Centerfield

Robertson's asking price must be fairly high. I would have preferred him over Stanek.

I think if you asked me in November what I would consider to be a perfect offseason I would have said: Position Players 1. Juan Soto 2. Pete Alonso 3. Left handed DH (first choice: Joc Pederson) Starting Pitching 1. An ace (someone like Corbin Burnes, Michael King, Sandy Alcantara) 2. A number 2, preferably Sean Manaea 3. A 3/4 level starter to replace Quintana Bullpen 1. Lockdown 8th Inning guy. (Devin Williams, Blake Treinen) 2. Lockdown Lefty (Tanner Scott) Other Preferences: 1. Lots of depth pieces with upside on minor league deals 2. Don't trade Brandon Sproat 3. Don't sign Alex Bregman to a long term deal Of course, my perfect offseason has a payroll around $400M. So it was never realistic. But if you measure that against what we did, it's pretty close. For position players, we got nearly exactly what I wanted. Winker is a slight downgrade from Joc, but has some good upside if his back is healthy. Starting pitching, is where we missed the most. We didn't get the ace, but we got Manaea, and we got two guys who could round out the rotation. But importantly, we kept enough youth that if an ace becomes available during the year, we'll be able to pull the trigger. In the bullpen, we didn't get the lockdown 8th inning guy, but we got the second best LHRP available, and Stanek has the potential to be solid. And also, we kept Sproat. We kept Jett and Acuna and all the other young guys. We avoided a long term deal to a declining Alex Bregman. We didn't make a dumb trade for Nolan Arenado. I can't remember the last time I felt this good going into the season.

I was thinking that too. With this short term deal, the conundrum continues. But I think next year will be much different. And I don't see much chance of him coming back. I think ultimately, if he has a good enough year to get a 4 year deal from someone else, he'll be gone. Stearns won't match it. But even if he's looking at 2-3 year deals again next winter, I think the chances are low. I think one of the Mets' young infielders will stick. Be it Mauricio, Baty, Jett, Acuna or someone else we're not thinking of. And I think Stearns, who values defense, won't want to keep Alonso and Vientos on the corners. I also think there's a chance that the team will want to move either Nimmo or Soto to 1B. We're probably years away for Soto. But Nimmo is older, has a bad foot, and opening up an OF spot gives you more options in next year's free agency than limiting yourself to 1B. But ultimately I think the biggest difference is that Pete will be ready to move on. I think this year he thought and hoped the team would eventually lock him down to a long term deal. When he realized that wasn't happening, I think he decided that the only place he'd play short-term is with the Mets. But I'm sure he's realized by now that he's likely not going to be a life-long Met. And that he's got one last chance to cash in. I'm sure Boras has told him that he shot himself in the foot by professing to everyone who would listen how much he wanted to come back to the Mets. How much that hurt his market. I wonder if we'll see Pete answer questions differently this year. To borrower a line from his teammate, "every team has the same chance".

The funny thing is, the structure of the contract almost assures Pete the record. If he hits less than 27 this year, he'll have had a **** year. Which means he likely opts in for 2026. The only thing that can derail him is if he's lights out for half the year proving he's not in decline, but has an injury that keeps him from getting to the record.

So if you're mathing. The offer was 7 years, $158M. Since then, he's earned $20.5M in 2024, and will earn $30M in 2025. That leaves 5 years, $107.5M left on that deal ($21.5AAV) Assuming Alonso opts out after 2025. He will hit the free agent market again at age 31, with no QO. Could he get a 5 year deal at that AAV? Maybe. Likely not. But assuming he puts up decent numbers (not worse than 2024), you have to figure he's offered at least a 3 year for something close to $21.5M AAV. With a good year, I can see 4 years, $25M per. So while it sucks for him that he won't have the security of a multi-year deal, if he doesn't decline further, I can see him ultimately making more money than the deal he rejected.

My speculation based on nothing but my imagination: *The Mets' offer was for 3 years, around $24M per year ($72M). Alonso/Boras were probably looking for 3 years, $30M per year, with opt outs each year, the Bellinger-type buyouts, and maybe even front-loaded. Without any other offers to compete with, the Mets didn't move, and hence the long standoff. *After the Cohen rant, I'm guessing Alonso/Boras dropped the buyouts and came back to the table. Then the sticking point was the AAV (24 vs. 30). Instead of meeting in the middle with AAV, Cohen/Stearns finally gave in and said we'll give you $30 AAV, but for one year, and removed one guaranteed year from their deal. They presented both options to Pete. 3 years, 72M, 2 years, $54M. Pete chose the two year deal since his intent all along was to opt out anyway. Things I have a stronger basis to believe: *All of the information given to Andy Martino and Jon Heyman come from Boras. They both broke the Soto signing at the same time, they both broke the Pete news at the same time. They both pumped the "Mets have pivoted away from Alonso" BS at the same time. Once Boras went silent, they were completely in the dark. As soon as the deal was done, Boras gave them the info and let them break the news simultaneously. *the Mets never pivoted away from Alonso. *Pete was never going to the Blue Jays. And all that 10 yard line crap was Boras propaganda.

Does Nolan Ryan count as 1 or 3? He's retired by the Angels, Astros and Rangers.

It seems almost guaranteed to end up there next year, doesn't it? It seems like it. I’m glad he’s back. And I’m not sure it was on the table, but I would have preferred overpaying AAV and locking him up for 3 years. If 3/90 with no opt outs was possible, I would have preferred that. Again. I don’t have the discipline Stearns has.

And the Mets sign the damn guy.

I watched segments from Andy Martino (SNY) and Jon Heyman (Bleacher Report) today. It's funny. Neither of them have any idea what is going on. They're absolutely guessing. If the situation wasn't so exhausting, I think I'd better appreciate the comedy of two guys being shoved in front of a camera with nothing to say and air time to fill. So what that means is that Scott Boras has stopped leaking to the press. His last attempt at leverage was that ridiculous "10 yard line" garbage that he fed to Andy Martino the Thursday before Amazin' Day. But ever since Steve Cohen made his public statements, the only thing the Boras camp has leaked is their immediate response that their demands were industry standard. It's now been 10 days of nothing. When Boras was doing his propaganda, you could read the tea leaves and see what he was trying to do. But with this complete silence, it's anyone's guess. When Boras first went silent I wondered if maybe Pete took over negotiations. And if he did, I figured something would get done quickly. But if Pete did take over negotiations and we still don't have a deal, then maybe the two sides were further apart then we thought.

“I'm a hero in Yankees land. I'm a villain in America,” he said. “I don't really care. I just want to be forgotten about. That's it. I want people to forget about me.” I don't know if he's actually a hero in Yankee land. If he is, Yankee Land is one pathetic place. I see no remorse anywhere in that article. Not for what he did. I see a dickhead who doesn't like facing the consequences of his actions.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think Mauricio will ultimately have the better career, but since the question is specifically about 2025, I voted Acuna. I voted Acuna and it shows only one vote Edgy MD wrote: Four-way tie! Rampant voting fraud taking place here on the CPF

Pick one. Tell me why.

Maybe Boomer meant next Friday.

The road grays were perfect. I never thought I'd see the day we went back to the racing stripes, but I guess it is what it is. Not crazy about the new blue uniform. I don't like the script. I thought the black was ok as a once in a while uniform, but I certainly don't like the new version without the white outlining. Old Man. Cloud. bbbyyy

Oof. Point taken.

Edgy MD wrote: Change your votes, ALONSOMG! voters! Two thirds of the background being in shadow — along with half of Alonso's face — totally makes ALONSOMG! by far the lesser featured photo. Meanwhile, evuhthing makes HAIR FORCE ONE the superior one. The photo for HAIR FORCE ONE is an apology for the photo in ALONSOMG! Superior layout. Superior layering of elements. HAIR FORCE ONE is a winner that deserves to go down in The Hall of Champions. My main thing is that ALONSOMG just doesn't roll off the tongue. HAIR FORCE WON works in every way. The one great part of ALONSOMG is Nunez bent over in the background. But everything else just doesn't work as well. The angle is weird. Like the photographer was lying down in the on deck circle. Half of Pete's face is covered, compared to the sun showing every wrinkle in Jesse's forehead. I don't think anything can match the feeling we had when Pete hit that HR. But you can only ride that moment for so long.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I agree. The worst thing is ALONOMG is too try-hardy So. It's Alonso.

Yeah. I see no point in this move. He's a utility infielder that can't play SS. So he can't fill in for Lindor. He has no power, doesn't walk. A singles hitter who hit .221 last year. OPS in the .500s two of the last three years, sandwiching a .663 OPS in 2023. The only role I could see him filling is “guy who gets cut in April and we later forget was ever on the team.”

why would you think that? He's not a journalist, he's a guy paid to have takes. Right or wrong, doesn't matter. People are gonna tune in Monday, pay attention Monday (well, if our dictator hasn't turned off radio signals) and give him even more attention. Well, he’s not just a talk show host. He’s Boomer Esiason. He’s a Super Bowl QB and a bona fide celebrity before he ever started broadcasting. And no, he’s not going to lose his job for being wrong, but something like this erodes at his credibility. And as an athlete, a former QB, he’s egotistical enough that being right matters to him. He had plenty of chances to hedge in the clip I heard Friday. He was firm and confident, and said something about his information being 100% solid. So I’m just wondering what happened. The possibilities I guess are that he’s full of **** and did it for engagement, he was fed bad info, or the intel was good but something changed. I’m saying given who he his the first possibility seems unlikely. But what the hell do I know.

You would think he wouldn’t come out that confidently without good info. I really wonder what happened here.

I listened to the clip. It's available on the Audacy app. Search WFAN and then Boomer and Gio. He definitely says this belief is based upon conversations he had. He said he's confident, and the information is solid.

Speaking of Boomer Esiason, he tweeted that Pete and the Mets should reach a deal today. Sounds like he got some intel.

Both guys were good in 2024 and bad in 2023.

That's right. I forgot that it was a fan email he was reacting to. In any case, to anyone listening, it was clear that this was speculation for fun. Roberts was laughing throughout the segment. As an aside, I think Evan Roberts is the one person I enjoy listening to on WFAN. I've heard his podcast, and I think Mets fans would think it's worth the listen. WFAN is unlistenable 90% of the time. I've listened to Boomer and Gio a few times. I can't stand Boomer. He's a know-it-all blowhard. The ego is insufferable. Picture Francesa without the talent. Gio comes across as smarter than your average host, but his frat boy humor just doesn't do it for me. Sal Licata and Brandon Tierney are a waste of time. They are the epitome of dumb guys shouting dumb things into a microphone for engagement. The exception, at least for me, are Evan and Tiki. I think both are smarter than any of the other guys, both of them give interesting takes, and although it does devolve at times into some frat house stuff, this is the one show I find I don't immediately turn away from.