Franchise stars gone, key moves absent. Mets fans brace for disaster as spring training looms without significant reinforcements.
So far, the offseason hasn’t treated fans of the New York Mets too well. They’ve had to watch two of their franchise icons, first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz, choose other teams in free agency.
Instead of softening the blow by signing big-name talent, the Mets have failed to fully make up for their losses. They did sign relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, who are undoubtedly good additions to the bullpen in the wake of Diaz’s departure. Still, it will hurt Mets fans to see Diaz walk out to his iconic walkout song in another team’s uniform.
New York only somewhat found a replacement for Alonso, who finally left town after two free agencies in a row where it seemed the Mets weren’t all that interested in bringing him back. They signed Jorge Polanco on a $40 million deal with plans for him to play first base, a position he’s only played one MLB game at.
With the question marks surrounding the Mets’ offseason thus far, it makes sense as to why New York ranks second in Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report’s recent article listing teams on disaster watch.
“It's not that the Mets haven't done anything this winter. It's whether all the moves they've made have turned them into a better team,” Rymer wrote. “It's just plain weird to see the Mets in a position to dramatically cut their payroll from 2025 to 2026. It's always bad form whenever any contender does that, much less one whose owner is the wealthiest in the league by several orders of magnitude.”
The Mets have been fairly active, trading away players like outfielder Brandon Nimmo and utility man Jeff McNeil, but they have yet to make the big splash that many were expecting to come out of Queens after their 2025 collapse.
Their position on the list doesn’t mean things can’t quickly change for New York, however. In his article, Rymer noted that adding one of free agency's top starters, such as Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez, could shift the narrative of the Mets’ offseason. Adding another bat to their lineup would also help the Mets get out of disaster watch.
The biggest move that the Mets could make is pulling off a blockbuster trade for starting pitcher Tarik Skubal. It’s unlikely, but such a move would certainly shut down any talks of an underwhelming offseason in Queens. It may not be a Skubal trade, but expect at least one big move from the Mets in the coming weeks.