I won't mince words here. Losing Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers was an epic failure for David Stearns and the Mets organization. And the way it went down will sting for a very long time.
To sum up, here's what happened. After the season ended, Diaz opted out of his contract that still had two years remaining with an AAV of $20.4 million. Stearns offered him a three-year deal with an AAV of $22 million. So, basically, the Mets offered inarguably their best pitcher, and arguably their third best player, a pay increase of $1.6 million. They then told his agent to "circle back" to them in the event another team came to the table with a higher offer.
For those not familiar with the art of negotiating, Stearns broke every rule in the book. First, he knew Diaz was not happy with his contract, hence the opting out; second, his offer of a $1.6 million raise was an insult to his closer; and third, he added insult to that injury by actually having the nerve to tell his agent to "circle back" to him if he received a higher offer. In other words, Stearns could've offered more and he chose not to.
Don't blame Diaz for this. He went with the higher offer. Free agents do that all the time. And don't blame the Dodgers. What were they supposed to do, not sign him? The blame here lies squarely with Stearns.
I spent 25 years in sales, 13 of them in retail. It is an axiom among people in my profession that you never allow the customer to walk without making your best offer. And above all else you never say "if you find a better price bring it back to me." You might as well kiss that customer goodbye. My managers would always chide me whenever I got pissed that I lost a sale. "Don't blame the customer," they would say. "It's your fault for not closing them."
They were right.
If Stearns could've offered more, he should've done so before the Dodgers got into the act. Going cheap the way he did made it that much easier for them to swoop in and sign him. And as far as "circling back," let's get something straight: there is no obligation on the part of a player agent to give the home team the last shot. Juan Soto was a special case. Scott Boras knew he had a bidding war between three teams; two of which were the Yankees and Mets. It was in his client's best interest to drag the process out as long as possible. Most teams know, or at least are told, that they need to make their best offer up front. The irony in this fiasco is that after the season Stearns said his primary focus would be "run prevention." Well he just let his number one run preventer leave.
My fear is that this isn't a one-off. I'm not a betting man, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pete Alonso is wearing a Red Sox uniform next year. The Mets were lucky last offseason. Alonso had an off year in 2024. That gave them the leverage they needed to re-sign him to a team-friendly deal. However he rebounded very nicely in '25 to have one of his best seasons as a Met. You can bet the ranch Boras will find a team that will be willing to meet his demands; whether that's Boston or Baltimore - the other team rumored to be interested in signing Pete.
And if Alonso leaves, you can flush next season down the drain. I'm serious. Who do you think provided Soto all that protection in the lineup? How many more times would he have been intentionally walked without the Polar Bear batting behind him? Even with Alonso, the Mets were a top heavy team. Without him, they'd be the fucking S.S. Poseidon on New Year's Eve. [If you don't know the reference there, you're too young.]
Why would a team owned by Steve Cohen, a billionaire 23 times over, be so penny wise and dollar foolish? I think the below chart might offer an explanation.
Several things stand out. 1. Only the Dodgers had a larger payroll in 2024 than the Mets; 2. the Mets made $444 million in revenue, $308 million less than the Dodgers; and 3. they spent 90 percent of that revenue on salaries plus luxury tax, by far the largest percentage of any team in the majors. Keep in mind, this was before New York signed Soto, who's earning $51 million per year.
I have no way of proving it, but I think Cohen did not expect to win the Soto sweepstakes. The prevailing sentiment was that if the offers were close, he would return to the Bronx. Indeed, the Mets bid was only $5 million more than the Yanks. As elated as the fanbase was at the time, in retrospect, Stearns could've used that money to beef up a pitching staff, which as we know all too well, was terrible last season. While the Yankees used the savings to sign Max Fried, who went 19-5 with an ERA of 2.86, the Mets went with a rotation of Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp.
It's entirely possible that Stearns has been told by Cohen to trim payroll wherever possible and seek out bargains. That was his specialty when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers. While the Dodgers are putting together a package to land Tarik Skubal, the Flushing Faithful may have to be satisfied with getting Devin Williams.
I hope I'm wrong; I hope Pete re-signs with the Mets and they get a big-name starter. I'm just not getting my hopes up. 39 years of frustration can make a cynic out of even the Pope.
And he's a White Sox fan.
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