Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns spoke with reporters at Citi Field in his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday and said the following:
The Mets are eager to build off of 2024, and establish a model of sustained success going forward
He views Pete Alonso as a great Met, and hopes to retain him long term. He expects Alonso to go out to the market and see what’s out there
He called Alonso a, “foundational piece” for the organization
Who Alonso is as a person is important, what he means to the franchise is important, but how his game is expected to age is also a factor in the decision making
Alonso and Stearns have never spoken about the contract situation face to face - Stearns believes those conversations are best left with the agent
Regarding the possibility of Mark Vientos shifting to first base, they are not ready to comment on that possibility. They are happy with how Vientos played third base this past season
He is not eager to hire a general manager - he is pleased with the performance of his leadership team and front office. He doesn’t expect to entertain a search process for a GM
They will go through an organizational evaluation process right now, but is pleased with the performance of the major league coaching staff
It’s possible some of the starting pitchers from 2024 will return, but he expects to be in the market for starting pitching this winter, labeling it as a, “priority” this winter
He would not commit to José Buttó, David Peterson or Tylor Megill being members of their starting rotation
Ronny Mauricio - who tore his ACL in winter ball last year - needs to begin baseball activities. His recovery process has been slower than expected. They don’t know how he fits into the 2025 roster at this time
“The entirety of the player universe is potentially accessible to us,” Stearns said regarding the Mets financial flexibility this winter. He expects the Mets to spend a good portion of that flexibility but not do anything that hamstrings the team in future years
He expects them to be “active” in free agency but can’t commit to a payroll number right now, and will also explore the trade market as well
They would love to bring Sean Manaea back next year, and they expect to, “stay in touch” with Jesse Winker as well
Regarding investing long-term in a starting pitcher, he is aware of the low degree of success with those contracts. But there could be exceptions where they will invest long-term in a starting pitcher
They’re open to exploring long-term deals with their pre-arbitration eligible players, but warned it requires mutual interest
They don’t know where and how Brett Baty fits into the roster next season
He is pleased with the progress of the farm system, although the amount of development didn’t go as anticipated due to injuries among their position player prospects. Blade Tidwell moving to Triple-A was a big advancement in the minor leagues, as was Nolan McLean’s forward progress
Francisco Lindor said he feels mostly normal after his late-season back injury, and Brandon Nimmo was also moving well by the end of the NLCS
Dedniel Núñez is progressing well from his elbow injury. They hope to have him throw off a mound in November. If that goes well, he will have a normal off-season
He feels Mets manager Carlos Mendoza did a “tremendous job” in 2024
Kodai Senga will experience a normal off-season - he is completely healthy at this time
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