The New York Mets made drastic changes this offseason, replacing one-third of their roster with hopes that the overhaul rights last year's wrongs.
When the New York Mets had a brutal collapse down the stretch of the 2025 season that resulted in missing the playoffs by one game, most believed the team would go through some changes.
But replacing one-third of the roster? That seems pretty extreme, but years of frustration with the same core culminated in a huge overhaul that changed the landscape of Mets baseball.
On paper, the Mets did exactly what they set out to accomplish this offseason: get better defensively and improve the pitching staff. President of Baseball Operations David Stearns described this as run prevention and this team will be better defensively without question.
How much better remains to be seen. Just because you throw a bunch of talented players together doesn’t mean it will work out the way you envisioned it, and the way this new roster jells will determine whether this offseason was a win or a loss.
The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, Katie Woo and Will Sammon collaborated on an article that described their winners and losers of the offseason but because we don’t know how this roster will perform as a unit, Stearns and Mets Owner Steve Cohen were listed as undecided.
“The Mets waved goodbye to franchise stalwarts [Pete] Alonso, Edwin Díaz, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil,” Mooney, Woo and Sammon wrote Tuesday. “They added [Devin] Williams, Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco, Luke Weaver and [Freddy] Peralta. They ended up changing one-third of their roster.
“It made sense to make changes. It remains to be seen how the new pieces — including a couple playing new positions such as Bichette (third base) and Polanco (first base) — all jell.”
The pitching staff should hold up well, especially with rookie sensation Nolan McLean gearing up for a full Major League Baseball season after completely dominating the league at the end of last season, despite Williams coming off his worst season. But the defense is a bit concerning.
While new second baseman Marcus Semien is one of the best defenders at his position and Robert is a great defender – the center fielder has trouble staying healthy, the defensive metrics aren’t kind to Polanco and Bichette was a poor defender at shortstop and is transitioning to another difficult position.
Polanco could develop into being a decent defender at first base, at least when he is picking the ball out of the dirt, but first base is overlooked and not an easy position to learn. Bichette lacks range, which could make him a better fit for third base, but time will tell. He was solid at second base during the playoffs for the Toronto Blue Jays, but unless an injury takes Semien out of the lineup, Bichette won’t be sliding over.
The offense probably takes a step back without Alonso’s production in the middle of the order, but the lineup still packs a punch. This team is projected to make it to October this year, but we’ll see.