The Opener: Mets, Orioles, Rotation Market

Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Mets turn the page on an era:

The departures of Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso during the Winter Meetings, in conjunction with last month’s trade of Brandon Nimmo, mean that three of the Mets’ longest-tenured players will all play elsewhere in 2026. President of baseball operations David Stearns was already facing plenty of pressure this winter to improve the roster after a disappointing year where his club missed the postseason in Juan Soto’s first season on the roster. With Diaz and Alonso officially out of the organization, that pressure is rising even more.

How will the Mets respond to those losses? A pursuit of Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamoto could make some sense to replace Alonso at first base, and Robert Suarez remains a logical replacement for Diaz (alongside Devin Williams) in the ninth inning next year. Those replacements won’t be enough by themselves, however. New York remains in desperate need of help in the outfield and continues to look for help at the front of their rotation. Bringing in a top free agent like Kyle Tucker in the outfield or Tatsuya Imai in the rotation would surely help fans in Queens get over the losses of franchise stalwarts like Alonso this winter.

2. What’s next for the Orioles?

On the other side of the coin, fans in Baltimore were jubilant as their club finally made the big splash they’ve been hoping to see for years. With Alonso now in the fold for the next five seasons, the Orioles seem unlikely to take their foot off the gas just yet. They remain involved in the market for high-end rotation pieces, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them add someone like Framber Valdez to the front of their rotation in free agency alongside Alonso. Of course, the free agent market isn’t the only avenue for improvement available. The addition of Alonso displaces Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle on the team’s depth chart, and Mayo in particular could be the sort of high-end trade chip who makes landing a top starter in trade like Edward Cabrera or MacKenzie Gore (both of whom Baltimore has been connected to this winter) all the more feasible. What’s the next move for president of baseball operations Mike Elias?

3. When will the dam break in the rotation market?

For all the activity in and around this year’s winter meetings, things have remained quiet on the rotation front this winter. The market for relievers has been bustling all winter, with only a handful of the top closing options still available. The market for position players has been slower, but hitters did start to come off the board after Kyle Schwarber re-upped in Philadelphia, with Alonso and Mike Yastrzemski both signing yesterday. Every top free agent starter remains on the market besides Dylan Cease, however, and the trade market has seen no movement outside of the Red Sox adding Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo.

Will things get moving in the coming days? It’s certainly possible. This week’s meetings surely hosted a number of important conversations between buyers and sellers on the trade markets, giving teams like the Mets, Orioles, and Cubs a better idea of which starters could actually be attainable for them while allowing sellers like the Marlins and Nationals to see which teams might come closest to their asking prices. In free agency, meanwhile, some reporting has indicated that Imai will begin visiting teams now that the Winter Meetings have come to a close with an eye towards signing before the holidays. Given that Imai’s posting window closes on January 2, the right-hander’s free agency could potentially serve as a catalyst that kicks the larger market for starting pitching into gear.