To say this offseason has been frustrating thus far would be an understatement. Recent decisions by the Mets front office, spearheaded by David Stearns and apparently supported by Steve Cohen, have left many of us scratching our heads. Actually, “scratching our heads” is putting it nicely. Vitriolic may be a better term. I know I’ve landed somewhere between the two over the past few days. Still, we have to forge ahead and it would serve us better to understand what exactly is happening and why.
Generally speaking, Pete Alonso was a treasured Met. Every time he came to bat we had a real chance to score with that at bat. There were definitely some flaws in his game, but still, we have not had many homegrown players like that, with such star power and who had such an impact on the field and in our hearts. So to watch our front office seemingly toss him aside for who knows what seems callous and shortsighted. Can we even replace his production? Unfortunately options are dwindling by the day and our front office seems to be stuck in the analytical stage. Can we have an effective bullpen in the 2026 season without Edwin Diaz? Knowing what we know about Stearns’ bullpen preferences, he clearly intends to piece that together with a ragtag group of undervalued arms. Even with the Devin Williams signing, there is still a lot of work to do there. Diaz chose a different team though, a better organization in his mind. Leaving without giving your former employer a chance to match is a clear statement you want out. Obviously we tried to retain him and the more we’ve learned over the past few days just further illustrates the point that this was Edwin’s choice, not the Mets. Let’s get past that one.
And let’s not glaze over the Nimmo decision. That one has been marinating for a few weeks. I loved Nimmo as I’m sure many of us did. He hustled like no other, he always had such a positive attitude, and he was also homegrown. There are so many great things to be said about Brandon Nimmo. But the hard truth is that was not great contract for us and he is getting older. His bat is still above average, albeit streaky, but his fielding was slipping and will only continue to degrade. It hurt, but I understood it.
So that brings us to now. We have lost three of our longest tenured and most beloved players, two of whom I’m sure plenty of us assumed would be here forever, and still have plenty of roster gaps to fill. What is the thinking here? Well let’s look back at what we know about David Stearns. He values speed, defense, position flexibility and has never particularly valued first base too much. Just look at what he’s done with that position during his career. Milwaukee had a different first basemen almost every year he was there, none of whom had long contracts. He views that as one of the easier roles to fill. And he’s not wrong. It’s the least demanding position to field and there are plenty of sluggers who can hit 30+ bombs but can’t play the field well. Most of them don’t cost anywhere near 31 million per year. He clearly overlooked the sentimental attachment many of us had to Pete but that’s not his job. That’s not why Steve Cohen brought him in. Cohen hired him to build a competitive team, a well oiled farm system, and ultimately to win a championship. Now we can say “he’s never won one before” but he’s never had these resources before. We can say “well he doesn’t seem to be using the resources right now” but he’s not going to just throw money at the wrong players and sadly, he viewed Pete Alonso as the wrong player to commit to long term. I would have thought differently, but that’s one of the many reasons I am not the President of Baseball Operations. It is easy to call him a fraud and doubt him and get angry. But do we really think that’s what’s happening? Everyone around the league speaks highly of him, he’s been doing this for a while, he’s a Harvard grad and a numbers guy. Why would any of that suggest he does not know what he’s doing? He suddenly forgot how to do this job? Stearns has not had the chance to really build his vision yet but prior to his arrival, almost all of us believed in it. During the 2023-24 offseason, for the first time in the Cohen era, we did not spend much. He took that first year to be prudent and assess what he had. We had a great season so none of us complained then. And he kept the team largely the same for the 2025 season. Obviously that one turned out much differently which told him everything he needed to know. I’m sure he didn’t really want to bring Pete back last year either but felt the pressure to do so especially after his postseason heroics. He probably also didn’t want to be the guy who comes in and immediately cans a fan favorite. Now, after one of the most disappointing seasons in Met’s history, and having been here for 2 years and probably feeling more comfortable, he finally goes to Steve and says look, this isn’t working. Major changes need to happen. It’s not going to be pretty. Do you trust me to do the job you hired me to do? Will you stand firm while we weather this inevitable storm? And Steve said yes. And that’s where we’re currently at.
What I’m getting at is that THERE IS A PLAN. Is the plan to win a world series in 2026? That’s probably shooting for the stars a bit. No one wants to hear that but it’s just realistic. And I’m not sure why that’s so difficult to hear for many of us- we haven’t won one in 40 years. We basically never win them. We usually don’t even make the playoffs. So to think that maybe we have a brief rebuilding year that doesn’t result in an immediate ring seems quite routine to me, a Mets fan of 30 years. Many of think that every season has to be a championship run and that we’re always just one or two pieces away from it. Stearns feels otherwise. We were not one or two pieces from winning a championship. It’s those kinds of half measures that have left us out of the dance season after season. We needed to almost tear it down. Out with the old, in with the new.
Things are tough right now. Bleak even, depending on the perspective you choose. But I remain hopeful. You can feel hopeful about the future and still be grieving the past simultaneously. And to those who may think this is finally it, I’m done with this team, well to each their own. But I bleed Blue and Orange. There is not a POBO, GM, first baseman, closer, terrible season, or anything that is going to sway that. That’s what being a fan is to me. So let’s try to remain positive, try to have some faith, and just be patient. Things are in motion. We may not have a clue what the plan is, but we’ll know it when we see it. Ya Gotta Believe. And above all else, LFGM!
