Mets still have highest Alonso bid, and another Daniel Murphy breakout?

The Blue Jays will reportedly struggle to match the Mets' most recent offer for Pete Alonso. Plus, what to make of Jeff McNeil entering 2025.

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What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• It’s going to be difficult for the Blue Jays to top the most recent contract that the Mets offered 1B Pete Alonso (SNY)

• Last week, the Mets reportedly offered Alonso a three-year contract worth $70 million that included opt-outs and deferrals

• Steve Cohen has re-engaged with Scott Boras in the Alonso negotiations (Heyman)

• Mets SS Francisco Lindor should be the franchise’s next captain (Heyman)

• The Mets have expressed interest in a trade for 1B Ryan Mountcastle (SI)

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Rumor Mill 💨

• Even after acquiring RHP Ryan Pressly from Houston, the Cubs are “not done” looking to upgrade their bullpen (670 The Score)

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What can we realistically expect from Jeff McNeil in 2025? ✍️

There’s been a whole lot of chatter about Mets infielders this offseason between all of the Pete Alonso drama, the back-and-forth on where Mark Vientos will play, the greatness of Francisco Lindor, and even the potential of young players like Luisangel Acuña, Ronny Mauricio, and Brett Baty. Hell, there’s even been a decent amount of talk within the fan base when it comes to the desire to re-sign 2024 favorite José Iglesias.

Yet with all that talk, Jeff McNeil has somehow been the one Mets infielder that seems to have flown completely under the radar this winter. As things stand with the state of the roster right now, however, McNeil projects to be a pretty key factor in the club’s plans for at least the early part of the 2025 season.

Assuming Alonso does not return, Vientos will likely move to first base. That opens up third base to one (or a mixture) of Baty, Mauricio, and Acuña, which would likely keep McNeil slated in as the everyday starter at second.

Even if Alonso does return, there’s a pretty good chance that McNeil will still get a bulk of the playing time at second and potentially make spot starts in the outfield considering his veteran experience and remaining contract situation; McNeil is owed $31.5 million over the next two seasons with a $15.75 million club option for 2027 that contains a $2 million buyout if the Mets decline it.

So we know that McNeil is likely going to at least be given a shot to be a fairly prominent everyday player for this team, at minimum for the early part of this upcoming season. But what exactly can Mets fans expect from him at this point?

Well, the honest answer is that it’s tough to say right now.

For a majority of the last two-plus years, McNeil has really fallen from grace. The one-time batting champion fell on hard times after a stellar 2022 campaign, hitting a career-low .270/.333/.378 in 2023 before an even worse .238/.308/.384 slash line this past season. In addition to the struggles at the plate, McNeil’s defensive metrics at second base have begun to decline, and the super utilityman has continued to deal with various injury issues.

There was a large portion of the first half last season where it seemed as if it was all over for McNeil in a Mets uniform. Through his first 71 games, McNeil was hitting a paltry .213/.276/.293 with just three home runs, 16 RBI, and a .569 OPS. At that same time, Jose Iglesias was taking the team by storm and hitting .400/.447/.457 with a .905 OPS since being called up from the minor leagues a month earlier, earning him more playing time.

The calls were to bench McNeil entirely in favor of Iglesias at the time, with some fans even pushing for the club to trade the former batting champ for whatever they could get.

But then, something rather interesting happened. After working with Daniel Murphy of all people, who was with the club broadcasting a handful of games last summer, McNeil made some adjustments at the plate and began to see some major changes to his results.

From June 28th on, McNeil hit .274/.352/.514 with nine home runs, 15 doubles, 28 RBI, 28 runs scored, and an .866 OPS over his final 58 games. It was clear that whatever adjustment McNeil made was working, leading to a second-half power surge that we haven’t seen from him since much earlier in his career. Ironically, it looked an awful lot like Murphy’s second-half adjustments from the 2015 season, where he very similarly hit .297/.321/.533 with eight home runs, 19 doubles, 37 RBI, 33 runs scored, and an .857 OPS over his last 50 games before having a legendary postseason.

Unfortunately for McNeil, his chance at a Murphy-esque run was cut short after breaking his wrist after being hit by a pitch in early September, ending his regular season. McNeil was able to return to the club for the NLCS, but saw limited playing time after not getting many opportunities to rehab or get fresh at-bats at that stage of the season. McNeil went 2-for-11 (.182) with no extra-base hits and three RBIs over 13 at-bats in the postseason.

So the million-dollar question – or $15.75 million question to be exact – is which Jeff McNeil are the Mets getting in 2025? Are the adjustments at the plate from last season’s second half for real? Can McNeil have an unexpected Murphy-esque renaissance at this stage of his career? Or was it more of a flash in the pan, tamped down by a broken wrist that will forever have people wondering, “What if?”

Only time will tell, but one thing I do know for sure… we’re going to find out in the next few months which Jeff McNeil we’re going to see.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Reds have signed OF Austin Hays to a one-year, $5 million contract (Rosenthal)

• The Orioles officially re-signed UTL Jorge Mateo to a one-year, $3.55 million contract extension with a club option for 2026

• The Padres have reportedly re-signed C Elias Díaz to a one-year, $3.5 million contract with a mutual option for the 2026 season (El Extrabase)