The Hot Corner

I would be quite happy if the Mets landed Kyle Tucker. I'm currently of the "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind.

Had him a bat and pitch to him at the expense of your own arm. If he has the aptitude, teach him the fine art of catching. Give them a good education to fall back on, then hope for the best.

I agree with you regarding Luis Robert. Offensively, he is an upgrade over Tyrone Taylor, but he is far from the answer to the Mets lack of offense from the Mets outfielders not named Soto.

A right-handed bat would be nice, but there aren't many of them available without going the trade route. The Mets do not appear to be willing to trade the young players/prospects it would take to land a right handed, middle of the line up bat. Of the free agent bats still available, few really match up with the Mets need for an outfielder or corner infielder (particularly a first baseman) that can drive in runs. The right-handed hitters available via free agency are Bichette, Bregman, and Saurez. Bichette would be my preference, but as a middle infielder, he doesn't fit the Mets needs. Bregman could man third, but I think the Mets are hoping that Baty will stake his claim to the position. Since I don't believe Bregman is likely change positions, he really doesn't meet the Mets needs. Saurez provides the right handed power this line up needs and could likely be the least expensive option (as far as cost/years), but again not an ideal fit. Unless the Mets think Saurez's 6 innings of MLB experience at first base is enough to have him compete with Polanco for the spot. Though he does not answer the need for a right handed bat, I believe that Bellinger is the best free agent option for the Mets. He can play either first base or any of the outfield spots and he can provide some much needed power to the lineup. Unfortunately, he is a left-handed bat, but I would be pretty happy if he replaced Nimmo's bat in the line up. The problem I see with Bellinger, is that I don't think the Mets are willing to give him the contract they wouldn't offer to Alonso, so I expect he will end up back with the Yankees or possibly the Dodgers.

I guess Dave Kingman was the best to wear #26 for the Mets. However, I sincerely hope (and expect) that Nolan McLean will proceed to do more in #26 than any prior Met.

More and more, I am starting to fear that Austin Hays or Luis Robert (rather than Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker) will be the offensive upgrade to the Mets outfield. Depressing just to type that. Please let Carson Benge be the real deal and ready come opening day.

I agree that Vientos has the potential to be better than O'Hearn, but for the Pirates 1st base slot, O'Hearn was a nice upgrade. Hopefully, Vientos will regain the form he displayed in 2024. I think he will likely split the 1st base/DH slots with Polanco.

I think the plan is shoot for a wild card slot and hope to catch lightning in a bottle during the post-season for 2026. Banking on a few of the youngsters (Benge, Williams, Mauricio, Acuna, Sproat, & Tong) to be contributors for 2026, then counting on a the youth contingent to be major contributors in 2027. The Mets have one of the largest budgets to work with, but Stearns seems to working like he is still in Milwaukee. I know there is still time left to improve the team, but as it is currently constructed, I would rather have gone with what we had in 2025 and hope for some help from the youngsters. I do not believe the roster is as strong now as it was at the start of the off-season.

He was versatile and played hard. Sometimes, his passion to succeed and win was a little over the top for my taste, but I appreciated his effort. Good contact hitter that seemed to get the most out his talent. I wish him well with the A's. This almost feels like a salary dump and/or cleaning out of the tenured, long-term Mets.

The Pirates have signed Ryan O'Hearn to a 2 year deal. He will likely take over at 1st Base for the Pittsburgh. O'Hearn had a solid year for the Orioles last season, but with the addition of Pete Alonso*, he became expendable. O'Hearn's line for 2025 was .283/.366/.437/.803 with 17 HRs & 125 OPS+. Nice pick up for the Pirates. *Damn it!

MLB is reporting that the Mets have reached an agreement (2 years/$22 mil.) with former Yankee reliever Luke Weaver. He was pretty solid for the Evil Empire last season and adds a RH late inning arm to the bullpen mix. Looks like Edgy's repaired Oven door is already paying dividends.

If that "projected" opening day line up stands, I believe it will be a very long and dreary summer for Mets fans.

Cedric's offense had slipped just as badly as anticipated, but I hoped hoped that he could at least provide good defense in CF. Overall, he made me long to see Tyrone Taylor back in CF on a regular basis. A complete bust with the Mets.

Stearns has the benefit of Cohen's deep pockets, but he seems to be value shopping. It's seems like he is afraid to go big on a long-term deal for fear of getting burned. I know he went big (in a historic way) for Juan Soto last year, but if that deal goes sour it is almost assuredly many years down the road. The next new additions to the Mets best be Kyle Tucker and Michael King. At this point, I don't expect either one to join the Mets.

My Mets Icons: Tom Seaver David Wright Pete Alonso Darryl Strawberry Dwight Gooden Mike Piazza Keith Hernandez (gets a boost to his Mets pedigree with his many years in the booth)

I would have liked to resign Rogers. He is a durable reliever that throws a lot of innings year after year. Pretty effective and he is rather unique. That is a pretty reasonable deal for the Blue Jays.

The greatest power hitter the Mets ever produced. His competitive spirit and enthusiasm for the game will be missed. I didn't expect the Mets to go 5 years, but it sucks that they (reportedly) never made Pete an offer.

For as good as the Mets Winter meeting was last year, this year's Winter Meeting was an absolute disaster. Stearns will have to work some major miracles for the Mets to improve upon last season's disappointing failure.

As DocTee posted, the Twins decided to keep their best players in the fold. Not too surprising, considering the production that got from the two of them for their relatively inexpensive contracts.

What Gwreck mentioned and I expounded upon, was not a Ryan for Tong straight up deal. It also provided a significant upgrade to CF position while dealing from an excess of youngsters with too few spots available to them. Ryan for Tong straight up, I would consider based on the advice of the organizations scouts, but I would be less excited about that one for one. We can all cite trades of young developing players for established veterans that did not pan out (and the opposite is also true). Just like we can all cite young talent that blossomed when given the opportunity (David Wright, Jose Reyes, and looking promising, Nolan McLean ), we can likewise cite young talent that never came to fruition (Generation K - Bull Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, and Paul Wilson) immediately comes to my mind.

As have so many before me have already stated, I will gladly contribute financially to help keep the forum viable. Unfortunately, I do not possess the technical skills or knowledge to be of help with running the forum. We have a small, but passionate and loyal membership. I am pleased to see that it is likely that the CPF will continue on. I hope this all works out well for all involved.

Joe Ryan is pretty solid. Byron Buxton is a superlative athlete that provides power, speed and very good defense in CF, the problem is keeping him healthy enough to stay on the field. By todays standards, Buxton's contract is pretty cheap. For the production he provides, Joe Ryan is a steal financially with 2 years of team control remaining before he is eligible to become a free agent. The pair would not come cheap, but the Mets have a surplus of young bodies (Mauricio, Vientos, Baty, Acuna, Williams) for essentially third base & DH. Then you add Jeff McNeil in that positional log jam, though he is does have the defensive versatility to play the outfield. However, I doubt McNeil would be of interest to the Twins due to his age and salary. That gives the Mets lot of bodies for too few positions. And as long as McLean is in New York, then I could see moving either Tong or Sproat since the Mets getting a proven starter in return. By adding a monetarily inexpensive quality starter to the rotation, it would free up more money for Alonso /Diaz negotiations. So I like Gwreck's WATP.....though I would prefer to keep Carson Benge out of the deal.

I like this signing, particularly if he ends up being in addition to Diaz. He offers insurance, in the event Diaz chooses to go somewhere else. If Diaz returns, the Mets should have strong backend to their bullpen with Diaz, Williams, Minter, & Raley.

I too lack the technical knowledge to run or host the site. However, I like Centerfield, am willing to offer financial assistance, should it be needed, to keep the site running at a new home site. No matter how this ends up, I again wish to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for the countless hours of administrative duties/technical support provided by Ben, KC, & Edgy over the years. So much time and effort goes on "behind the scenes" that most users, such as myself, are unaware of.

I was pretty psyched when the Mets added Helsley and Rogers at the trade deadline. Rogers was helpful. Helsley was a disaster. I think that he (and possibly the Mets) became convinced that he was tipping his pitches and it seemed to completely psych him out. Maybe he was tipping his pitches. It quickly became evident that he couldn't reliably throw a slider for a strike. Hitters could simply gear up for the fastball and sit on it. No matter how hard you can throw, major league hitters can hit the fastball when that is all they truly have to worry about. That is even more true when the pitcher can't hit their spots consistently. . Pitching is much like real estate, location, location, location. Velocity is great, but not when it is too often grooved down the center of the plate.