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| Photo Courtesy of Ishika Samant/Getty Images |
When Met fans woke up on the morning of January 16th, the world felt like it was crashing down. Kyle Tucker, who had been rumored to be a strong candidate to come to the Mets and fill in their desperate outfield need, had signed with the new evil empire, the Los Angles Dodgers.
Met fans took to WFAN and to social media to vent their frustrations. The team had gutted its core a month prior and now, a month left until Spring Training, had done little to fill in the gaps.
Everything would change after that though. Just hours after the Kyle Tucker deal fell through the Mets signed Bo Bichette. An all-star, fresh from World Series heroics with Toronto. This was big! Steve Cohen was spending money again, and the Mets had a pulse after a quiet off season to date.
They weren't done there. A few days later the Mets traded Luisangel Acuña and Truman Pauley to the White Sox for Luis Robert Jr. A day after that, a massive trade, the was a punch in the gut for prospect huggers like myself, but a move they big club needed to make. They parted with long-time prospect Jet Williams and Brandon Sproat in exchange for Freddy Peralta.
In the midst of all this roster turnover, Carlos Beltran was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he’ll go into the Hall with a Mets cap. Why is this relevant to the 2026 Mets? When the Mets signed Beltran in 2005, at his press conference he called them “the new Mets.” That offseason the Mets brought in Beltran and Pedro Martinez. Omar Minaya was the new General Manager, and Willie Randolph was the new Manager.
By 2006, the team made it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2000. Despite only being six years removed from their last postseason appearance, the 2006 Mets looked completely different from the 2000 team that won a pennant. Not a single player that was on the 2006 team was on the Mets in 2000.
To put that into perspective. The Mets made the playoffs in 2022 for the first time in six years. There were a few holdouts left on that 2022 team from 2016, like Jacob deGrom, Seth Lugo, and Brandon Nimmo. Both the 2000 team and 2006 are beloved in Mets history; albeit, they each share similar disappointing endings.
A similar vibe is taking shape with these 2026 Mets. Merely two years removed from a playoff appearance, the team that will take the field on Opening Day will look vastly different from what took the field on Opening Day 2024. Gone is Brandon Nimmo; Luis Robert Jr. will be taking his place in center field. Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz, players that have been on the Mets for over a half decade, have also departed.
Say what you will about the moves, the trades, and the risk of sending two top-100 prospects away for a one-year rental pitcher. Steve Cohen and David Stearns saw the collapse this core went through at the end of the 2025 season. Unlike the previous regime, who watched 2007 and 2008 fall apart and, outside of signing Johan Santana to a big contract, did relatively nothing to shake up the core, despite obvious cracks in it.
Whether it works out or not, I’ll take some solace in the fact that this Met leadership isn’t going to sit on their hands and keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. You might not like the moves, you might love the moves this team is doing, but one thing is certain. The Steve Cohen era of Met baseball, much like the 2026 Met roster, will look vastly different from the Wilpon era.
60 more days until Opening Day. Game on!
18 comments:
Overall, I am very happy with the moves recently. I think the Mets are getting better players when contract duration and age are considered. It is a better bridge to the Young players that will join the team over the next two years. And a very interesting juxtaposition with the Beltran boat into the Hall of Fame. Good point Steve.
I know one of those two years, in 2007 and 2008, the Wilpons once again under invested in bullpen pitching, and it cost them again as the season wore on. As I recall one of those years, Billy Wagner was cooking and then he hurt his arm. And no one in the bullpen after him could seem to stop anyone, as a collapse then unfolded.
I again do not fault David for acquiring Helsley and the submariner and Greg Soto to try to shore up the bull pen. Those three guys collectively just didn’t do very well, when one could’ve expected that they should’ve done much better. That is the unpredictability of baseball.
It just seems to get unpredictable more often than not in bad ways when it comes to the Mets, historically. 1969 and 1986 and 2015 being the rare years where it was unpredictably good.
I’ll agree they are different but not necessarily better. Why is Bichette playing third. Bichette should be at first and Baty at third. Better “run prevention” and it keeps Baty in every day lineup. If Polanco can transit to 1B so can Bichette. I’m sure Bichette’s agent said to him don’t go to first, because when you opt out after a year you will command more money at 3B than 1B. The lineup is deeper but with less HR and RBI power. The starting pitching will be better with Peralta and hopefully comebacks from Manea and Senga. Relief is definitely worse and on a pitching staff that only goes 5-6 innings the lack of quality relief will be evident. What we need in 2026 is for Alvarez to show why he was the #1 prospect in the minors. He has all the talent in the world and has to stay healthy and show it. A comeback by Vientos(who should be the full time DH and never put on a glove) and a healthy Alvarez could fill the power void left by Alonso
Five year into the Cohen era - it’s all about looking forward at this point. Very strange feeling for a five decade Mets fan - but I’m all-in with this ownership & leadership.
This year won’t be perfect. But the team will play better, more consistent, & more clutch. Plus the team is much better prepared for injuries & setbacks.
The Phillies & the Braves have been pretty static so a little older & both have their own issues to deal with - Phillies haven’t gone all the way & are in back/end of their current cycle; th Braves have to rebound from a terrible, injury-riddled season without any major signings (Valdez anyone?).
I think the Mets chances are strong. Plus, they should not revert back to that awful late June & August level of play this year.
LGM!
this off-season is a perfect example of why you juggle as many balls as you can while you are trying to sign or trade for new players...
I too feel the pen is weaker than it could be, but don't be surprised if guys like Manaea, Scott, or Peterson are sent out there to bolster the talent there
Actually, I think the team bat WAR is close to equal to last season
The current lineup should keep them about .500 until the rotation gels
I saw Mendoza and Bichette are already in St. Lucie. Mendoza was impressed already that how Bichette is handling himself at third base. I think transitioning to first base is harder. I think that third base has a lot of similarities to playing shortstop, more south than switching from shortstop to first base. I think third base for Bo is the right choice.
RVH, I think a lot of of it, as always, comes down to how good our prospects really are. I really wonder if Williams and sprout – it is so annoying that no matter how I pronounce sprout using talk to type it comes out sprout – where not thought I’ve quite as highly as many fans were hoping they would be. Hopefully, we kept all the right ones and they will start to really transitioning over the next two years and make this sustainable playoff caliber franchise for years to come. Getting rid of Alonso, Nemo, and Diaz will look bad in 2026, but all three are getting older and it may look entirely different in 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030 for those guys. I think that David is pulling all the right switches in this transitional pivot from several players who almost, but not quite, got us to the promised land
Last year, the injury pandemic was extreme. At least for the pitchers it was. Let’s hope 2026 is a more normal injury year. How great would it be to get through spring training without someone’s lat ripping or arm falling off? Losing Manaea and Montas early, and then having them pitch like a washed up Chris Flexen when they were able to pitch, was a brutal way to start out. The duo combined for just 99 innings and allowed 67 runs. Shades of Jay Hook.
Tom, well said. At the end of the day, it always boils down to how well the players play the game. It’s a brutal game with high variance built into the physics of the game. All front offices can really hope to do is minimize variances by building intelligent, consistent, operating models. This will result in non-obvious & unpopular moves at certain inflection points. The Mets have just crossed one of those moments. Now it’s up to the players to develop & play well - individually and as a team. The coaching infrastructure exists to guide & support the players.
Older, expensive players en mass are extremly unlikely to suddenly reverse 5 years of subpar play & become champions. Stearns see that & adjusted. It’s hard for fans to see great individual players go but that’s the nature of the beast.
The past is now firmly in the past. Onward & (hopefully) upward!
The old Mets are dead. Long live the new Mets!
Ernie Banks, Miguel Cabrera and Ian Desmond all made transition to 1B from SS. BIchette has a weak arm and poor range. I’d like to see Baty continue to develop as an everyday third baseman. I believe he could hit at least 260 and hit 20 HR and play above average defense. Mets were already going to have a SS/2B switch to 1B in Polanco. If you want run reduction Bichette at first and Baty at 3B is best defensive option
Many players have poor range at SS, but does that mean his range wouldn’t be at least average at a less rangy position like 3rd base? Time will tell.
Also, I looked up stat cast data for shortstop arm, throwing strength. Bichette was ranked 31st, while Lindor was ranked 45th.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/arm-strength?type=player&year=2025&minThrows=50&pos=arm_ss&team=
RVH, well said. No reason to look back, other than to realize that looking back at a team like the Mets makes you realize that whatever they were doing they missed the playoffs almost every year. So I am very much looking forward to looking ahead. While, of course, having somehow climbed into my early 70s, I’d sure like to see them start winning ASAP.
Bichette is a natural left-sider. A 3B sees the balls come off the bat with almost the same perspective as the shortstop. It makes sense. Baty has the long, lean look of a first baseman, so he has probably been tried there before. There may be a little spring competition between Baty and Polanco. The Mets will certainly want to do what is best for the team.
Me too!!!
^^^
Zero change Bichette moves off 3B. He is 27 years old, playing for a long term contract (now or later) & 3B pays much more than 1B. Lots of infers make the transition. He will be fine. Just like Soto will not transition to LF or DH for a while (even with his HUGE contract.
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