Centerfield

Yes. Going into the offseason, I felt like the Lindor contract and Nimmo contract made it difficult to re-sign Pete long term (or Bellinger/Framber/Schwarber or any other older FA) since it would mean many core players would be declining at the same time, and that same time coincides with the peak Soto years. Having a third of your lineup and $80M AAV tied up in mid 30's players is less than ideal. But that story changed once you unloaded Nimmo's deal. That's why that deal, while painful, made some sense. You trade Nimmo, take the short term hit on Semien, and now you have some wiggle room. After the Nimmo trade, your 2028 Opening Day Aging Core is down to: 1. Lindor. 34 YO, and signed through 2031 2. Pete. 33 YO, and signed through 2030. You can take that hit. And there's a chance 33 YO Pete is still a slugger (look at 33 YO Schwarber and Judge). I felt like re-signing Pete gives you a three year window to get something out of the remainder of Lindor's prime. So what do the Mets do now? You have maybe 3 years left of prime Lindor. You're squarely in the Soto prime. A prime that you paid dearly to get. But you have a terrible pitching staff, and half a lineup to build. I honestly don't see any realistic way the Mets can get back to being a championship contender in 2026. Which is why I think they'll go half measure. Aim for 85-88 win teams from here on out. Call up the kids. Fill in around the edges. Hope you get hot at the right time.

I think the plan for 2026, and generally going forward is to keep payroll fluid and avoid as many long term contracts as possible, especially those that will have multiple players aging at the same time. I think the goal will be 85-88 win teams that compete for the Wild Card yearly, and contend once in a while for a division when everything breaks right. I think the goal is to have the farm system feed the team, and cycle out guys as they hit free agency, while making an exception here and there on a couple superstars. Take gambles on older players on short term deals, reclamation projects. Boring, ever-evolving teams that get bounced first or second round every year. Like the Brewers.

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

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.

This lineup finishes fourth in the NL East. Below .500

I mean, you don't even bother if the answer if Paul Goldschmidt. If you're at that point, just trade Lindor and rebuild. It's crazy. The Mets right now: 1. Have nothing at 1B 2. Are locked into a .650 OPS at 2B making big money. 3. Have nothing at LF 4. Have nothing at CF 5. Have no DH 6. Have question marks at 3B and C Starting rotation is among the worst in baseball Bullpen has a question mark at closer, two oft-injured lefties, and nothing otherwise. Their payroll is at $261M.

Let's start with the obvious. There's no one player that can replace him. The Mets need: A. A first baseman. That should be easy enough. Defensively, he wasn't great. Whoever they get to replace him has a good chance to be better. B. A middle of the lineup hitter. Nearly impossible. Schwarber's gone. Only Kyle Tucker will give you similar production. And even then, he has much less power. Bellinger falls short, even coming off a good year. The Japanese guys are huge question marks, and it's unrealistic to expect them to replace Alonso's production. Even if they pull off a trade for Tatis Jr, his numbers are not as good as Alonso's. Basically. It's not going to happen. C. A right-handed presence. All of the guys mentioned above, except Okamoto, are left-handed. And if you figure the Japanese players typically see about a 100 point drop in OPS when coming stateside, this is not a great sign for him.

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.

And the stupid Borough race. And the Queens crew. Whoever came up with the Helsley intro. And turning off the lights during a HR trot. Let me see our hero complete his victory lap.

I can be pretty forgiving if there’s a World Series title around these parts. If it’s an 85 win, #6 seed if we get lucky team…not so much. In a vacuum, any one departure would have been fine, but 3 icons leaving in the same offseason is extraordinarily tough to bear, and I agree that it’s not at all clear that factor has been sufficiently considered. Agree. It's World Series or bust. If they don't win it all, none of this will have been worth it.

Seaver. Strawberry. deGrom. Wheeler. Reyes. Diaz. Alonso. Stearns and Cohen have badly underestimated what losing a franchise icon means. I will never forgive David Stearns.

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.

It certainly seems like a rebuild. Which is hard to fathom after going all in for Soto next year. I'm emotional the last few days. But trying to put that aside. Even if the Mets win, and make the playoffs, Stearns and Cohen have no idea the damage they've done by discarding three beloved franchise icons in one winter. Fandom is not rational.

One thing that's we're starting to see is that the Mets free agents are seemingly expecting Steve Cohen to pony up more when it comes to retaining them. Perhaps even more than the market suggests. I can only guess that this is because he's the richest owner in sports, and there is no salary cap. I'm sure they read the same things in the paper that we do. Adding billions to his net worth. Getting a casino. It's obviously not fair. But I can't help but think there is some of that "Well he can certainly afford it" mentality in play here. Plus the history of past regimes adds to this. Going 8 years on Nimmo. The prior 7 year offer to Alonso. Five years to Diaz with an opt-out. Now, all of a sudden refusing to go beyond 3 year terms. I think they take it as an insult. Especially when they see the Mets extend for players from outside the organization. I can see Pete saying "wow, you can go 15 years on Soto, but you can't go 5 for me?" Again, it's not fair, but human emotion isn't always fair. With Diaz. I think he was pissed that the Mets didn't go 4 years. And then got even more pissed when they signed Williams. "Wait, you're going to give this guy, who sucked for the guys across town, three years. And you won't give me four?" And then he decided **** this. I'm gone. If the Mets were as shocked as reported, then clearly they didn't recognize this. They better recognize it now.

I've had some time to process this now. And even after a few hours, the only thing I can think is how badly they ****ed this up. And I don't even care if they sign Suarez, or Pete Fairbanks, or whatever. When elite talent is available, that's when you spend the money. Edwin Diaz has proven to be elite, and proven he can do it in NY. It's a no brainer. And if you're willing to go to $66M, you damn well better not let him walk for $69M. And sure, Diaz ultimately has to make that decision. But if you didn't know you'd lose him for $3M, then you misread your leverage. It is one thing to be a bad GM when you have no money. It's another thing altogether to **** up this badly with nearly unlimited resources. A fourth year in November gets this done without the Dodgers ever getting involved. Completely misplayed. And more than anything, I hate losing players. I was crushed when Strawberry left. I'm still not over losing deGrom. And I don't know how I'll feel about Diaz, since he's not homegrown like the others, but I'm sure I'm going to hate this for years. Of course, in the end, I want to win. But rational or not, as a fan, you develop an attachment to these players. You want to win, but more than that, you want to win with your guys. And not understanding that a big part of the fanbase feels that way is a big miss. So **** David Stearns. And **** Trevor Megill, or lets be honest, whatever scrub reliever he signs to pitch the 8th inning. **** Bobby Bonilla, and Justin Verlander, and Neil Walker and all those guys they bring in to fill the void but fall woefully short of ever doing it.

Poor Devin Williams is not only going to have to be compared with Edwin Diaz (present in LA) but also the performance of Edwin Diaz during his peak with the NY Mets.

If we lose Pete tell Stearns to stay in Orlando.

Per Anthony diComo. Mets last offer was 3 years, $66M. Mets said there was wiggle room to go to more. Diaz took the Dodgers offer instead and did not circle back to the Mets. It didn't sound like Diaz wanted out from the Mets at any time during his stay here. He was in the owners' box during the DOM-PR game. Pure speculation, but maybe he felt disrespected that Stearns wouldn't give the fourth year. As soon as he beat the Mets offer, he bolted.

I guess it’s early but this is another signal of the Mets positioning themselves as an 85-wins-if-most-things-go-right team. If Stearns winds up signing Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso and Framber Valdez and Robert Suarez, I’m happy to re-evaluate my position on this offseason. Right now I am extremely disappointed. If somehow Stearns ends up signing Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso and Framber Valdez and Robert Suarez, I'll still be pissed that he signed Suarez and let Diaz walk. Independent of any other moves, letting Diaz go is just a colossally stupid move.

I wonder how many will pivot to Alonso now.

I'm still in shock. A three year deal. Why on earth do you let the best closer in the game walk to team you're trying to beat. Absolutely ridiculous. I can't believe those idiot Stearns haters were right.

Brutal mistake by the Mets. The first time in the Stearns era that I question whether he's the right guy to run this team. Letting Diaz go to the Dodgers on a three year deal is inexcusable.

Day 1 almost in the books. Next to nothing done. Alonso arrives tomorrow.

I’m guessing he has no market. That doesn’t sound like the type of thing someone does when he’s heavily pursued.

When I tried logging in earlier I got a blank screen. But i reset my password and all is good now.