Carlos Beltrán, Billy Wagner inching closer to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Plus, even if it seems remote now, the Mets and Pete Alonso still make way too much sense...

What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• The BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot for the class of 2025 will be announced tonight on MLB Network, with both Carlos Beltrán (80.6%) and Billy Wagner (84.8%) trending close to the required 75% for election into the Hall of Fame (BBHOF Tracker)

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It still just makes WAY too much sense… ✍️

These are cold, snowy and quiet times on the baseball calendar. The free agent market has moved far slower than anyone believed following Juan Soto’s deal with the Mets six weeks ago. There are still 150 or so major league free agents available with three weeks until pitchers and catchers begin descending upon Florida and Arizona, and of course the Mets have a lot of work to do to find power, to find relief help, and to find overall depth.

I still can’t wrap my head around this Pete Alonso situation, except of course if David Stearns really doesn’t want to bring him back. But let’s just say that’s true - what is the power and protection alternative for Juan Soto at this point? You know, the part which was sort of promised when he signed?

It sure doesn’t sound like it’s Alex Bregman, which would be the next logical move and probably the better transactional move for this franchise. That would strengthen the roster at a more premium position, it would conceivably hide Mark Vientos’ main weakness although it would bury his primary defensive asset by going to first base, and it would at least be explainable as part of this franchise’s road map to get a little more athletic long-term (even though Bregman is on the wrong side of 30).

But again, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

I just can’t buy or buy into this public sale of Brett Baty/Ronny Mauricio/Luisangel Acuña tryout at third base with Mark Vientos going to first and the Mets essentially handing the job to Jeff McNeil and an array of depth players, especially after the Mets felt it wise to keep McNeil because of his versatility (which I agree with, by the way). That’s three infield positions with massive question marks and almost zero certainty to last an extended period of time into the season.

It would make no sense for a team and an owner aspiring to be the east’s version of the Dodgers to have an infield resembling that of the 2011 Mets on paper.

It’s why I have to believe that as long as Alonso is unsigned, especially after the Blue Jays seemingly opted for Anthony Santander, there is common ground to be had between the two sides. This hasn’t been pretty between Alonso and the Mets over the course of the winter, and I am not sure if there are too many sour grapes for Alonso to digest at this point to come back at all, but the fit is absurdly obvious, it cancels out that ridiculous notion they would go into camp with three infield positions completely up in the air, and it just makes the Mets better and quite possibly the player better if they can somehow figure this out.

I know I keep saying the same thing over and over again about this subject. We all do. But even if there is seemingly no movement on this front, I have to believe the most logical outcome is still available for both sides emotionally, if that makes sense. They can sift through the aggravation and repair any potential issues that might’ve transpired during this negotiation and come back to one another. There’s really nowhere else for either side to go if you ask me.

If the Mets want to be the team to beat in the National League East, get back to the playoffs and take the next step, they’re fooling themselves if they think they can do it without Alonso or an equivalent offensive weapon. And if Alonso wants even a chance to extend his career to the point he clearly wishes to, that opportunity might only come if he takes what the Mets are offering and takes another chance on himself.

Once things simmer down, let’s see how the chips fall. As long as Alonso remains unsigned, the door won’t be closed, either…

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Around the League 🚩

• The Blue Jays signed OF Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92.5 million contract (official)

• Former Met LHP Alex Young went to the Reds on a minor league contract (New York Post)

• Former Met LHP Chasen Shreve went to the Braves on a minor league contract (New York Post)

• Former Met LHP Joey Lucchesi went to the Giants on a minor league contract (New York Post)