The Mets’ offseason has seen a bevy of major names both coming and going off the roster, and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman provides a nice breakdown of both the team’s moves and some of the behind-the-scenes plans (or backup plans) that went into these transactions. Sherman’s piece also details some free agent and trade candidates who hadn’t been previously cited as Mets targets, including Ranger Suarez, Ryan Weathers, Johan Oviedo, and Pirates hurlers Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft.
New York’s trade for Freddy Peralta earlier this week helped the Mets finally secure the frontline rotation help they’d been seeking all winter, which helped because many of the other pitchers the team was exploring had already changed teams. The Yankees acquired Weathers from the Marlins two weeks ago, the Red Sox landed Oviedo from the Pirates in early December, and Suarez signed with the Red Sox last week as well on a five-year, $130MM contract.
That type of long-term deal for a pitcher was thought to be outside of the Mets’ comfort zone, as multiple reports indicated that the team preferred shorter-term arrangements when trying to find rotation help. The same was largely true of the Mets’ position-player pursuits, as the team offered Kyle Tucker four years and $220MM, and then landed Bo Bichette on a three-year, $126MM deal with two player opt-out clauses. If Bichette hadn’t signed and Suarez had remained available, Sherman wrote that the Mets “would have pivoted to try to upgrade the rotation with a willingness to do the five years at $130 million Boston did.”
It’s an example of how the offseason can be a series of sliding doors, with a team’s priorities quickly changing when other teams start making moves and various star players leave the board. Bichette himself wasn’t even known to be a Mets target until the eleventh hour, as missing out on Tucker led the Mets to quickly turn to Bichette and snatch him away from an almost-finalized agreement with the Phillies. And, as it turned out, the Mets ended up landing their desired ace in inexpensive fashion in terms of money (Peralta is owed $8MM in 2026 before entering free agency next winter), but at the hefty trade cost of noted prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams.
Prying Bichette away from the Phillies may have provided some measure of revenge for the Mets after their unsuccessful pursuit of Kyle Schwarber. New York was known to have interest in Schwarber’s services, and Sherman noted that the Mets “were much deeper in on him than previously publicly known.” It was widely expected that Schwarber would re-sign with the Phils and he indeed rejoined the club for five years and $150MM. As interested as the Mets were, Sherman wrote that they “perceived they would have to beat [five years/$150MM] by a good deal to get him to leave Philadelphia,” so the Amazins backed off.
The Mets had plenty of talks with the Marlins about Edward Cabrera before Cabrera was dealt to the Cubs, so it isn’t surprising that Weathers’ name was also brought up in those discussions. Sherman reported that 8-10 teams had interest in Weathers, and it ended up being the Yankees (another Cabrera suitor) who landed the southpaw for a four-prospect package.
It was no secret that the Pirates were looking to upgrade their lineup this offseason, and with a surplus of arms on the roster, the assumption was that Pittsburgh would look to move starting pitching for some bats. The five-player deal that sent Oviedo to Boston brought back Jhostynxon Garcia as a young outfielder who can help the Bucs as early as 2026, and Mike Burrows was traded to the Astros as part of the three-team swap with the Rays that brought Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh.
With Oviedo and Burrows gone, the Pirates have probably closed the door on further pitching trades, as GM Ben Cherington has said the team would now be open to adding a bit of rotation depth, if anything. Chandler (one of baseball’s top pitching prospects) and Ashcraft (a former second-round pick) each made their MLB debuts in 2025 and look to be part of the Pirates rotation both this season and for years to come, if everything pans out.
Sherman said the Mets “extensively” discussed Chandler, Ashcraft, and Oviedo in negotiations with the Pirates, and it would be fascinating to know the specifics of those talks. Gauging by the Oviedo deal, the Bucs were presumably looking for controllable position-player talent, so any of Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, or even top prospect Carson Benge might have been on the Pirates’ wish list. If Pittsburgh had looked for more of a veteran bat in the Lowe mold, Jeff McNeil (who was dealt to the A’s just before Christmas) might have been a fit, but it is hard to imagine the Pirates would’ve given up a significant MLB-ready pitcher for McNeil.
Yes, we will. But we are going to appreciate our new guys too.
lmao stop pretending you’re a Mets fan. Literally all you do is rip every single move they make and call them the “Mutts”. No one is buying it.
Did you miss what happened last year? I’ll miss Pete, Diaz (and Nimmo) too, but you can’t just run it back. Different is exactly what was needed.
chandlerbing: You’re quite certain of that? Some of us aren’t sure what’s going to happen this season. Perhaps you have knowledge not available to the rest of us.
Joel
Chandlerbing is a troll.
But even a broken analog clock is correct twice per day.
Alonso and Diaz were not responsible for the poorly assembled starting pitching. I have no idea whether there were clubhouse issues or not. But O do agree that the on-field performance of Alonso and Diaz had nothing to do with the team’s overall poor performance.
Why Diaz? lol
MLB: Everyone knows it was the starting pitching. Diaz was a blunder. Letting Alonso go also a mistake
Chandler (and his many alts) posting anti-Stearns slop accounts for 40% of the traffic to this site
MetsSchets: It does seem like the more irate they are, they more they post. I think Stearns crapped up initially but got better as the off-season went along. Of course, we won’t know for a couple of years if we won the Peralta trade.
Joel
Replace Bichette and Polanco with Alonso.
Replace Devin with Diaz.
Make the deals for Peralta, Semien and off-loading McNeil.
Sign one more free agent starting pitcher to a one or two year deal.
The Mets in 2026 could be like the Seahawks this year, getting rid of franchise favorites because they weren’t winning with them and replacing them with different talent
I think it would be hard for Peralta to turn down a Dylan Cease-sized contract if Mets offered a seven years, $210 million as an extension. Peralta is light years better than Cease but there is always a risk of injury.
Seahawks and Mariners both good in the same year, not so tormented any more!
Which is why they turned over half the roster.
“I think Stearns crapped up initially but got better as the off-season went along”
I’m always wondering if there’s this other game going on w Cohen/Stearns and Boras and I have to wonder what that dynamic is. Like if you cave to his asking price on PLAYER X in November does it make it easier or harder to get a good deal on PLAYER Y in February? Does it have any effect?
Schmets: that doesn’t ring true to me.
If they stay. Could see the opt outs coming into play.
Peralta also has to contend with the potential of the new CBA affecting how much he gets offered. A hard salary cap would definitely restrict his earning ability. Maybe he takes an extension and guaranteed money
Next year
You can when that offense was a top 10 in baseball last year and carried the team to 2 games away from the World Series the year prior. It was the PITCHING that failed not the offense. PITCHING that Stearns has done very little to address. Getting a guy like peralta is great if you already have established starters since a majority of peralta career he was a really good 2/3 who pitched infront of a much better defense with the brewers then he’s going to with the Mets, not to mention in a much weaker division with a much better bullpen to close games out. Giving up 2 of your top prospects for a guy with one year left on his deal with one season of “ace” quality stuff is the type of “my seat is on fire” move that bad gms make because Stearns is a bad gm.
And before anyone starts talking about how stearns have done a great job building the farm system, I gotta ask. Who did he bring in exactly? Couple of international signings that are a half decade away from contributing?
Chandler
I get it tho honestly. I love this team. I have the 7 line tatted on my arm for all the world to see, I bought a mookie jersey in the sand box over in Dubai, I was in San dog when Bartolo took shields deep and will forever have the sound of the pure jubilation in Gary’s voice when he made that call etched in my brain. There’s no sports team I care more about than the Mets. All that being said I make it a point to not let my love for the team cloud my judgement or make me wear rose colored lenses when talking about them. I’m sure there’s a valid argument someone could make for me being too critical but it’s only because I want this team to be successful so damn bad. And every year, every GM and owner and manager make the same mistakes time and time again.
Here’s a guy coming off a series of down years let’s give him more money than he’s worth, here’s a really good player coming off a career year. Let’s get rid of them. We finally have a good farm system (which Stearns had very little building) now let’s blow through them for guys who don’t really fit the time line nor the team need. Got some really good bench coaches who had a notable and tangible positive impact on your team? They gotta go to. Have a manager who’s overmatched and doesn’t know how to keep a team going through strife together and unified? That’s the one guy we should keep. Have a guy who’s been good in the pen? Over work him early in the season. It’s not like having a bull pen fresh and ready to go in the second half/play offs are a big benefit it’s all about winning in April-June.
It’s the same stuff every year man and it never changes. I just wish for once. The guy the Mets hire to run the team was someone who A. Knows how to spend when you have a blank check. It don’t mean over pay for bad players. It means shelling out big bucks for big time players. B. Knows how to identify the teams needs and timeline and not just sell the farm for one year of an average-above average caliber player and a qualifying offer when he inevitably tests free agency. C-Z. Not be Davis Stearns
Chandler
Cohen is the Jerry jones of baseball. An egotistical jag who truly thinks he’s the smartest most awesome powerful megaminded uber genius in any and every room he even thinks about entering. “If we don’t win a World Series in 3 years it’s a failure.” “Let me know when you see smoke” and the rest of the lame one liners he posts on twitter like a 16 year old mean girl who’s pissed off at her ex cause he was kissing Jessica B under the bleachers after 3rd period. He doesn’t hire good baseball minds who will tell him “no. That’s a bad move” he hires nepo babies who can’t control a locker room and yes men from better run organizations without understand what actually makes those organizations better run. He’s a clown and i genuinely don’t understand why people believe anything that comes outta his mouth at this point.
This is just chandler responding to himself on an alt
Schmets
I mean unless I’m doing it unwillingly and without my knowledge I’d be willing to bet me and that other dude aren’t the same person. Sure we may agree on the quality of the Mets moves but by that logic everyone who agrees with you is just you on an alt account responding to yourself. You see how silly that makes you sound? Maybe instead of assuming that your wanna be quip would be a devastating blow leaving both of us too hurt to respond, you could have provided some context on what parts of my comments you disagreed with and why? Is it that you’re a Stearns fan? Are you Steve cohen and took offense to being compared to Jerry jones? Or are you just someone who can’t use things like stats or logic or a reasonable hypotheses to have a discussion so you rely on really lame and tired one liners that just kinda make you look silly?
MetsFan3112: I love Cohen, I’m grateful that he’s the owner of the team. Your mean girl comparison is far-fetched to say the least.
Joel
It’s really not. The dude talks more nonsensical bull than Marcus Stroman does and Thsts really saying something.
Yes. Getting lindor and Soto were huge and not wilponian in the least. I’ll give him credit for that he got his big fish. Aside from those two signings, what other moves have actually worked out? None of his hirings have worked out since he’s on the 5th different GM/PBO and third manager since he took over. The farm system was good for like a week until stearns decided “they’re not my guys” and traded away 2 top 100 prospects, they found good coaches in Chavez and Richardson and then fired/let walk, the Mets have had exactly one good year since he took over and while it was a great and fun and exciting season, it required lindor to turn into the best player in baseball for 75% of the season and for multiple players to have career years both in the box and on the mound, the team has had one successful trade deadline since he bought the team and that was just cleaning up his own mess after giving verlander and scherzer all that money to look and play like old men, there’s been zero year to year growth for any of the young homegrown talent (Veintos, Baty, Alvy all have had one good year and one good year only and all at different times), I can keep going but I think you get the point.
Chandler
Nah I don’t mind. Let him talk. If someone is incapable of explaining their thought process or their reasoning they shouldn’t be ignored, they should be singled out for education purposes and have their flaws pointed out for all to see. I mean shoot. I was completely wrong and very high and kept saying clay couldn’t get out of the 4th when I meant to say go more than 4+ innings and someone singled me out and called me out on it. Now Imagine if he didn’t do that and I kept acting like I was right? I’d have looked mad stupid. I don’t want anyone to look mad stupid bud.
First consecutive seasons over .500 in a decade. Top rated farm system. Multiple top 50 and top 100 players on opening day.
You’re not here to engage in good faith, you’re just here to nit pick and overly scrutinize because you’re pathetic.
Stearns met with Bichette in November. It was a laid out fallback plan not a reactionary pursuit to Tucker.
It was a dumb fallback plan that was still very much reactionary.
@JE
I can’t see the Mets, or any team, offering Bichette $42 mil early in the offseason.
I know just a year ago he had a negative WAR mid 6 ops lol.
@Rey
My point was that I’m no way, shape or form do I believe that they discussed paying him anywhere near $42 mil in November. It was definitely a reaction to losing out on Tucker to the Dodgers, specifically.
The Mets are doing less with more better than any team in baseball. They traded Nimmo and McNeil basically telegraphing they were going after Tucker and Bellinger. They didnt get either and instead signed a shortstop who belongs at 2b to play 3b.
Don’t forget the 2b to play 1b.
Yeah thats not helping either. Probably worst corner infield defense in all of baseball.
Stearns started by emphasizing run prevention, and ends up with unproven players at the corners and a downgrade at closer. Unless he was just blowing hot air and didn’t really mean it, it’s hard to say he successfully executed his plan.
They have a gold Glover at 2nd and short stop they’re going to be fine.
Their up the middle defense is great with lindor Semien and Robert
While bo and polanco will be playing positions they haven’t played before, they also are coming from more demanding/generally more athletic positions, so their transitions should be generally okay
I’m not saying either will be GG caliber, but I expect a reasonable level of competence.
I’m also not really worried about Devin Williams as the closer. I’m not saying he’s better than Diaz, but until last year his numbers had been fantastic. He rebounded in the second half mostly for the yanks, so I don’t think it’s a big market thing. In either case, Williams and Weaver is a nice pairing with minter and raley from the left side. I think the pen overall is pretty solid actually
High flying
He was most certainly blowing smoke. Stearns is cheap, doesn’t want to get in a bidding war and doesn’t want to reward guys for loyalty and production. That’s why a majority of his moves had been giving bad players big time deals because he knows there’s not gonna be a bidding war. That’s why he let Pete/Nimmo go because “they weren’t his guys” that’s why he traded 2 top 100 prospects for a career 2/3 with one season of ace caliber play (while playing in front of a much better defense and much deeper bull pen) because he knew Freddy and again “those prospects weren’t his guys”. One move has improved the teams defense and it comes with the caveat of being a lifeless shell of a former hitter in semien. Taylor is a much better defender that LRJ and one can make the argument a better all around player given how bad LRJ has looked for every other season other than 23 and the fact he can’t play more than 100 games in a season. Bo has been on a downward slide defensively for the last 3 seasons (yes he was hit this year but that doesn’t change the fact it’s been happening for years) who’s going to play out of position at the hot corner and have some major growing pains learning when to defer to lindor, when to be aggressive and how to deal with high line drives as he’s on the shorter side (5’11-6’ most 3rd basemen are 6’ and up) not to mention throws across the diamond and across his body given how weak his arm is. Polocno was one of the worst defenders in all of baseball last season and has never been good so let’s put him at 1st which is in no way similar to second/short except for the fact it’s in the infield and let’s put Baty in left even tho he had a good defensive season between 2nd/3rd and has 30 games of minor league experience in left and that’s it. Which using common sense could lead you to the very likely reasoning for him never seeing time in the outfield in the majors (while they have Jessie winker starts in the field and had a rash of corner outfield injuries) was that he wasn’t good out there. But it’ll be fine. It’s all about run prevention and nothing says run prevention like having 33% of your defense be playing out of position.
The Mets are obviously ruining baseball.
People wouldn’t be complaining about the Tucker and Diaz deals if the Mets hadn’t offered slightly less, forcing the poor Dodgers into spending more.
I know you are joking but better the Dodgers get Tucker for $57 million per year than for $45 million per year as it creates luxury tax dollars.
Thanks for the insight. What position do you hold in the Mets front office? You must be pretty high up to know so much about their plans and pursuit of Tucker and Bellinger.
Are you saying you dont think the Mets were in on Bellinger and Tucker?
Thats what I thought…….
Transitions from short to third are common, so try another line of argument.
@Joel from NY
Not when the player has below average arm strength.
llok: Oh, 38th percentile, catastrophic. Do you predict guys will beat out slow rollers hit to him or do you predict he’ll throw a lot of balls away compensating for the weak arm? Let’s say he’s below average there…his bat is worth it. Not the way you’d draw it up, having acquired Semien, but they missed on Tucker and it was the best available bat.
Bichette stronger arm than Baty and nobody complained about Baty’s defense last year.
Baty is also a natural 3B. The job should’ve been his this season but Stearns needed to save face after missing out on Tucker
Iheart: Did you watch Baty play? His arm’s fine. There’s more to baseball than statcast. I’ll be happy if Bichette is anywhere close to average. I’d be happier if he DH’d.
Mr. Met: Be reasonable. They lost out on Tucker and turned to the best available bat. I’m glad they did. Got nothing to do with “saving face”. It’s got to do with getting a badly needed offensive weapon. I’m a Baty fan and I’d rather Bichette DH’d but I guess that won’t happen but once in a while. Guess it will either be Baty or Benge in left.
True, if the shortstop has a strong arm.
Joking aside, they made a hell of a push for Tucker.
They have aspects of the organization that will take time to get to the point of them being a destination team. But I believe they are all in, in their own way.
Whether you agree with their approach is another thing entirely.
Even with all these new additions, I don’t see the Mets really improving much or at all. Having an owner willing to spend is very nice and the fans should be grateful, but you’d hope the signings are calculated which they don’t seem to be lol.
They’re much better
If the Mets brought back the same group that collapsed last year, people would be saying same old Mets. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
While the sp was largely to blame, the “clutch” hitting was atrocious last year. Nimmo and McNeil didn’t help in that regard.
Pete was never in Stearns’ long term plans, for better or worse.
Bo and polanco were very good in “clutch” situations last year, so if Stearns is going off recency bias, those are good pickups.
I don’t know if the Mets are better or not from last year, but I think Stearns did a good job adjusting to a stale, unsuccessful lineup
I agree, idk why people are complaining. He brought in people that were strong last year where the mets were weak. On paper they’re a more complete team for sure.
How do you build a culture with so many new faces, many of them stars with egos, that are also here on short term deals? I know they are all professionals; but there’s a lot of new faces in the clubhouse. On paper, it may look enticing and intriguing…in practice, it could look like a strange brew of characters that don’t quite mesh. Can we look to any other teams from the past where this kind of roster building strategy was deemed successful??
They have an entire year together its not like they’re spending a weekend together
Ignorant
The answer is no. You can’t. A team of hired guns never works. There’s no time to build chemistry(especially if this season goes the way I know it will and all those guys decline ther option/leave after this season for better run teams) there’s no loyalty for the fan base or the team itself which like it or not does play a role in how hard guys try (look at LRJ and the articles and talking heads saying things like oh well if you weren’t happy where your at why would you try hard?).
Bottom line. Get ready for the LOLmets to keep being a thing until Stearns is fired unfortunately
Idk why you’re treating the highly subjective stat of “chemistry” in such high regard. Look at the dodgers half the team can’t even understand eachother they had no problem winning back to back world series
Sam
Chemistry was the reason for 24s massive turn around. The mood was great and guys were happy to show up to the ball park. They enjoyed playing together. If you couldn’t tell they had good chemistry then you need to make more friends and stop being online so much.
The dodgers don’t have a team full of hired guns or guys in one year deals. They have basically everyone important locked up until the sun burns out and when they do lose someone who’s not important, they have 4 other guys who have been with the organization for their entire career (therefor having a firm grasp on how the organization operates, what they expect from guys ect) waiting in the wings. Just becwuse you don’t speak the same language doesn’t mean you can’t have chemistry. Join the military half the dudes in the navy don’t speak English as a first language but we still made it work.
Dodgers also have home grown players like Will Smith; Clayton Kershaw; Max Muncy who help with the team culture from the bottom up…yeah Mets have some home grown but just a young catcher, and very young starting pitchers. The team culture / chemistry is what is thrown at the wall and sticks for 2026. Mendoza will be on a short leash given all the other coaches who took off or were dismissed. Maybe it is a Stearns problem.
Ignorant
That’s a great point. People under estimate the “culture” or “chemistry” of a team but look at any of the big 3 (basketball, baseball, football) sports. How often do you see a team that has a bunch of one year rentals, that’s not “hitting” on draft picks/young players developing, don’t keep the home grown talent they did develop have any sort of success?
Look at the Detroit pistons. 2 years ago with Troy weaver a the helm they tied the record for most consecutive loses in not just team history but NBA history and came a single lose away from tying the record for most consecutive loses in North American professional sports history. Long story short they were the single worst sports team on the planet for a solid 3 years.
Look at them now and in 2 years (made the playoffs the first season after weaver was fired) they’re the literal best team in the eastern conference and debatably the second or third best team in all of basketball. Why? Because Langford (GM/PBO) completely changed the culture of the organization, then filled the roster to the brim with guys who fit the needs and expectations of the organization.
Look at the patriots, they had like a 2 run of sub par football, got vrabel who set the tone and are now on the verge of potentially having yet another decade long dynasty (based on this year alone with vrabs and Mayes huge leap) of successful football.
Now look at the Mets. No gm has been there for more than what, 2 years maybe 3 since before Steve cohen even took ownership, Haven’t had a legit long term manager since terry Collins, haven’t had a face of the organization be even a semi home grown guy since David wright, refused to reward your best power hitter in franchise history after arguably his best all around season and fired/let walk all the coaches who had a noticeable positive effect ( Richardson and Chavez are going to bite this franchise in the rear end for the next 3 years) on the teams performance. No wonder why they’ve been laughably bad in every season cohen has been the owner with the exception of 23.
Maybe public faring they appeared that way. Nothing more than marketing you fell for that season.
From what we know now there was a pretty large riff in politics between Lindor and McNeil and Alonso. There were some pretty well documented fights if you forgot.
Mets, since you mentioned football, I can’t help but not put a positive word in for my hometown Seattle Seahawks when it comes to building a culture. Forgive me for bragging about my team for a sec, I have never witnessed a team of 53 guys come together to play so -selflessly- as I have with this team. Their motto is “I feed your family, you feed my family.” They literally play for the glory of seeing their brother succeed, their coach succeed, their city succeed. When I heard them talking like this earlier in the season; I knew it was a very special team that way. Our culture comes from our great GM John Schneider who has been there since 2010; on down to our 2nd year Head Coach. Unbelievable. (Sorry I’m being a huge homer, but still on a high from that game last night.) Yes, I see a similar affirmative selfless leadership style coming from Mike Vrabel as well, and it’s going to be an awesome SB. At any rate, you and I know what a team sounds like, and how a destined franchise is run when its on the right track…it’s pretty special when it first dons on you.
Sam
Yeah. The politcal rift was supposedly between Nimmo and lindor. Not McNeil and lindor or Pete and lindor. Yes I remember the rat/cat/squirrel debacle of a few years ago but look what happened the year after. There was no rumblings of “political riffs” or “bad club house vibes” or anything along those lines. They only ever come out when the team is struggling. Do I think McNeil and lindor liked eachother? No. I don’t. But neither did shaq and Kobe and we all know successful they were together. Shaq wrote a freaking dis track about Kobe and performed it live and they still were one of the most dominant sports dous of all time. I’m convinced Alonzo left because of Stearns pretty much saying there’s no way we’re bringing him back unless he gives us a massively unjustified home town discount.
Ignorant
Dude brag away bubs. That’s the beauty of sports. They made it to the Super Bowl with Sam “I’m seeing ghosts” Darnold or Sam “I look like a Lego police man” Darnold for all those chiseled Adonis fans out there.
People forget that while it’s a game it’s also a job. Why would anyone want to be an employee for an organization that can’t keep talent around? Why would you want to work for someone knowing full well they’re only gonna be there for 2 years at the most before they get fired for yet another guy to replace them who’s only gonna be there for two years and then fired?
What Schneider has done (I first learned his name from him being in an episode of the fx show “the league” and been a fan of him since called Nick kroll a slap dick) is what good leaders do. They don’t let them go because that player/coach wasn’t one of “his guys” they just keep them because they’re good at their jobs and make the team/organization better.
Good luck Seattle I hope it’s a great game
Not only can’t you claim that having the completely subjective and nonsensical made up metric of “chemistry” is what leads to championship teams but the example you’re using has no evidence of chemistry as demonstrated by the well documented fights and riffs that existed within the core players of the team before during and after that season
Kershaw played roughly half a season last year, Muncy about 2/3rds.
Why they would hold more weight than Alvarez, Baty, Lindor, Peterson…beyond me.
That’s a team that is winning by aggressive moves in free agency, bottom line.
Chemistry will be fine if they win.
Winning heals all wounds and makes all clubhouses (& long airline flights) a lot more fun & relaxed. 100%
A bratty Baty trade may be in the works for a top starter or top outfielder and then a starter could be traded away
You’re not getting that for him
Would be part of a bigger package
Baty plus 1-2 prospects could be used to upgrade rotation or outfield
yellow: Keep him. Hit .300 second half, fields well.
You definetly are
For some reason I see Roscoe in my head saying they are in hot pursuit.
They had a clubhouse issue and the 3 most tenured players were shown the door. I guess Alonso, Nimmo and McNeil were the clubhouse issues. I remember reading something about Nimmo and Lindor clashing on politics and McNeil and Lindor issues were well covered by the press. Not sure what Lindor had against Alonso, but aside from David Peterson, Lindor is the senior guy in the clubhouse now.
Lasagna
If what you say it true, then what they really have is a manager issue.
When guys in their 20s and early 30s get tens of millions per year playing a schoolyard game, the manager needs to get in everyone’s face to act and play like teammates who have a singular focus to be winners.
Sunday: disregard Mike Puma, the gossip monger. Anything for a click. So Lindor and McNeil weren’t chums, let’s write about it.
When not winning everything is an issue. First half of the year 2025 Mets were winning and no issues. Tailspin started and they couldn’t correct it. The team was completely changed. Mendoza is fortunate to have survived the Mets purge but he could be the first manager fired if the season doesn’t start out strong for the team
I think the Mets improved a lot for 2026 by acquiring Freddy Peralta. None of their other moves impressed me.
Replacing Diaz with Devin does not impress me.
Replacing Pete with Polanco does not impress me.
Replacing Nimmo with Luis Robert does not impress me.
Semien is an upgrade over McNeil and Luisangel but it means that Bichette will be at 3B and Vientos at DH.
Baty will be a utility unless he or Vientos is traded.
Benge should make Opening Day roster.
Soto, Lindor, Peralta and a couple good young pitchers.
If you count Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers and Cubs as likely post season teams, then Mets are fighting with Atlanta, Padres, Giants, Reds for two wild card spots.
I think by adding Peralta Mets might get one of the WC spots, but their messy hodgepodge of aging out of position acquisitions does not provide a building block for future greatness.
Not at all.
“but their messy hodgepodge of aging out of position acquisitions does not provide a building block for future greatness.”
Who are you referring to with “aging out of position acquisitions”? Polanco is the only one who fits that bill. Bichette and Robert aren’t old. Semien is playing in position.
And none of them are supposed to be a “building block for future greatness”. They’re there for 2026. Semien has the longest deal at three years and Bichette will probably opt out after one or two years. Polanco – two years. Robert is a FA after 2026. They’ve set themselves up to compete in 2026 and the only prospects of value they spent to do so were to get an ace. The “building blocks of future greatness” are their young players, at the majors or high minors (Benge, McLean, Tong, Christian Scott, Ewing, Clifford, Reimer, Wenninger, Watson, etc).
RCT
That is mostly fair.
Mets have put themselves in position to compete, at least for a wild card, in 2026. Semien, Bichette and Robert just seem old and/or oft-injured as a group.
Most of their new acquisitions will be gone in three years leaving an opportunity to build a very good team around 2029 with youngsters and totally new free agents.
That is a lot to spend for something that will be torn down in a couple years, but I do think you have that hodgepodge that best defense that can be given.
MLB top 500 commenter: Explain to us how Bichette and Robert are aging.
Joel
Well we are all “aging”. 😉
Yeah, they are oft-injured not old, I will agree.
The bullpen can use one more elite reliever. We could use another Ace but I wouldn’t expect a move like that to be made until the trade deadline. One of Peterson or Senga will be gone before the offseason ends. I also believe that Vientos is going to be traded as well
Mets would be crazy to trade Peterson that need a bottom of the rotation guy and he is it.
Not sure who would agree to trade for Senga. I sure don’t know if Senga will be an ace or out of baseball in 6 months but neither would surprise me.
I would not be surprised if they trade Vientos or Baty, and even as the better hitter Vientos makes more sense to trade as the Mets already have enough weak fielding infielders playing out of position.
Senga can be obtained for 2 or 3 minor leaguers. Remember, Texas gave up 5 prospects to get MacKenzie Gore.
MLB Top 100: always even-keeled, fair minded, enjoy your contributions
Why would they trade Peterson or Senga when McLean will be innings limited, Holmes is on the second year of starting and Manea might have lingering elbow effects?
The depth is what will help them. Having 6 good to great options, then Tong, Christian Scott and Tobias Myers is a good depth chart.
I think Stearns would be stupid to trade from this depth (or Baty for that matter). Vientos I became less of a fan of last year, but they don’t need to add anything at the ML level because it clogs optionable slots.
I can’t imagine a trade for Chandler that would have been interesting to the Pirates based on their needs. Ashcraft maybe could be moved but it’d need to be Baty and someone else. Don’t think that’s likely at all.
Sandlot
A trade for Chandler, maybe Benge, and Mauricio and Baty. Maybe not.
Pirates probably won’t move anyone else from the rotation I would think. I mean if someone wants to overpay for Keller or Harrington I’m for it but no one is getting Bubba or Ashcraft.
Keller is going nowhere right now. He eats innings and with a young rotation that is on innings restriction (around 5 innings per game), an innings eater in the rotation helps to not over exert the pen. Ashcraft, Chandler, Barco, Harrington, and/or Jones will only see a lineup twice through before being pulled. Keller is the only true bonafide 6-7 innings pitcher. Skenes is still in development and may see 6-7 innings per game as well. These other rookies or young pitcher will have a shorter leash until they prove they can the brass otherwise. Chandler might be the closest one to see 7 innings per game in the near future of the young core. Jones won’t be back until maybe June or July. By then, he could be a bullpen arm for remainder of the season.
When Cease signed early and Suarez not long after, it seemed like agents and pitchers had learned that holding out until the start of ST doesn’t work well. Time after time we see these guys get injured and have have bad years – but unfortunately Gallen and Valdez seem to be waiting until the bitter end. I think teams should decide by 1/31 and if these guys don’t sign – move on. I know this won’t happen but the alternative fails every time.
I am not sure Gallen had a choice since I doubt he was many teams Plan A. He will be signed in a week or so, I am guessing.
Love how this article has a photo of Skenes, to make reader’s think the Mets had trade discussions involving him.
Pursuits as in romantic or hobbies? The Mets system take up water painting or needlepoint
Encouraging takeaway for NYM fans is that many of these pursuits were unknown to media. Stearns FA is stealth so more can be in motion even now
Funny how the naysayers are out in force…
I am not going to repeat what I have said on other posts about a smear campaign of Lindor and the other reasons the core was shuttled out.
I am going to say that despite my angst at sending out Sproat and Jett, and surprised a slight bit by Bichette pivot, the Mets are a different and likely better team.
Rotation is UNQUESTIONABLY better
Bullpen is deeper (Williams, Weaver, Raley, Minter, Myers, Garcia is depth). Díaz is the only one I’ll miss of those sent out.
Up the middle defense (and possibly offense) is UNQUESTIONABLY better.
I have a decent amount of confidence that Bichette will be okay at third and Polanco will be decent to good at first.
The lineup is DEEPER and more balanced. Situational hitting should be much improved.
Lindor
Soto
Bichette
Polanco
Vientos/Baty (Baty at 2nd/3rd to give rest)
Semien
Robert
Alvarez
Benge/Taylor
Is a deeper lineup. And likely speedier.
Lindor SS McLean
Arraez DH Peralta
Soto RF Ashcraft(?)
Bichette 3B Tong
Polanco 1B Senga/Peterson
Robert CF
Alvarez C Manaea
Benge LF Holmes
Semien 2B Megill or forgetting someone?
Still need another starter (Ashcraft?), DH Arraez, couple relievers. Clean house: Taylor Baty Vientos et al. VERY sorry to see Pete Diaz JETT go.
Arraez is absolute junk. He cannot play any position, has zero power, got badly concussed last season, slower than a snail and doesnt have the make up for a DH. No thanks.
Also doesn’t draw walks.
I see this winter as a win for Stearns and Mets.
In one winter we removed aging players on souring contracts and added tons of overall roster mobility incl mercs and players with big upside potential, got a top 15 SP, got an elite closer, got a great setup man, improved CF offense and defense, added a top hitter, added gold glove 2b and got rid of the rot that made 2025 one of the least enjoyable seasons to watch.
There is a nonzero chance this team is worse off than they were in September
Mets: I’m optimistic but I think you’re being very rosy. 125 rbis took 95 south to Baltimore. Diaz is a major loss. Williams used to be an elite closer and we hope he can do it again. We did not improve CF offense, If Robert recaptures his past, we’ll have hit the jackpot but that remains to be seen.
Id love Pete on a 3 year but 5? No thanks. I wouldn’t want to watch Pete take up a very valuable roster spot for the last 2 or 3 seasons when he’s barely able to contribute to the defensive half of the game as it is.
In a world where wedon’t have Soto id be way more inclined to shift Pete to full time DH for the last few years but we have that pre-allocated already
Williams is still elite, you have to go deeper than ERA. Id prefer Williams with his pitch mix over a guy who is very dependent on velo and drops a mph per year over the next 3 years, especially @ $6M less per year.
Robert doesn’t have to produce anything more than he did in 2025 to be a successful trade, his defense alone will provide enough to be a positive addition. Any offense on top of that is just gravy.
metschmets: you’re overplaying your hand about center field. The Mets already have an excellent glove no hit center fielder in Taylor. If Robert doesn’t hit, he’s not much of a positive addition.
Joel
You can diminish the difference between a 4 OAA and 7 OAA player if you want to but I’m not: Robert is a better defender end of story.
Also can you not make the distinction between someone with 92% bat speed and hit 38 hrs in 2023 vs someone who has never hit more than 17 and has a lower slash line across the board? They’re both “No hit” in your eyes?
That’s not what “overplaying your hand” means. I’m an independent observer and my opinions don’t impact the results, nor is this a card game.
Schmets!: Oy. “overplaying your hand” is a little idiom with a clear meaning; we know it’s not a card game. Whether your opinions impact results or not and your independence or lack of independence don’t have any bearing on whether your assessment of Robert’s value is accurate or not. Do you really think statcast is the holy source of all truth? Did you watch Taylor play? Bat speed? How about actual performance? Mauricio’s got excellent bat speed. Don’t hold your breath until he becomes a good hitter. If Robert can turn back the clock, I’ll be as glad as anybody.
Joel
Thanks for letting me know it’s an idiom, now let’s learn it’s meaning: (A) an overconfidence or overestimation of abilities THAT RESULTS IN a negative outcome or (B) card game.
A – nothing I’m confident in or overestimating could possibly impact the New York Mets professional baseball team. We are separate entities. I am an independent observer, I have no impact on THE RESULTS of the 2026 season.
B – we’ve agreed this is not a card game, glad we’re on the same page there at least
Overplaying your hand does not apply here, you’ve used it in an incorrect context.
Mauricio is not a home run hitter so I dk why you’re bringing up his bat speed. He’s not even hit 100 hrs professionally and he’s been w the Mets for the better part of the last decade. Also he’s gonna strike out 250 times a year lol why did you even mention him.
Brother MetsSchmets: The negative outcome is simply your inaccurate assessment of Robert’s value. The reference to Mauricio is made to temper your enthusiasm for the importance of the bat speed metric.
“Luis Robert won’t hit well because Ronny Mauricio doesn’t” isn’t that convincing of an argument
You’re not listening
RBIs are a team stat. Pete was good, but he also takes away with his defense. It doesn’t matter now. Wish him the best, he wanted to be paid, now he has the contract he wanted.
Jdaw: I think I remember you, the rbi-hater. Since it’s a team stat and we already tally runs scored for each team, would you be in favor of no longer collecting this obviously useless statistic?
Not an RBI hater at all and I am new to the forums on MLbTR. And I have not yet discussed RBIs on here! Haha.
Just saying it doesn’t take into account everything.
I liked Pete, but I think they will be fine and productive in the collective.
Well he has a 933 career OPS (more SLG driven) w RISP, thats why he consistently drives in 100+.
Jdaw: in that case, you’ve got an ardent co-thinker in these pages on the rbi issue. I’m a throwback: I even think runs scored is an excellent indicator of a player’s value, imagine that!
Nope. I’m an independent thinker. I don’t mind RBIs as a stat, so long as other factors are taken as well. Homers are also a limited stat, as well as LOB with 0,1,2 outs, etc…
I think he had a great year last year. I think that he and Boras wore out Pete’s welcome with Cohen. I don’t think Pete is a bad guy but he wanted to be paid, so I hope he does well in Baltimore.
That said, this is a more balanced approach team, where singles and doubles matter as much as the homers in critical situations. That’s where the Mets failed last year.
And their right side defense and LF made pitchers work harder (especially Peterson), leading to their collapse.
I like the make-up of the new team. Though I wish they still had Jett and Sproat as well.
Ok. The new team is something of a defensive mess but it may turn out ok. As I’ve posted before, we won’t know if we won the Peralta trade for a couple of years. Both Jett and Sproat may turn out to be good major leaguers.
I don’t think the defense will be a mess at all. I am predicting both Bichette and Polanco will be league average or slightly better. And that Soto will be in the slightly below average this year.
And if Bichette has trouble, Baty steps in and Bichette moves to 1b/DH.
Joel
It’s funny we disagree so much but are both optimistic
Of the new additions they put the bat-first players at EASIER POSITIONS than they played previously and added 2 gold glovers at premium positions up the middle, all while getting rid of our two WORST defenders.
It’s going to be a better team defensively.
Pete sucks. He had Soto in front of him last year. He doesn’t have that anymore
Yes, a 30+ HR, 100+ RBI guy, consistently, year in and year out sucks! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. No more Soto = no problem. Now he’s got the young, hungry kids in Baltimore to set the table so he can continue his 30/100 ways!
Sotobaggins: Come on, tell us what you really think. Try this: “Alonso is a worthless loser”. “Alonso isn’t worth a bag of balls”. “Alonso’s contract with Baltimore will go down as the worst contract in the history of baseball”. “My grandmother could field first better than Alonso”.
He’ll be fine. Orioles will be a good fit for him.
It was time for him to go, but no need to downplay what he DID bring to the table.
He does not “suck”. He just needs to move to DH and he didn’t fit Stearn’s plans or Cohen’s patience quotient.
Chris Davis will go down as the worst of all time and in Baltimore.
Pete is not that good. He is overrated. Thats it. He could have stayed in NY with that extension in 2023. He chose not to. He did not want to be in NY. Which is good because he won nothing here.
Soto
Pete will benefit from the smaller park too. If he stays off that slider away he’ll walk a ton but his Baltimore career could also be like an extended 2024 tho too…. I wish him luck but definitely glad his 5 year deal isn’t on our books
I agree Schmets
Hes also in one of the hardest divisions in baseball, if not the hardest. A lot of great pitching in the AL east. He is going to have to acclimate fast
I like Ashcraft. He’s a sleeper IMO.
Front end? As great as he’s been in Milwaukee he’s a guy that rarely goes more than 5 innings and who can’t throw pitches by guys. Which is the kind of pitcher you don’t want as an ace. You need a guy who regularly goes 6 or 7 and can give you 7 plus when your pen has been taxed. And in the post season(the Mets always choke and collapse come September anyway so I guess it’s a moot point)you want a guy that can give you strikeouts rather than a soft throwing contact pitcher. And one year for that package?! Insane.
“rarely goes more than 5 innings”
It can’t be too rare if he averages more than 5 innings per start
“Which is the kind of pitcher you don’t want as an ace”
He pitches 30 starts, 50-180 innings total and 200 strikeouts per season so what the hell are you talking about?
“the Mets always choke and collapse come September anyway so I guess it’s a moot point”
Oh, you’re being disingenuous because you’re unhappy or just bored … only boring people are bored
“you want a guy that can give you strikeouts rather than a soft throwing contact pitcher”
You became more incoherent with each sentence
Peralta “Can’t throw pitches by guys” ??!! Seriously? He averages over 10K per 9! You’re obviously misinformed. Most MLB teams would love to have Peralta in their rotation. This was a foolish move and not a good trade for MKE.
Paddy: So…the Mets didn’t give up too much for the soft-throwing mediocrity named Peralta, Nope…it was INSANE! You win the award for hyperbole of the day on this blog. Congrats!
One more SP for the Mets—one of those young Pirates. How about DH/SUPERsub Arraez? Couple more relievers—would love to see Tong in the rotation or spend a year in the ‘pen, but definitely on the team.
They have no room on the roster for guys who cannot be optioned. No on Arraez.
The starting staff is already excellent. I fully expect Peterson, Manea and Senga to be closer to their peaks in 2024/25 than their valleys in 2025.
I disagree with your optimism on Maneaa and Senga is a roll of the dice between being very good or out of the game.
Most people disagree with me on those two. And Peterson.
Manea’s metrics were better than the results, Senga’s injury never allowed him to get his mechanical self right and Peterson just ran out of gas and the fielding behind him impacted his numbers a bit.
I see senga and manaea bouncing back
Manaea has a track record going way back pitching elite for the A’s. He has always bounced back because he is a damn good pitcher. I don’t know why people give up on him.
I like where the Mets are, I just don’t think it has much to do with Stearns.
One of the best farm systems in baseball was put together by Stearns’ predecessors. That is primarily what is exciting about this team.
Signing Soto and Bichette was enabled entirely by Cohen, not some strategy from Stearns. His deft of hand to date was in taking flyers on Severino and Manaea, enabling the ‘24 playoff run.
I don’t mind losing some of the old guard and a few prospects, but if he keeps trading prospects I will be joining the Fire Stearns mafia.
He is notoriously stingy trading prospects. He just weighed it out with Peralta and as much as it gave me agita, it was a price that he was willing to pay.
Sproat was jammed in between McLean/Tong, then Santucci, Wenninger, Thornton and Gordon below him (and more after that). And they got Tobias Myers who is not that much less controllable than Sproat.
Williams also makes me cry, but he is duplicated by Ewing and Benge a bit, and blocked at 2nd and short for the foreseeable future.
So I can see why he jumped this time. Detroit was asking for Tong, Sproat, Williams, Reimer and Benge for Skubal. Nats were asking similar for Gore. From what I understand, Pirates wanted Baty and Tong for Keller.
No one is saying fire him, at least anymore. Cohen really only chimes in if its stupid money, otherwise Stearns is doing his thing. If we get back great players then we will be fine in trading prospects.
Not really. I think this trade was fine for the reasons Jdaw mentioned, but it’s not sustainable especially for rentals. Remember when we sent PCA to Chicago for Javy Baez? Look at the Yankees. They’re constantly acquiring veterans to fill positions because they trade prospects and don’t develop them well; that’s why their team is anemic. The Mets don’t have the Japanese pipeline, they need to develop talent.
Mets still looking for cheaper starting pitching? How about Kris Bubic?
Bubic will not be cheap. Plus he had shoulder issues at the end of the year. If they hadn’t gotten Peralta I would say not a bad target, but at this point, stand pat.
Peralta, McLean, Manea, Senga, Holmes (Peterson) is going to be SO much better than people think.
Love my Mets. Despise and sometimes respect the Yanks.
Man I wish I was a fly on the wall in that Mets-Pirates talk. Could have been very interesting
May not agree with every single thing but there are some smart mlbtr voices on here who love their team and I love seeing it. I would rather read smart incisive comments over the regular snarky low IQ troll fare any day, of course.
East is going to be interesting
When “and” begins the sentence, there shouldn’t be a comma after it.