Mets Must Rebuild After Losing 3 Key Stars In Off-Season Moves

It’s been a tough week for fans of the New York Mets.

On back-to-back days at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, fan favorites Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz rode free agency out of town.

And that followed the trade of Brandon Nimmo, another popular player, for a second baseman (Marcus Semien) three years older.

After missing the playoffs on the last day of the 2025 season, the Mets had been expected to be aggressive this winter. But they were supposed to be adding, not subtracting.

Suddenly, the wealthiest owner in baseball needs to fill gaping holes at first base, left field, center field, and on the pitching staff – both starting and relieving.

Furious Fans

Judging by the outcry in the New York tabloids and sports radio talk shows, Steve Cohen’s major achievement during the annual confab was securing approval to build a casino complex in Queens adjacent to his ballpark.

Alonso, who got $155 from Baltimore in a five-year contract, never even got an offer from the Mets – even though he was the team’s lifetime leader in home runs.

Diaz, signed to a three-year, $69 million deal by the Dodgers, got a slightly lower offer from the Mets but was annoyed that the team signed fellow free-agent closer Devin Williams from the Yankees without telling him.

And Nimmo, cooperative to a fault, waived his no-trade clause to accept a trade to the Texas Rangers, an American League West team closer to his Wyoming home.

Letting his stars leave was a decision made by David Stearns, chief of baseball operations for the Mets. All three said they would have preferred to stay.

Writer’s Take

When the smoke cleared, the Mets had morphed from an 83-win team to a 73-win projection, according to New York Post columnist Jon Heyman.

“There are stars still available,” he wrote, “if anyone wants to come. But unless they acquire Tarik Skubal, two hitting stars, and half a bullpen, they have a shot to be even worse than last year.”

Skubal, winner of consecutive Cy Young Awards in the American League, is available by trade from the Detroit Tigers because he’ll be eligible for free agency next fall. It would take a haul to get him but the Mets are one of the few teams with an abundance of pitching prospects to trade.

Anxious to boost run prevention by improving their athleticism and defense, Semien is a huge upgrade at second base over incumbent Jeff McNeil.

Pete’s Record

But filling Alonso’s shoes at first won’t be easy; he has played the complete 162-game schedule two years in a row, made the National League All-Star team five times, and won the All-Star Home Run Derby twice. He was NL Rookie of the Year in 2019, when he hit a rookie-record 53 home runs.

Potential replacements range from McNeil and fellow holdover Mark Vientos to free agents Ryan O’Hearn, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Rhys Hoskins. Should the Mets decide to sign free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, an accomplished fielder, they could shift incumbent Brett Baty to the opposite infield corner.

Willson Contreras of the St. Louis Cardinals could be acquired by trade while rookie slugger Ryan Clifford might be promoted from the productive Mets minor-league system.

Both Alonso and Diaz were Mets for seven years, three years less than Nimmo, the longest-tenured Met. Such player longevity is rare.

With the exception of workhorse submarining reliever Tyler Rogers, who is still a free agent, the four veterans acquired at the July trade deadline last year have signed with other teams.

In addition to the plethora of new players the team will bring to Port St. Lucie, FL for spring training in February, the Mets will have to quell clubhouse turbulence triggered by jealousy and personality differences last season. One reported problem was the arrival of free agent outfielder Juan Soto, whose 15-year, $765 million contract was a record for years and dollars.

According to Roster Resource, the projected 2026 team payroll is $279 million, second in the majors to the $359 million of the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

With winning the most games the ultimate objective, the Mets have managed only a pair of world championships (1969 and 1986) since starting life as a National League expansion team in 1962.

They have won five pennants but none since 2015.