Has all the trust and faith now gone in David Stearns?

The Mets lose another key player and franchise icon. David Stearns must now deliver on his plan in order to win back fans...

Charles Wenzelberg - NY Post

What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• 1B Pete Alonso agreed to a five-year, $155 million contract to join the Baltimore Orioles, ending his long association with the Mets (Story)

• The Mets never made a formal offer to Alonso and were not comfortable going to the lengths and figures that he ended up getting with Baltimore (MLB.com)

• The Mets have reached out to the Cardinals about 1B Willson Contreras (MLB.com)

• The Mets also hold some interest in Cardinals OF Lars Nootbaar as the remaking of this roster continues to take place (The Athletic)

• The Mets, among other big market teams, have checked in on marquee free agent OF Kyle Tucker (NY Post)

• The Mets are one of many teams who appear to have interest in RHP Freddy Peralta, although it is unclear if they would be willing to meet the Brewers’ asking price (The Athletic)

• The Mets are among a bunch of teams who have checked in with the Rockies about CF Brenton Doyle (7News Boston)

• New York is also showing interest in a reunion with RHP Tyler Rogers (NY Post)

• The Mets did not lose or select any players in this year’s Rule 5 Draft

“I totally understand the fans’ reaction. There is lots of offseason left to put a playoff team on the field.”

~ Steve Cohen, via the New York Post

Wednesday’s Rumors from the Winter Meetings 🔎

• RHP Joey Gallo is drawing interest from several teams (NY Post)

• The Rays are “increasingly likely” to trade 2B Brandon Lowe in the coming days (MLB Network)

• The Red Sox are showing interest in a slew of infielders, with 3B Eugenio Suárez being the latest (NY Post)

• The Royals have shown some interest in Dodgers OF Teoscar Hernandez (The Athletic)

• The Twins have checked in on free agent 1B Rhys Hoskins, Ryan O’Hearn, and Josh Bell (The Athletic)

• The Yankees and Astros are among a slew of teams to have reached out to the Brewers about RHP Freddy Peralta (The Athletic)

• The Orioles remain engaged on top free agent starters, and are showing ongoing interest in LHP Ranger Suárez (Baltimore Banner)

• The Orioles have also held talks with free agent LHP Framber Valdez (MLB Network)

Earlier Rumors 🔍

• The Pirates are among the teams to have checked in with the Rays about 2B Brandon Lowe (MLB Network)

• The Braves explored price points for RHP Edwin Díaz before he ultimately signed with the Dodgers (The Athletic)

• The Reds are considering trades for Diamondbacks 2B Ketel Marte, and Rays 2B Brandon Lowe (The Athletic)

• The Blue Jays are still being active as they continue to seek pitching help (The Athletic)

• The Pirates remain open to trading another starter for offensive help, with their preference being to move RHP Mitch Keller (The Athletic)

• Brewers RHP Nick Mears is generating some trade interest from teams (The Athletic)

• Looking for bullpen help, the Red Sox have checked in on RHP Seranthony Domínguez (MassLive)

• The Giants are showing interest in RHP Michael Kopech (San Francisco Chronicle)

• The Red Sox are keen on reuniting with former prospect C Kyle Teel, who is now with the White Sox (MassLive)

• The Rangers don’t appear to be motivated to move SS Corey Seager, and haven’t had any meaningful talks with teams over the five-time All-Star (Dallas Morning News)

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Winter Meetings Livestream 🚨

Rich MacLeod & Andrew Claudio got together every day during the Winter Meetings to react to the day’s rumors, signings, and trades, as well as responding to your comments in the live chat. You can now catch up on all the streams on our YouTube channel.

Watch Wednesday's livestream here.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE JUST METS PODCAST: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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Winter Meetings Reading 📖

• Just Mets Free Agency Guide 💰 (MacLeod)

• If the Mets want to be like the Dodgers, they need to act like the Dodgers (Baron)

• Bullpen upgrade options 💰 (Van Buskirk)

• Outfield trade targets 💰 (Van Buskirk)

• The Mets top free agent starting pitching target (Mears)

• The wide net the Mets are casting for their rotation (Baron)

• The Mets have another ace on their radar (Surovich)

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Pragmatism is needed, but David Stearns has a lot to prove with a bullseye on his head ✍️

Robert Sabo - NY Post

Trust isn’t something that is just given out for free. It is a valuable commodity that needs to be earned.

That’s the reality facing Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns right now in the wake of just a miserable Winter Meetings for the Mets.

Sure, there is no doubt that Stearns has a concrete plan in place for this ballclub for 2026 and beyond. But, honestly, nobody seems to know what the plan is except that we only saw a daily dismantling of the team from the middle out and Stearns and club owner Steve Cohen basically say “there’s a lot of off-season left. Nothing to see here!”

After the events of the past couple of days, Mets fans have every right to be very dubious of Stearns and whatever he’s working on.

As we stressed immediately after Brandon Nimmo was traded to the Rangers for Marcus Semien, you can’t judge or overreact to one trade in a vacuum. You have to wait until all the other ingredients have been dropped into the pot before you can really evaluate fairly how the stew tastes.

With that in mind, pragmatism is needed today more than ever with a lot of offseason still to go and a lot of talented players still available via free agency and the trade market.

Of course, it would be foolish to truly overreact today and go on a fury-induced rant when we don’t yet have a clear idea of the full picture for the 2026 season. Stearns needs time to fully execute whatever plan he is currently working on.

However, with that said, I’m a firm believer in two things can be right at the same time and, as much as I believe the above to be true, I also firmly believe that Mets fans have every right in the world to be upset and angry today.

They are also well within their rights to be out on Stearns and have no faith in the baseball executive’s ability to put a playoff-caliber team on the field in 2026. Yes, it’s ok to be emotional about what has transpired - hell, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez reacted as such themselves on their TV spots on SNY on Wednesday night. It’s ok to be asking questions and legit wonder if this team will be able to contend in 2026.

I mean, there is already enough evidence out there to suggest that maybe Stearns is playing and thinking a different game than everybody else. While the Mets have reportedly checked in on marquee free agent Kyle Tucker, along with some of the other top talents available such as Cody Bellinger, all of the noise indicates that the front office is going to be disciplined and maybe look to strengthen the team through trades rather than splash out on flashy free agent additions. Reading between the lines, it seems unlikely that we’re going to see Tucker, Bellinger, Framber Valdez, or any other big-name talent playing in a Mets uniform in Queens next year.

Instead, it seems much more likely that Stearns is interested in trading for more low-profile players. For instance, the Mets were linked with Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle on Wednesday, along with Cardinals duo Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar. Now, no disrespect to any of those players, but are you telling me that Stearns’ plan is to really go out and acquire a bunch of solid but not great players? Is that really going to be the response to what happened last year?

Have we forgotten that this team - with Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Edwin Díaz - won just 83 games and missed the playoffs in 2025?

Am I really meant to believe that the 2026 Mets with the Doyles, Contreras’, and Nootbaars of the world and no Alonso or Díaz are a better team than last year? Am I really meant to be convinced that that is a team that can atone for the mistakes of 2025 and make the playoffs?

Forgive me for not being so sure.

Again, we have no idea what Stearns is exactly planning on cooking right now, but fans will need something a lot more substantial than what has been outlined above in order to actually have any faith in Stearns and this team going forward.

And, if trading for the likes of Contreras, Nootbaar, and Doyle is indeed the plan, then that will make the events of the last couple of days even more inexcusable.

Now, I feel the need to preface what I’m about to say with the fact that I’m aware I have in the past advocated for the core to be broken up. And I do stand by that sentiment. The heart of this team underachieved for years and really had no kick coming after last year’s debacle. With that said, though, you can’t blow up the core of the team and not have better replacements in place.

That’s called a rebuild, not improving and looking to rebound.

Robert Sabo - NY Post

You can’t convince me that the Mets will be a better team in 2026 with Contreras at first base over Alonso, or, God forbid, a platoon of Mark Vientos and Jeff McNeil at first instead of Alonso.

I’m sorry, but you just can’t.

And the fact that the Mets didn’t even make an offer to Alonso a day after missing out on Kyle Schwarber thanks to a low ball offer for him just intensifies the scrutiny currently engulfing Stearns.

As does the fact that the Mets didn’t seem to be all that interested in going all out to convince Edwin Díaz - the best closer in baseball - to stay. You can go on all day about Díaz giving the Mets no chance because he wanted to leave and join the Dodgers, but that’s just folly. As was the case with Alonso, this front office clearly had no interest in going above and beyond for a player who has done nothing but deliver in Queens.

And that’s a problem.

You also can’t blame either Alonso or Díaz for walking given the lack of love they were getting from the Mets.

It is important to take semantics into consideration too. Stearns let the best closer in baseball walk and join the team in their way of getting to the World Series for a matter of a few extra million dollars. He then didn’t even try to keep Alonso - who became the team’s all-time home run leader last year, by the way - despite the slugger’s years of loyal service to the franchise.

What message does that send to other players about how the Mets view loyalty?

Now both Díaz and Alonso are gone, we’re back to the plan. How can this bullpen be better without Díaz? For anyone who watched any Yankees games last year - and I watched quite a few - are we really meant to be convinced that Devin Williams will do a better job as the Mets closer than Díaz did? If you do believe that, then I’ve got a very large casino in Queens to build and then sell to you. And who will offer Juan Soto protection in the lineup with Alonso out of the picture? And, with Schwarber off the board, who do the Mets turn to for power? Even if the Mets do go big-bear hunting and sign one of Tucker or Bellinger, neither player is particularly renowned for hitting a lot of home runs. Not at Alonso’s levels, anyway. So now this team has even more holes to fill the rest of this offseason.

So, again, we need to see exactly what the plan is, and fans will also need to see several tangible moves before buying in again.

You can’t discount the emotional impact on fans of just letting franchise favorites walk either, and it would be unfair of ownership and the front office to expect fans to be excited for what’s ahead after suffering through two incredibly painful days. Especially if what’s ahead involves not going after any big free agent and instead looking to “improve” on the margins.

You also have to take into account Stearns’ overall track record over the last year or so. He’s currently on an all-time losing streak and has made a slew of awful decisions over the past 13 months, including whiffing on almost every move he made at last year’s Trade Deadline outside of Tyler Rogers. And fans are now supposed to have total faith in this guy to retool the roster and construct a World Series-caliber team?

All in all, it is important to see how the rest of this offseason unfolds before we collectively press the panic button and declare the Titanic is sinking. But, it is also perfectly okay to proceed with extreme trepidation and a distinct lack of trust in the organization after an emotionally draining start to the winter.

Again, two things can be true at the same time.

Stearns may have a plan, but now he is under tremendous pressure to deliver on that plan and prove to fans he’s the guy to help bring a championship to Queens.

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Around the League 🚩

• OF Mike Yastrzemski and the Braves are reportedly in agreement on a two-year, $23 million deal that includes a third-year club option (ESPN)

• The Red Sox acquired RHP Ryan Watson from the A’s in exchange for minor league INF/OF Justin Riemer

• The Rockies selected Rays RHP prospect RJ Petit with the first pick in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft

• Broadcaster Joe Buck won the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence (Baseball Hall of Fame)