I think there's something far worse going on with the entire organization that we don't fully know about. We've heard about the clubhouse problems, but I have a feeling that the problems go much deeper than that. Nimmo (a life-long Met) didn't seem to need much convincing to waive his no-trade agreement. Diaz bolted without waiting for a counter-offer. Alonso left before even getting an offer. Other FA are watching what is happening in Queens and players talk. What top FA that still on the board is going to want to come here after watching this circus??
And as for Stearns trying to get us to believe he has a plan...isn't this the same BS we got from him during the second half of last season? He sat there calmly sipping his water while Rome burned. So no, he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me right now.
Yes, regarding 'The Plan' & yes on what is really going on? Our players are fleeing and how is that a good look to good players who may want to come to Mets.?
I think 90% of what free agents consider is money. How much and for how long. Of course Alonso got an offer, but it wasn't for 4 or 5 years. When the bidding got that high, Stearns bowed out. Time will tell.
My issue(s) with Stearns and Uncle Stevie is this: Why in the world would you give all of that money to Juan Soto in the first place? As much as I've criticized Soto, it makes NO sense to then let Alonso and Díaz leave. At least the Nimmo trade made sense. We got a gold glove defender at 2B. He and Lindor will be great up the middle, and I think Baty will continue to improve.
There are three holes in the field, no clear ace, and a good not great closer.
Speaking of the starters, while I believe in McClean, I worry about Sproat. He said that he wants to throw as hard as he can every time. Tommy John surgery anyone? Jonah Tong might be good for four seasons. Tong is a poorer version of Tim Lincecum. We all know Stearns is going to get a back of the end starter. Another reclamation project. Lightning in a bottle. Sound familiar? Look back at the Wilponzis regime.
Bullpen is unfinished. What if Tyler Rodgers sees this is says "Nah, I'm outta here"?
Stearns doesn't need to show us his plans, but he can be shown the door.
Tom Seaver (RIP), Jerry Koosman, John Franco, Carlos Beltrán, Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez ain't coming through the door to fill in those vacancies.
what you forget to discuss today is the pitching was the biggest issue...and until we see the plan for what the pitching looks like then nothing else matters. Loved Alonso but do we forget how may times he struck out in big situations or chased sliders out of the zone. Mets won nothing with this core and I for sure didn't want to pay these guys into their mid 30s. Also hindsight is 20/20 as all those relievers at the deadline had every prognosticator saying the Mets had the best bullpen in baseball so not sure that is Stearns fault that Hellsley and others stunk. Anyways just want a more balanced and less emotional response from writers and fans. Of course I am upset Pete is gone but didn't want him for that price. Let's see where the roster lands for opening day.
Remember who was Pete's agent. His only objective was to squeeze every dollar to be made., and certainly not what a fan base desires. Pete's gain is Boras's gain regardless of all other factors . They did him a favor last year by resigning him as there were no takers, and in retrospect should have let him walk last year. A lot of time left to put together a roster that will win more than a measly 83 games. If and when they win all will be forgotten . David Wrights are far and few between in the modern era of baseball.
you are making a lot of grand assumptions, also who cares about David Wright, he lost here for a decade and then physically could not play out his contract.
Not sure what was more frustrating, Alonso leaving (expected for 14 months) or Joe Buck winning the Ford Frick Award. Gary Cohen had a lousy day yesterday (and probably why SNY had both him and Keith booked for an availability in advance. )
I don't believe the blood letting is done if there is a serious plan that involves 2026, that plan has to include finding a similar swap to Nimmo-Semien, for Lindor.
Lindor is already 32, just like Nimmo, with another full year more than Nimmo. I'd have to think part of Stearns plan is to get all their under contract guys below age 29 if possible to align with Soto and lengthen this current window.
Lindor and a key prospect or two for a Fernando Tatis would fit this bill. The machinations of that deal would be dictated somewhat by what trouble are the Padres really in with the crazy ownership dispute. Obviously Preller still wants to win, near term Lindor helps that, but there would need to be more I would imagine or it could involve another deal he would make to fill RF.
I don't know about moving Lindor for Tatis — there may be another deal to be had with San Diego — but this, all day: "I'd have to think part of Stearns plan is to get all their under contract guys below age 29 if possible to align with Soto and lengthen this current window."
We'll have to wait and see what the Stearns Plan really looks like, but if I had to guess at what the central pillar is, that would be it.
There's another possibility: Stearns could be looking at it in terms of three-year free agent cycles, with the only constant being Soto. That's not to say he's going to flip the roster every three years. But he could be mapping it out that way.
Which would mean Cohen is putting a lot of faith in Stearns's ability to wheel and deal every season. It also runs the risk of making the team more faceless and mercenary, which would suck. We like to have our characters to latch onto. We're not the damn Yankees.
An interesting idea. Which makes me wonder who are the headline FAs next winter? Not including those whose teams have a club option, there is: Skubal, Sale, Peralta, Peterson, Holmes,. The position player market looks mighty thin.
From what we've seen, Stearns is loath to offer long-term big-money contracts to pitching. So, I don't know whether he'd be in on any of that.
I mean, maybe. It all would depend on circumstances, of course. If Skubal comes free and you have a chance of signing him at a number you can live with and a term you're comfortable with, you take it.
But as I mentioned over on Amazin' Avenue, this looks a heck of a lot like we're firmly into the Branch Rickey method now. Don't let your team grow old together. Better to lose a player a year too early than a year too late. Keep the kids coming.
I think Stearns and Cohen decided to break the bank on Soto and make him the centerpiece and then fill in the team around him. That magical run in 2024 meant giving it one more year with this core.
It started out well enough in 2025 before injuries and the loss of energy and momentum took their toll. Which shouldn't have come as a surprise, when I look back on it. You can only come from behind so many times before you run out of gas, and we did.
Sorry, Andrew, my hand is on the panic button. David Stearns, in his short stint in New York, has shown zero ability to 'play' in the Big Apple, and Cohen may be spending his time trying to get a casino built. The button hasn't been pushed, but it's getting close
I’m speechless today. As a lifelong fan of the New York Mets, the departure of Pete Alonso is a gut punch on par with the 1977 dumping of Tom Seaver, which I have never recovered from.
It calls into question why do people follow team sports? Why do they stake their identity on a group of people they don’t even know personally who are playing a game?
For me it really comes down to having a personal affinity for the players. And that affinity comes from watching the players come up in the system and following them until they become a star.
Alonso was drafted by the Mets in 2016 out of college. He spent 3 years in the Mets minor league system, hitting 36 home runs in his last season in the minors in 2018. Then he came up to the Mets and had one of the great rookie seasons in history belting an MLB rookie record 53 homers in 2019.
He became a fan favorite and this past season he became the Mets all-time franchise leader in home runs with 264.
My enjoyment in following the Mets derived from the affinity I have for players like Alonso. They feel like family to me.
I had the same feelings about the Mets players in the early 1970s when I was a kid. The core players were pretty much the same year in and year out. And even though I never met a single one personally, I felt like they were part of my family.
And that’s why I wrote the book, “The 1973 Mets - You’ve Got to Believe.” It’s a collection of stories from that magical year in which “My Mets” miraculously made it to the 7th game of the World Series.
It will take me a long time, if ever, to warm up to the Mets again. I don’t know the Mets players anymore. Just because a bunch of guys wear a uniform that has the Mets logo on it, doesn’t make me feel anything. I can’t simply be rooting for a team’s laundry as Jerry Seinfeld once joked.
I was born a year before the Mets, in Brooklyn. This is the second Midnight Massacre and as a kid I didn't understand how big the loss of Seaver was. This is worse, because I do. I'm done with the Mets. Go Orioles and Go Dodgers. Fuck Cohen, fuck Stearns, and fuck the Mets. Mets will never get another dime from me. No tickets, no merch, no concessions, no TV subscriptions. May Cohen and Stearns rot in Hell; those lowlife shucksters.
I always thought Gary Cohen was a real brainy guy. Now that he's pushing to sign Kyle Tucker, I like him even more. For me, the Diaz fiasco hurts. The Alonso loss is a judgement call and Stearns might be right. The Nimmo trade only makes sense if they sign a free agent outfielder. So I think the "circus" comment in an earlier post is overblown. About the Diaz scuttlebutt--and who knows how much of it is true--it's not his role to hire/fire pitching coaches and for him to be affronted that they signed Devin Williams is silly. Especially since Williams came out right away and said he doesn't mind pitching the 8th.
To add on to my previous comment, I think there will be a big trade, but not for some splashy aging superstar, but for a game ready top prospect at 1B like Bryce Eldridge.
No. Stop being such a princess. Be objective. You cannot grow and build a better team by paying aging players bloated contracts - can favorites or not.
Please enlighten us all as to how they are building a better team.
We can all agree that the contract madness in Pro Sports is nuts but that's the way the game is played now. Seriously, even the Baltimore Orioles thought Pete was worth a fiver.
You can also argue that losing three of your most productive players isn't exactly conducive to building a better team - particularly when the available market offers little in return.
Finally, who cares about fan favorites? Well, the fans do - the ones who paying $40 to park and need a refi mortgage to pay for seats. Diaz, Nimmo, and Alonso were arguably three of the most fan favorites on the squad.
What do we have to look forward to now?
Stearns' "plan", whatever it is, smacks like a certain political party's health care plan - just trust the process and in a decade or two you'll see it - or you'll just forget about it and move on with your life accepting the fact that you'll just live with the pain.
In the baseball analogy, that means a middling team - exciting at times, but never quite getting to the big show. Mets fans like myself are very familiar with that space.
First, I'm not a Baseball GM. David Stearns is widely recognized as one of the best. That's why I trust he has a plan. Period.
Second, The Baltimore Orioles believing Pete is worth 5 years and 150 million is NOT a validation that he is worth that much money. It means Baltimore has a worse GM that we do.
The Baltimore Orioles believing Pete is worth what they paid him is exactly validation of where the market was at. Of course any contract is a gamble, but the market is the market, Schwarber got 5 years to DH. It is what it is. You don't have to be too much of sleuth to see the plan here. They are going to operate like the Astros, which is fine, but there are not going to be serious efforts to go for it in 2026, if they can luck into like 2024, while decreasing their luxury tax threshold that is where it is headed. Otherwise it made ZERO sense to let both Diaz and Alonso walk. Trading Nimmo was an effort to take advantage of speeding up a contract expiration. Upside is they get a competitive player in the mix.
If Stearns can execute the next phase which should be finding a similar Nimmo-Semien swap for Lindor and then can turn a starting pitcher and Bo Bichette, perhaps I'd say they are serious about 2026, but right now they are gearing up for 2028, and if a couple of their kids can overachieve perhaps 2027. 2026 is a white flag of sorts to the competition in our own league is too good.
I am fine with him resetting the window, but to pretend they are going to do it all in one off season seems very unlikely.
Interesting comment. It'll be interesting to see what Alonso has in the tank 4 and 5 years from now. It's also got to be recognized that he was willing to go to a not very good team for the simple reason they offered the most dough. He's not an angel or saint.
What he has in the tank in years 4-5 is only meaningful compared to what he does for them in years 1-3, as is true for any player at his age and with his resume.
I understand the concept of accepting a diminished player in the later years of the contract. But let me argue from another angle. Suppose there was a team willing to give him 7 years for 190M. Should the Mets FO bite on that also? A great offensive player, home grown fan favorite. Does that mean we must outbid any and all offers?
The reality is the Baltimore Orioles and 5 years, and that is what I responded to. I did not suggest that the Mets should have matched the Baltimore offer or outbid it.
I think there's something far worse going on with the entire organization that we don't fully know about. We've heard about the clubhouse problems, but I have a feeling that the problems go much deeper than that. Nimmo (a life-long Met) didn't seem to need much convincing to waive his no-trade agreement. Diaz bolted without waiting for a counter-offer. Alonso left before even getting an offer. Other FA are watching what is happening in Queens and players talk. What top FA that still on the board is going to want to come here after watching this circus??
And as for Stearns trying to get us to believe he has a plan...isn't this the same BS we got from him during the second half of last season? He sat there calmly sipping his water while Rome burned. So no, he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me right now.
Yes, regarding 'The Plan' & yes on what is really going on? Our players are fleeing and how is that a good look to good players who may want to come to Mets.?
I think 90% of what free agents consider is money. How much and for how long. Of course Alonso got an offer, but it wasn't for 4 or 5 years. When the bidding got that high, Stearns bowed out. Time will tell.
My issue(s) with Stearns and Uncle Stevie is this: Why in the world would you give all of that money to Juan Soto in the first place? As much as I've criticized Soto, it makes NO sense to then let Alonso and Díaz leave. At least the Nimmo trade made sense. We got a gold glove defender at 2B. He and Lindor will be great up the middle, and I think Baty will continue to improve.
There are three holes in the field, no clear ace, and a good not great closer.
Speaking of the starters, while I believe in McClean, I worry about Sproat. He said that he wants to throw as hard as he can every time. Tommy John surgery anyone? Jonah Tong might be good for four seasons. Tong is a poorer version of Tim Lincecum. We all know Stearns is going to get a back of the end starter. Another reclamation project. Lightning in a bottle. Sound familiar? Look back at the Wilponzis regime.
Bullpen is unfinished. What if Tyler Rodgers sees this is says "Nah, I'm outta here"?
Stearns doesn't need to show us his plans, but he can be shown the door.
Tom Seaver (RIP), Jerry Koosman, John Franco, Carlos Beltrán, Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez ain't coming through the door to fill in those vacancies.
If Stearns hasn't revealed....'The plan'....then there is none. Or none he knows Mets fans will like. Reclamation projects look like what the plan is.
I agree. But the previous owners and management did the same to little to no avail. But why sign Juan Soto?
what you forget to discuss today is the pitching was the biggest issue...and until we see the plan for what the pitching looks like then nothing else matters. Loved Alonso but do we forget how may times he struck out in big situations or chased sliders out of the zone. Mets won nothing with this core and I for sure didn't want to pay these guys into their mid 30s. Also hindsight is 20/20 as all those relievers at the deadline had every prognosticator saying the Mets had the best bullpen in baseball so not sure that is Stearns fault that Hellsley and others stunk. Anyways just want a more balanced and less emotional response from writers and fans. Of course I am upset Pete is gone but didn't want him for that price. Let's see where the roster lands for opening day.
Remember who was Pete's agent. His only objective was to squeeze every dollar to be made., and certainly not what a fan base desires. Pete's gain is Boras's gain regardless of all other factors . They did him a favor last year by resigning him as there were no takers, and in retrospect should have let him walk last year. A lot of time left to put together a roster that will win more than a measly 83 games. If and when they win all will be forgotten . David Wrights are far and few between in the modern era of baseball.
you are making a lot of grand assumptions, also who cares about David Wright, he lost here for a decade and then physically could not play out his contract.
Not sure what was more frustrating, Alonso leaving (expected for 14 months) or Joe Buck winning the Ford Frick Award. Gary Cohen had a lousy day yesterday (and probably why SNY had both him and Keith booked for an availability in advance. )
I don't believe the blood letting is done if there is a serious plan that involves 2026, that plan has to include finding a similar swap to Nimmo-Semien, for Lindor.
Lindor is already 32, just like Nimmo, with another full year more than Nimmo. I'd have to think part of Stearns plan is to get all their under contract guys below age 29 if possible to align with Soto and lengthen this current window.
Lindor and a key prospect or two for a Fernando Tatis would fit this bill. The machinations of that deal would be dictated somewhat by what trouble are the Padres really in with the crazy ownership dispute. Obviously Preller still wants to win, near term Lindor helps that, but there would need to be more I would imagine or it could involve another deal he would make to fill RF.
I don't know about moving Lindor for Tatis — there may be another deal to be had with San Diego — but this, all day: "I'd have to think part of Stearns plan is to get all their under contract guys below age 29 if possible to align with Soto and lengthen this current window."
We'll have to wait and see what the Stearns Plan really looks like, but if I had to guess at what the central pillar is, that would be it.
I would hope it would be, because why trade Nimmo for an older 2B only to let Alonso walk, essentially creating two holes.
There's another possibility: Stearns could be looking at it in terms of three-year free agent cycles, with the only constant being Soto. That's not to say he's going to flip the roster every three years. But he could be mapping it out that way.
Which would mean Cohen is putting a lot of faith in Stearns's ability to wheel and deal every season. It also runs the risk of making the team more faceless and mercenary, which would suck. We like to have our characters to latch onto. We're not the damn Yankees.
An interesting idea. Which makes me wonder who are the headline FAs next winter? Not including those whose teams have a club option, there is: Skubal, Sale, Peralta, Peterson, Holmes,. The position player market looks mighty thin.
From what we've seen, Stearns is loath to offer long-term big-money contracts to pitching. So, I don't know whether he'd be in on any of that.
I mean, maybe. It all would depend on circumstances, of course. If Skubal comes free and you have a chance of signing him at a number you can live with and a term you're comfortable with, you take it.
But as I mentioned over on Amazin' Avenue, this looks a heck of a lot like we're firmly into the Branch Rickey method now. Don't let your team grow old together. Better to lose a player a year too early than a year too late. Keep the kids coming.
I think Stearns and Cohen decided to break the bank on Soto and make him the centerpiece and then fill in the team around him. That magical run in 2024 meant giving it one more year with this core.
It started out well enough in 2025 before injuries and the loss of energy and momentum took their toll. Which shouldn't have come as a surprise, when I look back on it. You can only come from behind so many times before you run out of gas, and we did.
Sorry, Andrew, my hand is on the panic button. David Stearns, in his short stint in New York, has shown zero ability to 'play' in the Big Apple, and Cohen may be spending his time trying to get a casino built. The button hasn't been pushed, but it's getting close
The Mets didn’t select any players in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft, but did draft several in the minor league rule 5 draft.
Yes
I’m speechless today. As a lifelong fan of the New York Mets, the departure of Pete Alonso is a gut punch on par with the 1977 dumping of Tom Seaver, which I have never recovered from.
It calls into question why do people follow team sports? Why do they stake their identity on a group of people they don’t even know personally who are playing a game?
For me it really comes down to having a personal affinity for the players. And that affinity comes from watching the players come up in the system and following them until they become a star.
Alonso was drafted by the Mets in 2016 out of college. He spent 3 years in the Mets minor league system, hitting 36 home runs in his last season in the minors in 2018. Then he came up to the Mets and had one of the great rookie seasons in history belting an MLB rookie record 53 homers in 2019.
He became a fan favorite and this past season he became the Mets all-time franchise leader in home runs with 264.
My enjoyment in following the Mets derived from the affinity I have for players like Alonso. They feel like family to me.
I had the same feelings about the Mets players in the early 1970s when I was a kid. The core players were pretty much the same year in and year out. And even though I never met a single one personally, I felt like they were part of my family.
And that’s why I wrote the book, “The 1973 Mets - You’ve Got to Believe.” It’s a collection of stories from that magical year in which “My Mets” miraculously made it to the 7th game of the World Series.
It will take me a long time, if ever, to warm up to the Mets again. I don’t know the Mets players anymore. Just because a bunch of guys wear a uniform that has the Mets logo on it, doesn’t make me feel anything. I can’t simply be rooting for a team’s laundry as Jerry Seinfeld once joked.
I was born a year before the Mets, in Brooklyn. This is the second Midnight Massacre and as a kid I didn't understand how big the loss of Seaver was. This is worse, because I do. I'm done with the Mets. Go Orioles and Go Dodgers. Fuck Cohen, fuck Stearns, and fuck the Mets. Mets will never get another dime from me. No tickets, no merch, no concessions, no TV subscriptions. May Cohen and Stearns rot in Hell; those lowlife shucksters.
Stearns resume with the Brewers:
4th
2nd (6 games out of first)
1st (lost in NLCS)
2nd (2 games out of first)
4th
1st (lost in Division series)
2nd (7 games out of first)
1st (lost in Wild Card)
I find it hard to believe that this dismantling plan was Stearns' idea. I think it was Cohen who instructed him to put it into action.
I always thought Gary Cohen was a real brainy guy. Now that he's pushing to sign Kyle Tucker, I like him even more. For me, the Diaz fiasco hurts. The Alonso loss is a judgement call and Stearns might be right. The Nimmo trade only makes sense if they sign a free agent outfielder. So I think the "circus" comment in an earlier post is overblown. About the Diaz scuttlebutt--and who knows how much of it is true--it's not his role to hire/fire pitching coaches and for him to be affronted that they signed Devin Williams is silly. Especially since Williams came out right away and said he doesn't mind pitching the 8th.
To add on to my previous comment, I think there will be a big trade, but not for some splashy aging superstar, but for a game ready top prospect at 1B like Bryce Eldridge.
No. Stop being such a princess. Be objective. You cannot grow and build a better team by paying aging players bloated contracts - can favorites or not.
Please enlighten us all as to how they are building a better team.
We can all agree that the contract madness in Pro Sports is nuts but that's the way the game is played now. Seriously, even the Baltimore Orioles thought Pete was worth a fiver.
You can also argue that losing three of your most productive players isn't exactly conducive to building a better team - particularly when the available market offers little in return.
Finally, who cares about fan favorites? Well, the fans do - the ones who paying $40 to park and need a refi mortgage to pay for seats. Diaz, Nimmo, and Alonso were arguably three of the most fan favorites on the squad.
What do we have to look forward to now?
Stearns' "plan", whatever it is, smacks like a certain political party's health care plan - just trust the process and in a decade or two you'll see it - or you'll just forget about it and move on with your life accepting the fact that you'll just live with the pain.
In the baseball analogy, that means a middling team - exciting at times, but never quite getting to the big show. Mets fans like myself are very familiar with that space.
This is why fans should never be GM's. A GM needs to be objective and dispassionate. And have thick skin while fans melt down.
I enjoy your contrarian point of view. Nice to have some diversity of opinions here.
First, I'm not a Baseball GM. David Stearns is widely recognized as one of the best. That's why I trust he has a plan. Period.
Second, The Baltimore Orioles believing Pete is worth 5 years and 150 million is NOT a validation that he is worth that much money. It means Baltimore has a worse GM that we do.
The Baltimore Orioles believing Pete is worth what they paid him is exactly validation of where the market was at. Of course any contract is a gamble, but the market is the market, Schwarber got 5 years to DH. It is what it is. You don't have to be too much of sleuth to see the plan here. They are going to operate like the Astros, which is fine, but there are not going to be serious efforts to go for it in 2026, if they can luck into like 2024, while decreasing their luxury tax threshold that is where it is headed. Otherwise it made ZERO sense to let both Diaz and Alonso walk. Trading Nimmo was an effort to take advantage of speeding up a contract expiration. Upside is they get a competitive player in the mix.
If Stearns can execute the next phase which should be finding a similar Nimmo-Semien swap for Lindor and then can turn a starting pitcher and Bo Bichette, perhaps I'd say they are serious about 2026, but right now they are gearing up for 2028, and if a couple of their kids can overachieve perhaps 2027. 2026 is a white flag of sorts to the competition in our own league is too good.
I am fine with him resetting the window, but to pretend they are going to do it all in one off season seems very unlikely.
Interesting comment. It'll be interesting to see what Alonso has in the tank 4 and 5 years from now. It's also got to be recognized that he was willing to go to a not very good team for the simple reason they offered the most dough. He's not an angel or saint.
What he has in the tank in years 4-5 is only meaningful compared to what he does for them in years 1-3, as is true for any player at his age and with his resume.
I understand the concept of accepting a diminished player in the later years of the contract. But let me argue from another angle. Suppose there was a team willing to give him 7 years for 190M. Should the Mets FO bite on that also? A great offensive player, home grown fan favorite. Does that mean we must outbid any and all offers?
The reality is the Baltimore Orioles and 5 years, and that is what I responded to. I did not suggest that the Mets should have matched the Baltimore offer or outbid it.