets, redundancy, and cash to explore multiple solutions without committing to the wrong one.

This is not chaos.  It’s controlled exposure.

And it’s exactly how a confident front office behaves when it trusts its process.

Reese Kaplan -- Lots of News About Pitching But Not About Offense

With all of the attention paid to the Mets’ pitching woes, precious little in the rumor mill has concerned their needs on the offensive side of the game.  They have lost Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso and thus far added Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco.  Somehow the totals WAR of the new faces does not equal what the departing forces provided.

Right now going into 2026 the Mets have Jeff McNeil to play left field, Tyrone Taylor to play center and Juan Soto to play right.  Aside from the offensive side of Soto, that’s not an awe inspiring set of outfielders yet the rumor mills are fairly quiet about who the Mets might try to add to supplement the starting lineup.

As much as we all like the stories about home grown players who make their way up through the minors to debut in the majors, none of the outfield options the Mets have available seem ready to assume that kind of ascension.  Carson Benge is the top of that list with Jett Williams not far behind, but the numbers they’ve shown in the minors suggest they both might need a little more seasoning.

In the case of Benge, he’s demonstrated he has good defensive skills though not exceptional while delivering solid numbers at the plate an on the base paths after transitioning from pitching.  In AAA he combined between Brooklyn, Binghamton and Syracuse to hit .281 with 15 HRs, 73 RBIs and 22 SBs.  Many consider him a corner outfielder but the Mets have vacancies both in left and in center so it’s still unclear where the left handed hitter would start when he makes his Citifield debut.

Given his brief introduction to the minor league level with just 24 games and 90 ABs in AAA  it might be a little premature to pencil him into the the starting lineup.  Everyone is hoping he will continue his evolution as a multi tool offensive threat but for now it’s probably premature to pencil him into coming north with the big club.

Jett Williams is even more of a question.  He's primarily been a middle infielder in the minors but has also logged time in center field.  He hits for a decent average with high on base percentage and excellent stolen base numbers but in AAA he has not yet profiled as a star in the making.  In 2025 split between two minor league teams he hit .261 with 34 SBs.  Those are appealing numbers for sure but not the kind that suggest he's ready to face major league pitching.

Yes, we have all heard the rumblings about players like free agents Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker but unless the Mets are suddenly willing to offer up to them what they wouldn’t suggest to Pete Alonso it is unlikely either will wind up wearing orange and blue.  Trade options exist but no one is sure if a Luis Robert, Jr. or others we’ve heard about are really stopgaps or real solutions.

What fans and media would like to see is the plan David Stearns has to improve offense and defense on a team right now that is lacking in both areas.  Assuming that Semien is solid at 2B and Brett Baty continues at 3B, they still haven’t solved the 1B vacancy with Jorge Polanco’s one game appearance there in his whole career.  Furthermore he’s know far more for his bat than his glove so it’s more likely he’s a DH in waiting than an on the field option.

For now the folks who follow the Mets are fraught with quite a bit of uncertainty regarding who will take the field for them in this Alonso-less, Nimmo-less and totally vacant center field-less lineup.  The internal options in the infield are blocked and there are no real outfield nor first base solutions unless you are a true believer in the 2024 version of Mark Vientos.  When will solutions appear?

Ernest Dove: New York Mets Pitching Future + Winter Arms Camp

Ernest Dove talks about Mets pitching both in the Majors and Minors as well as the Minor League Camp in January.  

For more of Ernest's wisdom and lots of great Mets Prospect Videos subscribe to Ernest's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ernestdove.

You can also catch Ernest on X (formerly known as Twitter).