What will it take to forgive Stearns?

[Centerfield]

I wonder if David Stearns understands the damage he's done to the fanbase over the last two days.

I assume he's got some moves to improve the team up his sleeve. What do you need to see for him to regain your trust?

Personally, he can sign Robert Suarez, and Michael King, and Cody Bellinger. And then he can proceed to kindly **** himself.

[whippoorwill]

Five years

[MFS62]

he can sign Robert Suarez, and Michael King, and Cody Bellinger. And then he can proceed to kindly **** himself.

 

If he can also sign a center fielder and closer I’ll allow him to use Vaseline.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

I voted "make the postseason" but I really mean, go deep into the postseason. Getting in as the sixth berth and an early exit won't do.

Things will look sunnier if guys like McLean and Benge step up and have standout seasons. And Alvarez and Baty and Vientos are big contributors. Something that makes the future look promising like it did in 2015.

[smg58]

If the 2026 team is better than the 2025 team, nobody will still be mad.

[MFS62]

Stearns didn't even kiss us first.

I voted World Series (or nuthin').

I'm getting too old for this ****.

Later

[Centerfield]

If the 2026 team is better than the 2025 team, nobody will still be mad.

 

That's not remotely true for me.

I'm still pissed about Strawberry. The Dykstra trade. deGrom leaving. Wheeler. Reyes. Murphy going on a tear for Washington. When the Mets beat the Phillies in the 2024 NLDS, it was fun. But it didn't stop me from cursing Jeff Wilpon when Zach pitched against us.

[ashie62]

Letting Pete go was a business season largely based on analytics

It will be hard to be "satisfied" one way or the other about Pete by looking at potential Mets outcomes

Pete will be hitting in a very batter friendly Camden yards and will be making sportscenter highlights very possibly early and often

What the Mets do or don't do really has little effect on how I regard Pete's departure

I hope the Mets win 100 and play the Orioles in the series

At the end of the day I think Stearns did the easy thing in not chase the contract in money and and years but comes off as a wuss by not signing a player who has done tonz and is loved by almost all

No balls no Pete

LGM

Edited December 10, 2025 by ashie62

[apmorris]

If the 2026 team is better than the 2025 team, nobody will still be mad.

I'm still pissed about Strawberry.

 

both things can be true - or something like that.

2025 was horrible, literally the worst in awhile. So, if they brought everyone back I'd still curse Nimmo and Diaz when they f*cked up - both things would be sure to happen.

I was and remain a never Nimmo

Diaz won't make a dent with the Dodgers

Pete is lost to obscurity - those six week slumps won't be noticed

[ashie62]

If the 2026 team is better than the 2025 team, nobody will still be mad.

I'm still pissed about Strawberry.

 

both things can be true - or something like that.

2025 was horrible, literally the worst in awhile. So, if they brought everyone back I'd still curse Nimmo and Diaz when they f*cked up - both things would be sure to happen.

I was and remain a never Nimmo

Diaz won't make a dent with the Dodgers

Pete is lost to obscurity - those six week slumps won't be noticed

 

Lost to obscurity, I would rather think not, maybe to you I guess ..

[metsmarathon]

I need multiple rings. I’m ****ing serious.

Pete should’ve been a met for life and they chased him away.

They seem to’ve alienated Díaz too, and he walked for Pennie’s more. Diaz meant a lot to me personally.

The heart and soul of the team is gone, no offense to Lindor, and these were OUR guys. We’d embraced them and loved them and our general manager with his heart three sizes too small discounted all of that (after also doing the same to the heart and soul of last year’s team.

Whoever he brings in next will have a long way to go before they are ours, and unfairly so because part of that will be who they are replacing. But that burden is borne the most by stearns. And it may well take multiple rings to lift.

[apmorris]

Lost to obscurity

 

I'm hurt and lashing out

[ashie62]

Me too

I reckon there's more Mets to be a traded

Starting with Jeff McNeil

[Lefty Specialist]

Nothing less than a WS title, because then he will have been right and we will have been wrong.

Currently, this is a 75-win team.

Edited December 11, 2025 by Lefty Specialist

[Gwreck]

Jon Heyman got a quote from Uncle Stevie:

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

[Frayed Knot]

Given the unpredictability of modern day post-season baseball, it's tough to classify failure to win a WS (particularly within a certain short period of time) as a failure.

What we should want and, not coincidentally what the Mets have rarely had, is a sustained period of high-level competitiveness. That should be the goal.

So allow me to make the opposite and less sentimental analysis here.

Let's imagine here that they didn't trade Nimmo and also signed Pete for the same deal he's apparently getting from Baltimore.

And now let's fast forward to Opening Day 2028, at which point:

- Pete is starting his age 33 season and is signed thru the end of the 2030 season when he'll be on the cusp of turning 36

- Brandon will be 35 and will also under contract for three more seasons thru 2030

- Lindor will be 34 and signed thru 2031

- and Soto will still be (hopefully) in the solid part of his prime at age 29 and NYM property thru the 2040 season when he'll be 40 y/o

And, of course, what's wrong with that picture is that the first three will not just be into their declining years but also still have 3, 3, and 4 years to go by OD '28.

So what Stearns is trying to do, or so it seems, is to both deal away and not sign players who will wind up getting old at the same time while the superstar with

(Gulp!) 13 years still to go on his deal will, at least theoretically, be right in the midst of his peak seasons.

Now how he moves forward 'fixing' this whole mess, both in the short and longer term, is where he's going to make or break his reputation around here.

I mean, yeah, we're pissed right off, but I want to see how this is going to wind up before declaring Stearns an enemy of the people.

[ashie62]

Jon Heyman got a quote from Uncle Stevie:

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

 

Steve Cohen "Oligarch"

He should be ashamed of himself

[metsmarathon]

Now is not the time for nuanced rationalism.

I’m cantankerous.

If we put together a better team that’s competitive for a long time, I’ll be thrilled. I just won’t be happy about it.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think Dave Parker ever forgave Stearns.

[ashie62]

I'll be over this by Monday

[MFS62]

Jon Heyman got a quote from Uncle Stevie:

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

 

And we’re not sure he is capable of doing that.

Later

[Gwreck]

And, of course, what's wrong with that picture is that the first three will not just be into their declining years but also still have 3, 3, and 4 years to go by OD '28.

So what Stearns is trying to do, or so it seems, is to both deal away and not sign players who will wind up getting old at the same time while the superstar with

(Gulp!) 13 years still to go on his deal will, at least theoretically, be right in the midst of his peak seasons.

 

What I think this overlooks is:

(1) that the Mets have the resources to move those players out of starting roles even if they have large contracts without it also foreclosing the possibility of keeping the team competitive. Simply put, overpaying on a contract is less likely to hurt the Mets than many other teams.

(2) 3 years from now the Mets are significantly more likely to have internal, low-cost options that can effectively complement (or supplant) those aging veterans as needed. (They of course don’t have those low-cost options now).

By all accounts, the Mets have made numerous investments and upgrades to scouting and player development. Another 3 years of improvements there is more likely to pay dividends that can help.

[Cowtipper]

People are just now starting to dislike him?

[Fman99]

As soon as they win a WS title I forgive all of it. Until then he can **** right off

[Frayed Knot]

What I think this overlooks is:

(1) that the Mets have the resources to move those players out of starting roles even if they have large contracts without it also foreclosing the possibility of keeping the team competitive. Simply put, overpaying on a contract is less likely to hurt the Mets than many other teams.

 

Or, another way to get around having multiple, aging, expensive contracts on the books is to have fewer of them all getting old at the same time, and that's certainly what it appears Stearns is trying to do.

Trading Nimmo was a way of saying: 'We wouldn't do that kind of deal now' so let's get out from under it now rather than trying to do so later. And with Pete he clearly IS saying we don't think that's a good deal in the long term. And if I didn't think that five years was a smart move last year it certainly doesn't look more enticing a year later so I'm not sure what there is to "forgive" here.

 

3 years from now the Mets are significantly more likely to have internal, low-cost options that can effectively complement (or supplant) those aging veterans as needed. (They of course don’t have those low-cost options now).

 

Maybe. Projecting when, how many, and how good prospects are going to be is too hazy a topic to be able to count on. And, again, if the pipeline does improve down the line then that's an even bigger plus if half the lineup isn't made up of expensive and declining bodies by the time reinforcements are arriving.

[Cowtipper]

I've come to the conclusion that anything the Mets do will be in spite of Stearns, not because of him. So, no forgiveness.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I just got an email from the Mets saying that spring training tickets are on sale today.

I'm sure a lot of people will be jumping on that today. I know the date was prearranged, but the timing is especially bad this year.

I understand that some of us are angry. I get that. I'm just sad and disappointed. I don't think I have the capacity to feel actual anger about anything the Mets do.

I guess I'm just mourning the diminished amount of "Metliness" we'll see next season. If they find themselves relying on a bunch of short-termers, like Marcus Semien is likely to be then I'll feel that much less of a connection with the 2026 team. That's one of the reasons that 2015 was so much fun. There were a lot of young players, guys we thought (in some cases correctly) who would be around for years to come. Harvey. deGrom. Syndergaard. Matz. d'Arnaud. Conforto. Familia. Flores. It's possible that the 2026 team will have that vibe, if players like McLean, Baty, Benge, Tong, Sproat, Williams, Alvarez, and Vientos play prominent roles, in addition to Lindor and Soto and maybe McNeil. But if this season features a bunch of 35-year-olds who are plugging gaps, it will probably be less fun, even if they contend. That's where I'm at. I value continuity, and with Nimmo and Alonso and Diaz gone, a lot of that has been fractured.

[Cowtipper]

The 2017-2021 (ish) teams felt like a revolving door; I fear we might be entering another such era. I remember watching those years, but have no strong memories, in part because the teams from year to year seemed to fluctuate quite a bit. Edited December 11, 2025 by Cowtipper

[Centerfield]

I just got an email from the Mets saying that spring training tickets are on sale today.

I'm sure a lot of people will be jumping on that today. I know the date was prearranged, but the timing is especially bad this year.

I understand that some of us are angry. I get that. I'm just sad and disappointed. I don't think I have the capacity to feel actual anger about anything the Mets do.

I guess I'm just mourning the diminished amount of "Metliness" we'll see next season. If they find themselves relying on a bunch of short-termers, like Marcus Semien is likely to be then I'll feel that much less of a connection with the 2026 team. That's one of the reasons that 2015 was so much fun. There were a lot of young players, guys we thought (in some cases correctly) who would be around for years to come. Harvey. deGrom. Syndergaard. Matz. d'Arnaud. Conforto. Familia. Flores. It's possible that the 2026 team will have that vibe, if players like McLean, Baty, Benge, Tong, Sproat, Williams, Alvarez, and Vientos play prominent roles, in addition to Lindor and Soto and maybe McNeil. But if this season features a bunch of 35-year-olds who are plugging gaps, it will probably be less fun, even if they contend. That's where I'm at. I value continuity, and with Nimmo and Alonso and Diaz gone, a lot of that has been fractured.

 

This is what I believe Stearns and his crew don't understand. I made the point on Facebook. Think of David Wright. That contract went as bad as it could go. Do you know any Mets fan that regrets that deal?

I'd make that deal 100 out of 100 times. That series in Washington, the World Series HR, and retiring as a Met. All worth it to me.

[Centerfield]

And also, I've now given it a day to sink in. The answer is, I will never forgive Stearns.