For New York Mets fans, the trade that sent outfield Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers also came with some clear signals about the team’s priorities and the way they’ll do business this offseason.
Defense and run prevention will be the main priority, and money will also be in the equation, as the Mets basically swapped out a five year-deal for the three years remaining on the contract of Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien. Semien is making a bit more annually, but the Mets will save some money over the next few years as the deal plays out.
This trade will also affect closer Edwin Diaz and first baseman Pete Alonso. Both Mets stars have opted out of their deals, and they’re looking for big money. Whether GM David Stearns is willing to pay them is another matter entirely.
That could be especially true for Diaz, based on the latest from Will Sammon of The Athletic. The word coming from Diaz’s camp is that he wants the same kind of deal he signed last time around, which was five years for a total of $102 million. The Mets are looking at three years, and this is basically the same financial set up that made it easier to Stearns to justify trading Nimmo.
There are other good options on the closer market right now, and the Mets are reportedly interested in Robert Suarez and Devin Williams.
Williams feels like a bad bet given his reliance on the breaking ball as his out pitch, but Stearns knows him from his Milwaukee days, so there could be a possibility there. Suarez is 35, but he still throws hard and had great numbers this season, but the question with him would be whether he can handle the pressure of pitching in New York.
The Mets situation with Alonso is slightly more straightforward. They’d love to bring him back based on his production, but the message Stearns sent with this deal was that Alonso would have to do more time as a DH, and any five-year deal would probably have to fit whatever financial formula Stearns is using.
Alonso can probably get better offers depending on what his goals are, but it seems obvious that Stearns is intent on doing a complete makeover here, as Sammon suggests. It may not happen overnight, but deals to unload other older veterans like starter Kodai Senga and second baseman could happen quickly, perhaps even before the winter GM meetings start on Dec. 10. The offseason action is just getting started, and the GM has made his priorities very clear.