What are the Mets even doing!?

[NYGuido]

So, this offseason annoys me. Stearns clearly is piecing a rotation together again like he learned nothing from last year. His reluctance to give any longer than a 3 year deal cost them Tucker. They let Pete walk for similar money to what they gave Bichette, who is no better a defender than Pete. Their slated 1B and 3B never have played those positions before, yet the mantra apparently was to maximize run prevention.

What’s going on? Is Stearns treating this like Milwaukee until Cohen gets annoyed and mandates he go get someone? Is he trying to be the smartest guy in the room more than using his owner’s advantage (MONEY) to build the best team? Is he just inept? 

I live 10 minutes from CitiField but am not at all excited to go to games this year. It feels like an 80-win team at best and one that doesn’t have the talent to compete even in the division. Maybe other Mets fans like @JohnS can help me, but I’m just not seeing it. 

[JohnS]

Need I remind you of two words, @NYGuido? Namely, Jose Iglesias. No not the singer!

Rather, this guy...

You see, there's no need to remind everyone that baseball is a team game. And like all team games, one needs a reason to act in the best interest of each member on the team, especially when under duress or pressure to do so. Now, until Jose Iglesias came along as an injury replacement in 2024 you would remember, no doubt, that the team was not performing that well. Add the magic ingredients of Iglesias' steady bat, 'OMG' and Grimace and voila...you've got a team that completely turned it around and was one or two steps away from appearing in the World Series.

Fast forward to 2025 and by June the Mets have continued this run by having the best record in baseball up until the 12th, I believe. I think they went 45 wins and 24 losses. Thereafter, they managed to become the 4th (or 5th) worst team in baseball with 38 wins and 55 losses. How does the same group of individuals go from being potential 'word-beaters' to the MLB version of the New York Jets within the space of the same season?

Quite simply, they lost their reason to perform for each other in the same way as the start of the season. Team culture can be like that. It can elevate a whole group to the doorstep of heaven, yet it can also descend the same group of individuals into the pit of hell. Injuries is not enough of a factor to explain how so many players underperformed after the middle of June.

So, David Stearns, in consultation with team owner, Steve Cohen, resolved to rebuild the team culture for the 2026 season. This has been difficult on fans as even one's own worst enemy would agree that Brandon Nimmo is about the nicest team guy one could find in all of baseball outside of Freddie Freeman. From a fan point of view, there's a lot to admire about Pete Alonso too.

Nevertheless, apart from Edwin Diaz (who the Mets did not want to lose in free agency) management resolved that these hard decisions needed to be made to redress the lack of team unity. A lot has been said about the pitching performance of the Mets after June last year, but I would contend that a number of those players (such as David Petersen and Sean Manaea) could easily bounce back and perform to standard in consultation with the likes of Clay Holmes, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat. (I have not added Jonah Tong's name here as I feel he has some more development that he needs to do on his secondary pitches prior to pitching again in the Major Leagues.)

The Mets are not done for the off-season quite yet. There's still more moves to go, but it might not include giving anyone (including Framber Valdez and Cody Bellinger) a six-year contract. but things aren't quite as dire as they may seem.

No doubt we'll have more to add on this matter before Spring Training starts in one month from now (on February 20th).

[NYGuido]

8 hours ago, JohnS said:

Need I remind you of two words, @NYGuido? Namely, Jose Iglesias. No not the singer!

Rather, this guy...

You see, there's no need to remind everyone that baseball is a team game. And like all team games, one needs a reason to act in the best interest of each member on the team, especially when under duress or pressure to do so. Now, until Jose Iglesias came along as an injury replacement in 2024 you would remember, no doubt, that the team was not performing that well. Add the magic ingredients of Iglesias' steady bat, 'OMG' and Grimace and voila...you've got a team that completely turned it around and was one or two steps away from appearing in the World Series.

Fast forward to 2025 and by June the Mets have continued this run by having the best record in baseball up until the 12th, I believe. I think they went 45 wins and 24 losses. Thereafter, they managed to become the 4th (or 5th) worst team in baseball with 38 wins and 55 losses. How does the same group of individuals go from being potential 'word-beaters' to the MLB version of the New York Jets within the space of the same season?

Quite simply, they lost their reason to perform for each other in the same way as the start of the season. Team culture can be like that. It can elevate a whole group to the doorstep of heaven, yet it can also descend the same group of individuals into the pit of hell. Injuries is not enough of a factor to explain how so many players underperformed after the middle of June.

So, David Stearns, in consultation with team owner, Steve Cohen, resolved to rebuild the team culture for the 2026 season. This has been difficult on fans as even one's own worst enemy would agree that Brandon Nimmo is about the nicest team guy one could find in all of baseball outside of Freddie Freeman. From a fan point of view, there's a lot to admire about Pete Alonso too.

Nevertheless, apart from Edwin Diaz (who the Mets did not want to lose in free agency) management resolved that these hard decisions needed to be made to redress the lack of team unity. A lot has been said about the pitching performance of the Mets after June last year, but I would contend that a number of those players (such as David Petersen and Sean Manaea) could easily bounce back and perform to standard in consultation with the likes of Clay Holmes, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat. (I have not added Jonah Tong's name here as I feel he has some more development that he needs to do on his secondary pitches prior to pitching again in the Major Leagues.)

The Mets are not done for the off-season quite yet. There's still more moves to go, but it might not include giving anyone (including Framber Valdez and Cody Bellinger) a six-year contract. but things aren't quite as dire as they may seem.

No doubt we'll have more to add on this matter before Spring Training starts in one month from now (on February 20th).

Can you please, for the sake of Mets fans everywhere, be their NY beat writer? Please? This analysis and team love surpass what we get here on a daily basis. You managed to lower my blood pressure about this. 

LFGM! And, just maybe, bring back Candelita?

[JohnS]

Candelita? Oh yes, most definitely! And I appreciate the chance to help out here. 

There's also more to add about what went down with the Kyle Tucker deal and the pivot to Bo Bichette, but we can no doubt add more (here) in the next few weeks, as things transpire leading up to Spring Training.