Stearns Goes All In

Last season, David Stearns had a fairly conservative trade deadline. "No blockbuster moves," was how I described it. And who could blame him? While the Mets were tied for the last Wild Card spot, by no means were they a shoo-in for the playoffs. A year after they sold off Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander to restock their farm system, the last thing Steans wanted was to undo all that progress the organization had made for a team that might not be ready to win. So he hedged his bets, opting instead to add a few complimentary pieces.

There was no hedging this time around. The Mets were in first-place going into the trade deadline; their owner, Steve Cohen, coughed up $765 million during the offseason to sign Juan Soto to a 15 year deal; the expectations could not be higher for this team. Stearns knew there were holes that had to be filled, and fill them he did.

The Bullpen was the number one concern. In April, the Mets overall team ERA was 2.68; in May, it was 3.08; from June 1 to June 12, it was 2.60; but from June 13 to July 31, it ballooned to a season-high 4.94. The major reason for this increase was the bullpen. Put succinctly, it's been overworked. With the exception of Edwin Diaz and Reed Garrett (most nights), every reliever showed definite signs of fatigue. It had gotten so bad that every time Carlos Mendoza went to his pen he was playing Russian Roulette, only with six bullets instead of one. Clearly, the situation was untenable. Failure to act would've been tantamount to executive malpractice on Stearns' part.

So he went out and got one very good, and two exceptional arms. Gregory Soto was the first to arrive. A southpaw, Soto's specialty is dominating left-handed hitters, holding them to a .547 OPS. Righties, however, have an OPS of .726 against him, so Mendoza will have to be careful in how he utilizes him. 

Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley are both right-handers and were acquired within hours of each other. Rogers boasts a 1.80 ERA, while Helsley had 21 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. Both pitchers should make ideal set-up men for Edwin Diaz, while Soto will primarily be used in the 6th or 7th innings.

Centerfield was the next concern. Let's face it: if there's a more automatic out in baseball than Tyrone Taylor, I haven't seen him. Initial reports had the Mets acquiring Luis Robert Jr from the Chicago White Sox, but when Chicago's asking price was too high, Stearns shifted gears and landed Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles. To be honest, Mullins is the better player. Going into last night's game against the Giants, Mullins slash line was 15 / 49 / .229 / .738, while Robert Jr's was 11 / 44 / .213 / .653. 

In Mullins, the Mets have an exceptional outfielder known for his glove and ability to hit the long ball. He will be a vast improvement over Taylor and allow Mendoza to keep Jeff McNeil at Second Base where he belongs. As for the lineup, since Stearns didn't have to part with any players on the roster, it just got longer. The only casualty was Luisangel Acuña, who was sent down to Syracuse to make room for Mullins. His defense and ability to steal bases will be sorely missed. 

The good news is that Stearns was able to add four very valuable pieces at the deadline without sacrificing any top prospects in the organization.  The only bad news was that he wasn't able to land a starter. While not nearly as troublesome as the bullpen, the starting rotation is, nonetheless, becoming a concern for Mendoza. David Peterson is the only starter who's been able to consistently pitch into the 7th inning. Clay Holmes, the converted closer the Mets stole from the Yankees during the offseason, hasn't gotten through the 6th inning since June 7, and lately has struggled to get through five. In his last outing, Frankie Montas was staked to a 5-1 lead going into the 5th inning and couldn't hold it. His ERA is as high as an attendee at a Grateful Dead concert.

It would've been nice to add someone like a Dylan Cease or Joe Ryan or Sandy Alcantra or Merrill Kelly to that rotation, but I suspect the price tag for those starters was more than Stearns was willing to pay. Indeed, it probably would've been more than what he paid for all three relievers. The logical choice was to fortify the bullpen and hope that Mendoza can somehow manage to get five innings out of his starters.

Last year, I gave Stearns a B+. This year, I'm giving him an A. With the exception of A.J. Preller of the San Diego Padres, no executive had a better trade deadline than Stearns. He identified two critical needs on the roster and he addressed both of them. No, he didn't get everything he wanted; spoiler alert: no general manager ever does. But what he did get should be enough for the Mets to win the National League East, and perhaps advance to their first World Series in ten years.

Lofty goals, to be sure, but as I wrote above, the expectations for this team could not be higher.

Mets At the All-Star Break

Last year, the New York Mets went into the All-Star break with a record of 49-46, 12.5 games out of first place; this year at the break, their record stands at 55-42, a half game out of first. 

At first glance, you'd probably conclude that this Mets team is much better poised to win than last year's. But when you check under the hood, that conclusion seems a bit premature. I'll explain.

The 2024 Mets got off to a dreadful start. On June 2, they were 24-35, mired in fourth place in the National League East. CitiField looked more like a morgue than a major league ballpark. Slowly, but surely, the boys from Flushing clawed their way back into playoff contention. But it wasn't until late August that the Amazins really took off. They went 20-9 down the stretch to clinch a Wild Card spot.

This year, the Mets got off to a great start. On June 12, they were 45-24, five and a half games up on the Philadelphia Phillies. Since then, they've gone 10-18. Their bullpen, once the best in baseball, has struggled mightily. Apart from Edwin Diaz, there's not one reliever Carlos Mendoza can rely on to get a crucial out.

Reed Garrett, who had an ERA of 0.95 on June 10, has allowed nine earned runs in his last nine and a third innings. Though to be fair, eight of those earned runs came in two games; and in one of those games, he failed to record an out.

Ryne Stanek, who had an ERA of 1.04 in the month of May, has posted ERAs of 6.23 and 7.36 in June and July respectively. Mendoza, for some strange reason, elected to go to him in the 8th inning of a game in which the Mets were ahead 1-0 and David Peterson was in complete control; he then promptly surrendered a two-run home run.

Huascar Brazobán, like Garrett, got off to a very good start. In May, his ERA was 1.26. In June, it was 13.5, and in July it is currently 5.40.

Starting to notice a pattern? Hopefully David Stearns is. Because this bullpen isn't remotely good enough for a team with championship expectations. And let's get one thing straight: when you drop $765 million on a single player, the expectation is that at some point you're going to win a championship. While it's true that Steve Cohen may be an incurable optimist, he didn't get to be this successful by throwing away his money. 

But the bullpen isn't the only area of concern. Put succinctly, there are four bats in this lineup that, with a few rare exceptions, have been pretty close to automatic outs this season. Tyrone Taylor is a vacuum cleaner in center field; at home plate, he's utterly useless; Luis Torrens (.206) and Hayden Senger (.174) are outstanding defensive catchers who can barely hit AAA pitching; Mendoza has tried three different players at 3rd base and so far, none have hit well enough to win the position outright. As for the DH spot, the Mets would do better holding a telethon. Face it: as good as Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil have been, there's no way this team will win the World Series with that many holes in the batting order.

With the return of Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea, Mendoza will have a much better starting rotation in the second half. The only question is how deep can these starters go? So far, only Peterson has demonstrated he can go more than six innings. Clay Holmes is basically a five-inning pitcher, and Senga is injury prone. In other words, whichever starter the Mets send to the mound, the bullpen will likely be the difference between winning and losing.

With that in mind, Stearns would do well to focus his efforts on fortifying the pen. Middle relievers will cost less than a starter. As far as adding a bat, Harrison Bader could be had for a mid-level prospect. He's currently batting .254 with 11 home runs and 34 runs batted in for the Minnesota Twins. Last year, he hit .236 with 12 HRs and 51 RBIs for the Amazins. Assuming Francisco Alvarez gets recalled sometime this month, the hope is he can rediscover the swing he had two years ago when he smacked 25 homers. 

The good news is that even with all their flaws, the Mets are only a half game out of first. That's because the Phillies have their own flaws. It wouldn't take much tweaking by Stearns to put this team on the glide path. The issue isn't who's available but what the asking price will be. If the Mets can get a player or two with team control without having to give up a top prospect, they should absolutely do it. But if the asking price means gutting their farm system, I would pass.

On the whole, the Mets have had a good first half. They seem to have weathered the worst of that storm in mid to late June. And they are still the front-runners in the National League East. Can they win it all? That depends on what Stearns does over the next couple of weeks.

Mets in a Free Fall

"Tough stretch, no sugarcoating it. I didn’t see this coming. I’m as frustrated as everybody else. We will get through this period. Our injured pitching will come back over the next few weeks. It is unlikely the team’s hitting with RISP will continue at this weak pace. Keep the faith!" -  Steven A. Cohen, owner of the New York Mets

With all due respect to Steve, this is not just a tough stretch. A tough stretch would be going 2-7. It's hard to fathom, but on June 12, the Mets were 45-24, twenty-one games over .500 and solidly in first place in the National League East. After yesterday's loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, they're now 48-37, and the only reason they're a game and a half out of first is because the Philadelphia Phillies haven't exactly taken off.

The Mets are 3-13 in their last 16 games. In colloquial terms that's called a free fall. And the worst part about this "stretch" is that they haven't been remotely competitive in most of their losses. In the three-game sweep against the Pirates, New York was outscored 30-4, their most lopsided series loss in their 64 years as a franchise. Given how many bad teams this organization has fielded over its history, that is a damnable stat.

They're not hitting; they're not pitching; in short, nothing is going right. Ironically, the only player who's exceeding expectations is Juan Soto. For the month of June, the $765 million dollar man hit 11 home runs, drove in 20 and batted .322 with an OPS of 1.196. Conversely, Francisco Lindor - the leadoff hitter - had 4 homers, 10 RBIs and batted .204 with an OPS of just .628.

It's one thing to keep the faith; Mets fans are experts at that. It's quite another to look in the mirror and know the truth. Despite its top-level talent, this team has more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese. The starting rotation has been ravaged by injuries. Kodai Senga, Sean Maneae, Frankie Montas and Griffin Canning have all spent time on the IR. Canning is lost for the year after rupturing his left Achilles against the Atlanta Braves last week. 

The bullpen, which had been the best in baseball for most of the season, since June 13 has sprung more leaks than the Titanic and Lusitania combined. Over the last 16 games, their combined ERA is 6.59. Apart from Edwin Diaz, there isn't a single reliever Carlos Mendoza can trust in a tight spot.

And contrary to what Cohen alluded to in his tweet, the RISP issue is not a recent thing. It's plagued this team all season long. The Mets are batting just .217 with runners in scoring position. Only the Chicago White Sox at .208 are worse. To put that in perspective, the Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers - the current division leaders in the National League - are batting .262, .281 and .298 respectively with runners in scoring position. 

The bottom half of the lineup is as close to an automatic out as there is in baseball. After coming back from a hamstring injury, Mark Vientos looks lost at the plate. In his last three games, he's gone 1-13, and that one hit was a dribbler up the third base line. Ronnie Mauricio, aside from smacking three dingers, clearly cannot handle major-league pitching; and Francisco Alvarez had gotten so bad, the Mets were forced to send him back down to Syracuse to help him get his swing back. All the faith in the world can't overcome this level of ineptitude.

The fact is the Mets, even with the second-highest payroll in baseball, lack the depth to be a good team. David Stearns has done a credible job of piecing together a pitching staff that until recently was the envy of every GM in the majors. And now it is coming unglued. Take away Lindor, Soto, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo, and most of the remaining hitters would have a hard time cracking the Oakland A's lineup. Even in a sport as individualistic as baseball, you still need more than a handful of players to win a championship.

If this hemorrhaging doesn't come to an end soon, the Flushing Faithful may have to endure yet another year of bitter disappointment.

But then that's become a rite of passage, hasn't it?

Memo To Steve Cohen: Pay the Polar Bear!

Much has been written about the great start the New York Mets have gotten off to. At 39-23, they have the best record in the National League, and the second best record in the Majors. Their team ERA of 2.83 is the best in baseball; followed by the San Francisco Giants at 3.06 and the Texas Rangers at 3.17. The LA Dodgers, last year's World Series champs, are currently 20th with a 4.12 team ERA.

Much of the credit for the pitching goes to David Sterns, who without one of his best starters from last year in Sean Manaea, has assembled one of the best and deepest staffs in baseball. Seriously, if you had the Mets with the number one team ERA after 62 games, I want to see the receipts, and then I've got a cup for you to pee in. Nobody saw this coming.

But as great as the pitching has been, the Mets wouldn't be where they are in the standings without the exploits of one Pete Alonso, AKA the Polar Bear. Last night he smacked two home runs against the Dodgers; the latter a three-run shot that traveled 447 feet into the left-field pavilion. Overall, Alonso was responsible for five of the six runs the Mets scored in the game.

This is not the first time he has carried his team across the threshold. Apart from a slump in May where he went 65 at bats without hitting a home run, the Polar Bear has been the Mets most consistent offensive threat pretty much the entire season.

Just look at his slash line so far this season: 

Avg: .290, HRs: 14, RBIs: 53, OBP: .386, SLG: .563, OPS: .949.

Alonso is on track to finish the season with 37 homers and 138 runs batted in. What's been most impressive about Pete is that he's hitting to all fields and avoiding swinging at bad pitches; something he did quite frequently the last two seasons. On a team that is hitting an anemic .219 with runners in scoring position - fourth worst in the Majors - Alonso's RISP average is .349. 

And to think, the Polar Bear almost didn't re-sign with the Mets. Alonso's agent Scott Boras was looking for a long-term deal in excess of $200 million. But Steve Cohen and Stearns played hardball and wouldn't budge. Finally, both sides agreed on a two-year deal for $54 million with an opt out after this season. Based on what Alonso has done so far this season, I'd say the odds of Pete opting out are somewhere between 100 percent and Are you fucking kidding me?

Which brings me to the title of my piece. Last offseason, Cohen had all the leverage. Alonso was coming off inarguably the worst season of his career: 34 HRs, 88 RBIs, and an OPS of just .788. Boras badly overplayed his hand. He thought there would be significant demand for Alonso's services. Turns out there wasn't and Cohen knew it.

That won't be the case this offseason, not with the year Alonso is having. Boras's cell phone will be ringing off the hook come November. You can just imagine what the offers will look like. Think seven years, $300 million. And that's just for starters. In case you misplaced your calculator, that comes out to $42.8 million per year. 

If you think that's crazy, consider that the Mets are paying Juan Soto $51 million per year and he's batting .232 with 11 HRs and 31 RBIs. Which is crazier, Alonso at $42.8m or Soto at $51m?

If Cohen is smart - and by all indications he is - he will get his checkbook out now rather than wait for the fall. The longer this goes on, the more it'll cost him. Boras is not one to forgive and forget. He knows once Pete hits the free agent market he will be in the driver's seat. Maybe he can get a home-team discount; say $20 million. Alonso may prefer to stay in Flushing, but let's face it: with an agent like Boras, if someone makes him an offer he can't refuse, it'll be adios for the Polar Bear.

And that's why Cohen cannot let that happen. As of this writing, Alonso is only two home runs shy of David Wright for second place on the Mets all-time home run list, twelve behind Darryl Strawberry for first. Barring injury, he should pass Strawberry sometime in late July or early August. You don't let guys like that walk, especially when they're literally the only ones producing in the clutch for you. 

Don't get me wrong: Francisco Lindor is having a great year, and sooner or later, Soto will get untracked. But this team would barely be above .500 if Alonso weren't in the lineup. His teammates know it, he knows it, and most of all, his agent knows it.

Like that Fram Oil commercial from the '70s used to say, "You can pay me now or you can pay me later."

Pay him now, Steve!

Mets Off To a Roaring Start

Four weeks into the 2025 baseball season, the New York Mets are 18-7, five games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East and currently sitting atop the major league standings. After going 7-0 on this home stand, they are now 12-1 at home, their best start in franchise history, and that includes 1986.

And here's the thing: they are doing all this with Juan Soto still stuck in second gear. With a few rare exceptions, he's been a non-factor this season. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have done most of the heavy lifting. And speaking of Alonso, the Polar Bear is off to his best start as a Met. Here is his slash line so far and where it ranks: AVG .341 (5th), HRs 6 (5th), RBIs 26 (T 1st), OBP .440 (4th), SLG .681 (3rd), OPS 1.122 (2nd).

As for Lindor, after going hitless in March, the Captain is batting .349 with 5 HRs, 14 RBIs and a .972 OPS in April, including a walk-off homer against the St. Louis Cardinals and two dingers against the Phillies. How unusual is this? Last season he couldn't hit his way out of a paper bag in April and May.

And while The Three Amigos - Lindor, Soto and Alonso - rightly garner most of the attention, the rest of the lineup is starting to pick it up. Mark Vientos hit a pair of home runs on this home stand, Brett Baty crushed a two run homer into the upper deck and Starling Marte got the game-winning hit to complete the sweep against the Phillies. Isn't it fun when everyone contributes?

The pitching continues to dominate. In 2024, the Mets team ERA was 4.03. This year, it's 2.34, first in the majors. The San Diego Padres are next at 2.92, followed by the Detroit Tigers at 2.94. The starters have not allowed a home run in their last 12 starts, and the bullpen, apart from Edwin Diaz, has been almost spotless. In eleven relief appearances this season, Reed Garrett has yet to give up an earned run. Overall, the staff has the 8th lowest WHIP in baseball at 1.18.

What a difference a year makes. Last season, the Mets got off to a so-so start in April, then did a swan dive in May. It wasn't until after Memorial Day that they began to put it together. From June 3 through the end of the regular season, the Mets were the best team in baseball with a record of 65-38, and a .631 winning percentage. 

This season, the Mets winning percentage is .720. Over a 162 game schedule that translates to a record of 117-45. While no one seriously believes they'll win 117 games, if they simply duplicate last year's .631 win percentage from June thru September, that would come out to 102 regular season wins. I'm pretty sure Steve Cohen would be very happy with that, especially if it's followed up with 11 postseason wins. 

If you think I'm getting ahead of myself, consider this: we know that Soto is going to eventually start producing; he almost had his first CitiField home run the other day but it went foul by about two feet. Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez are set to return Friday, while Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea are due back in mid May. With the Phillies bullpen in disarray and the Atlanta Braves off to a poor start, the Mets should be the clear favorites to win the NL East. The only question is whether they will have the home-field advantage in October?

To reiterate what I wrote in my last piece on the Mets: The excitement is palpable; the expectations couldn't be higher.

Mets 2025 Season Preview

Let's face it: the moment the New York Mets signed Juan Soto to that $765 million contract, expectations for the 2025 season began to soar. With the re-signing of Pete Alonso, those expectations have now passed the stratosphere. Next stop, thermosphere. 

With Francisco Lindor leading off, the Amazins' have arguably the best batting order in franchise history. I say arguably because the 2006-08 Mets had Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright batting 3-5. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Regardless of which order you prefer, there's no denying that this team is better and deeper than the one that was two wins away from its first World Series appearance since 2015. 

Don't take my word for it. Just check it out for yourselves:

1. Francisco Lindor - SS
2. Juan Soto - RF
3. Pete Alonso - 1B
4. Mark Vientos - 3B
5. Brandon Nimmo - RF
6. Starling Marte - DH
7. Jeff McNeil - 2B
8. Franciso Alvares - C
9. Jose Siri - CF

Objectively speaking, only the Los Angeles Dodgers boast a better 1-9.

If there's one concern about this Mets team, it's the starting rotation. Both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea will start the season on the disabled list and are not expected back until mid-May. That means that the bulk of the load will fall onto the shoulders of converted reliever Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Kodai Senga. Holmes had an outstanding spring training, boasting a 0.93 ERA, but Megill and Peterson are ostensibly .500 pitchers, while Senga is coming back from an injury that kept him out most of last season. In other words, Carlos Mendoza will have his work cut out for him managing this staff. 

The bullpen should be just fine with closer Edwin Diaz leading the way. And Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuna, Jesse Winker, Tyrone Taylor and Luis Torrens provide plenty of depth in the lineup. No one can say that Steve Cohen and David Stearns haven't done a great job here.

But while this may be the most talented Mets team in almost twenty years, they are hardly a lock to win their division. That's because while the Dodgers may own the NL West, the NL East is the deepest division in Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves are perfectly capable of emerging on top come October. That's why it's essential that this team get off to a good start. They can't afford a repeat of 2024 when they began the season 24-35.

That's why I have the Mets as the prohibitive favorites to win the NL East. Assuming that Soto and Lindor stay healthy and Diaz is lights out, I don't think there's a team east of the Rockies that can touch them.

And now for my predictions for each division, plus which teams will make the league championship and World Series.

National League East:

Mets
Phillies (WC)
Braves (WC)
Marlins
Nationals

National League Central:

Brewers
Cardinals
Cubs
Pirates
Reds

National League West:

Dodgers
Padres (WC)
Diamondbacks
Giants
Rockies

American League East:

Red Sox
Yankees (WC)
Blue Jays (WC)
Rays
Orioles

American League Central:

Guardians
Tigers
Royals
Twins
White Sox

American League West:

Mariners
Rangers (WC)
Astros
Angels
A's

WC = Wild Card

NLCS:

Mets over Dodgers 4-3

ALCS:

Red Sox over Mariners 4-2

World Series:

Mets over Red Sox 4-2

As with all my predictions, you should take them with a rather large grain of salt.

Time Was Always on the Mets Side

Well, it's finally done. The Polar Bear is coming back to Queens. After several months of intense negotiations, in which Steve Cohen verbally expressed his frustrations, Pete Alonso and his agent Scott Boras cried uncle.

To be clear, time was always on the Mets side. Boras thought he had a winning hand. He thought if he could just hold out a little longer, he would get Cohen to give in. As it turns out, though, Cohen and his GM David Stearns knew the market better than he did. So they gave Alonso two choices: a three-year deal for $71 million with no opt outs or a two-year deal for $54 million with an opt out after 2025. Alonso chose the latter. Which means we'll probably be back here again a year from now. But that's next year. 

Forget all that nonsense about those "offers" from the Los Angeles Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Angels are where ball players go to die. Think about it: they had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in 2023 and still managed to win only 73 games. Can you imagine Pete playing for them? Honestly, that was an easy bluff for Cohen to call. 

As for the Blue Jays, Toronto has been, and always will be, a hockey town. They live and die with their Maple Leafs. Seriously, Alonso could win the Triple Crown and all anyone would care about was whether Auston Matthews was going to lead the NHL in goals. Why do you think Vladimir Guerrero Jr gave the Jays a deadline of February 17 to present an acceptable long-term contract offer? He wants to be there as much as a nun wants to be at a frat party. 

Indeed, the silver lining in all this is that by giving Pete $30 million up front, it gives the Mets an excuse to pivot to Guerrero Jr should he decide to play hardball with them after the season. Ya gotta love the way Cohen operates.

So now that the Mets finally have their lineup in place for this coming season, the only question is who bats behind Francisco Lindor: Alonso or Juan Soto? Either way, this will be the most potent offense the Amazins have had since that 2006-08 team, which had Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright. To paraphrase Mr. T., "I pity the fool who has to pitch to that lineup."

After the Soto signing, I thought the Mets were good, but not quite good enough to beat out the Philadelphia Phillies or Atlanta Braves for the NL East. With Alonso back, and with the improvements Stearns has made to the bullpen, this might be the second best team in all of baseball.

The Flushing Faithful have waited a long time for this moment. It's finally here.

Cohen and Stearns Are Taking a Huge Risk

"The hard part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch." 

- The Hunt for Red October

If the reports we're hearing are to be believed, the New York Mets have decided they're not going to flinch at all. Their "final" offer of three years, $70 million to Pete Alonso was rejected by his agent, Scott Boras. They have now pivoted to Plan B. Part One of Plan B was the re-signing of Jesse Winker yesterday to a one year, $7.5 million contract. Winker hit .253 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs last season. He will platoon for the DH spot with Starling Marte. The second part of Plan B is addressing the bullpen. With the signing of A. J. Minter to a two-year, $22 million contract, pending a physical, they appear to have done that. Minter was 5-4 with one save and a 2.62 ERA. He should make an ideal set up man for Edwin Diaz. 

Look, do I think Boras overplayed his hand here? Without question. He gambled that the demand for Alonso would be so great that the Mets would have no choice but to acquiesce to his demands. Obviously that didn't happen. And now with pitchers and catchers only a few weeks away, Alonso appears to be on a desert island with few, if any suitors.

That's not the Mets fault. It's not their responsibility to manage the financial affairs of one of their own free agents, even if he is an overall good guy who's popular with his fellow teammates. And it's not the obligation of Steve Cohen to overpay for an asset that the market has already determined isn't as valuable as the player's agent thinks it is. How do you think Cohen got to be so rich in the first place?

But that doesn't mean that Cohen and his GM David Stearns aren't taking a huge risk here. Let's face it, while Juan Soto is a much better hitter than Alonso, without the Polar Bear in this lineup, the Mets are ostensibly repeating the same mistake the Yankees made last season when Soto and Aaron Judge were the primary run producers on the team. That worked out so well that Soto couldn't wait to get the hell out of the Bronx.

Mark Vientos had an outstanding 2024 season. In his first full year in the majors, he batted .266 with 27 HRs and 71 RBIs playing third base for the Mets. There's no guarantee he'll be as productive in his second full year; there's also no guarantee he'll be able to make the transition to first base. Alonso may have had his shortcomings but he was a good first baseman who could be counted on to hit 40 plus home runs per season. Even in a down year, he still managed to hit 35 dingers. His production will be missed.

Maybe all this is just a ploy to get Alonso to reconsider. Get him to realize that the ship is leaving port with or without him, and maybe he'll come to his senses. With Boras as his agent that isn't likely to happen. The only thing old Scott thinks about is his wallet. If he could get $500 million for Alonso to play on the moon he'd do it in a heart beat. That's the problem with choosing agents like Boras. They never consider the interests of their clients; only their own bottom line.

Then there's the rumor - and let's be polite and call it a rumor - that Stearns is pursuing a trade for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr from the Toronto Blue Jays. The 26 year old first baseman batted .323 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs. He signed a one-year, $28.5 million deal to avoid arbitration. Forget for a moment that any team looking to land him would pay a king's ransom in prospects, he's a pending free agent after this season. And while he probably won't command the same money Soto did, he's not going to be cheap. Think $500 million over 12 years. And keep in mind, before Soto hit the market, I thought his contract would come in around $600 million. I was off by $165 million. To paraphrase Bill Murray in Ghost Busters, "No salary is too high" when it comes to baseball.

For now, this is the Mets projected lineup for the 2025 season:

Francisco Lindor - SS
Soto - RF
Vientos - 1B
Brandon Nimmo - LF
Winker / Marte - DH
Jeff McNeil / Luisangel Acuna - 2B
Francisco Alvarez - C
Tyrone Taylor / Jose Siri - CF
Brett Baty - 3B

Not bad, but hardly the 1927 Yankees. And if the starting rotation doesn't pan out, or if Soto struggles in his first season with the team just like Lindor did in his first season, the Mets will have a tough time competing for a Wild Card spot, much less the division.

Far be it for me to tell Steve Cohen how to spend his money, but I think he should reconsider his offer to Alonso. Maybe Pete isn't worth what he's asking for, but let's be honest, was Soto really worth $765 million? You and I both know the answer to that. If Boras rejected $70 million over three years, try upping the ante to, say, $90 million over three, with an opt out after the first year. We're talking about a home grown player who's third in team history with 226 home runs. That has to count for something, even in these cut throat times.

Bottom line, the Mets lineup is stronger with Alonso hitting behind Soto than Vientos. Cohen knows it, Stearns knows it, Boras knows it, Carlos Mendoza knows it, and Pete knows it.

Re-sign the Polar Bear. It's the right thing to do.

Cohen Bags Soto

That vibration you felt last night was George Steinbrenner not only turning over in his grave but punching the sides of the casket with both fists. In what can only be described as the greatest coup in the 63 year history of the franchise, the New York Mets not only landed the biggest prize in free agency, they literally stole him from their cross-town rival Yankees.

Juan Soto is a Met. The 26 year-old right fielder signed for an unprecedented $765 million over 15 years. The contract includes a $75 million signing bonus and an opt out after five years should Soto decide to leave Flushing. To put this in perspective, Tom Brady and LeBron James combined earned $761 million over their collective careers which spanned 45 years.

But the most amazing thing - no pun intended - about this was that the Mets offer was only $5 million more than the Yankees. The Yankees offered $760 million over 16 years; the Mets offered $765 million over 15 years. Late Sunday, it was widely believed that if the two teams were close, Soto would remain in the Bronx. Yours truly tweeted that for the Mets to land Soto they would have to be $30-$50 million above the Yankees offer.

So much for the mystique of playing for the Yankees. 

Yankees fans can cry in their beer and accuse Soto of being a mercenary all they want - and let's be honest, if not for Cohen's immense financial resources, this is just a pipe dream for the Mets - the fact is Soto is a clutch player who in seven seasons in the big leagues has hit 201 home runs and boasts a career .953 OPS. In the 2019 postseason, he hit .277 with 5 home runs and 14 runs batted in with an OPS of .927 for the Washington Nationals. Last postseason, he hit .327 with 4 HRs and 9 RBIs with an OPS of .1101 for the Yankees. The man is a winner, and if Brian Cashman had done a better job at the trade deadline last season, the Bronx Bombers might well have won their 28th World Series title instead of losing to the LA Dodgers in five. 

Face it, the Mets have a more balanced team with enough hitters to protect Soto in the lineup, especially if they re-sign Pete Alonso, which now seems likely given the season the Polar Bear had last year and the fact that he's gotten zero interest for his services from other teams. In fact, it would not surprise me at all to learn that Cohen reassured Soto that Alonso or someone comparable would be playing first base for the Mets in 2025.

If you're a Mets fan you have every right to crow today. Moments like this do not come along very often. The last time the Flushing Faithful were this giddy about a new player was 2005 when then GM Omar Minaya signed Carlos Beltran to a 7 year, $119 million contract. Though Beltran struggled his first year as a Met, he had three consecutive 100 plus RBI seasons after that.

But as wonderful as this moment may seem, there is still more work ahead for Cohen and David Stearns. With or without Alonso returning to the fold, the Mets will need to replace Luis Severino, who signed a three-year, $67 million deal with the Oakland A's. The right-hander had his best season since 2018, going 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA. Frankie Montas is a good addition, but hardly what you would call an ace. Clay Holmes led the Yankees in saves with 30 and would make a far better set-up man for Edwin Diaz than a starter, which is what the Mets envision him as. Like Severino, Sean Manaea opted out of his contract to become a free agent. Re-signing him should be a priority for Stearns. And let's not forget, Kodai Senga will be coming back from an injury that sidelined him most of last season. There is virtually no pathway to a World Series appearance for the Mets without a quality starting rotation. 

Re-signing Jesse Winker would give Carlos Mendoza another hitter who can platoon with Starling Marte in the DH spot. Jose Iglesias provided a spark last season and can play both 2nd and 3rd base. Hopefully he can be brought back at a reasonable price. And if Stearns can find a suitable suitor for Jeff McNeil, that would free up second base for Luisangel Acuña. The young phenom batted .308 and hit 3 homers in just 12 games last season.

Bottom line: After years of playing second fiddle and living in the shadow of the House That Ruth Built, the Mets, thanks to Steve Cohen, have staked their claim to the city. For the time being, the back pages of the daily newspapers are theirs. They have the mojo. What they do with it next is entirely up to them.

April can't come fast enough.

For the Mets, the Future Looks Very Bright

They started off 0-5; were eleven games under .500 going into June. And from that point on, the New York Mets had the best record in baseball. For a team that was supposed to be punting on the season, what this group of players did was nothing short of amazing. 

They made the playoffs literally on the last day of the season, then went on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card round and the Philadelphia Phillies in the divisional round, before finally losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. 

To come within two wins of going to their first World Series since 2015 sucks, I know, but the pain will go away. As Howie Rose said on the Mets radio broadcast, this team took its fans on an "incredible ride" this season, a ride that was improbable only a year ago. Not only is the glass half filled, the glass is literally under a running faucet. The Flushing faithful may finally be rewarded for their patience.

But before we get to 2025, let's first acknowledge the accomplishments of 2024.

Francisco Lindor: The team MVP delivered. Not only was he the most consistent player on the roster, his two-run homer in the top of the 9th inning in Atlanta was responsible for getting the Mets in the playoffs. His players-only meeting in late May likely saved the season.

Pete Alonso: The Polar Bear had a disappointing regular season, but came through with flying colors in the postseason. He hit two huge three-run homers: the first against the Brewers and the second against the Dodgers. Both times the Mets were facing elimination. No one knows whether Steve Cohen will re-sign him, but even if this was the last hurrah for Pete, at least he can say he went out with a bang.

The starting rotation: Even before Kodak Senga went down, this staff on paper more closely resembled Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp than a legitimate rotation. And yet it wound up being the club's biggest strength. Sean Manaea and Luis Severino had career years and led the team in wins with 12 and 11 respectively. Jose Quintana and David Peterson - who had his best year as a Met - finished with 10 wins a piece. A healthy Senga could mean an extra 10-15 wins for the team next season. 

Mark Vientos: This burgeoning star, who began the season in Triple A, finished third on the team in home runs with 27, and had a team-leading .327 batting average and 14 RBIs in the playoffs. The Mets finally have their third baseman.

Luisangel Acuna: The center piece in the Max Scherzer trade last year, came up late in the season and took over at short stop when Lindor was out with a back injury. The 22 year-old contributed with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs with an OPS of .966. Just imagine him at 2nd base next year.

Carlos Mendoza: The rookie skipper probably won't win manager of the year, but there's no denying the impact he had in the dugout. His belief in his players when the season was on the brink kept the wheels from falling off. And while his handling of the bullpen at times was puzzling, he has the makings of a great manager. The Mets appear to have found their next Davey Johnson.

And now for 2025:

Center Field: Let's face it, while both Harrison Bader and Tyrone Taylor are excellent fielders, neither are terribly gifted offensively. David Stearns needs to find someone who can both hit and field for this position.

Juan Soto: File this under "Who do I have to kill?" Two years ago, I wrote the Mets needed to move heaven and earth to acquire the young star. Turns out, they didn't have the prospects to land him. Now that he's a free agent after the season, the only thing standing between him patrolling right field in Flushing or in the Bronx will be money. Fortunately for the Mets, Cohen has a boat load of it. If he elects not to re-sign Alonso, he can put the savings towards signing Sota. There's also the possibility that Cohen may want both players. Can you imagine what a lineup of Lindor, Vientos, Soto, Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Alvarez would look like?

The bullpen: Stearns addressed this weak spot for the Mets at the trade deadline, but he will need to do more during the offseason. The Dodgers pretty much had their way with them in the NLCS. Hopefully, Adam Ottavino has played his last game as a Met.

Francisco Alvarez: There's no denying the kid's talent, but he needs to improve his defense as a catcher and become more disciplined at the plate. Perhaps playing Winter ball will help him in both areas. He has the power to hit 25-30 home runs per season. 

JD Martinez and Jesse Winker: They proved to be an effective DH tandem for the Mets, but Martinez struggled over the last couple of months. Both are free agents and could be re-signed for a reasonable price, which will be necessary if Cohen goes after Sota.

To sum up, 2024 was a great year for the Mets. They thrilled their fans and stunned their detractors. 2025 promises to be even better. Gary Cohen drew comparisons to the 1984 team that won 90 games. Personally, I prefer 1985, myself. 

Either way, the future looks very bright for the men in orange and blue.

For the Mets It's Déjà Vu All Over Again

The New York Mets embark on what will be the most crucial part of their season over the next ten games, which coincidentally happens to be their last ten games of the regular season when they begin a four-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies at CifiField Thursday night. Whether there's a postseason, however, remains to be seen.

The Mets - 84-68 - are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second Wild Card in the National League, two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves. They have control of their own destiny. If that sounds familiar, it should. Two years ago, almost to the day in fact, the Mets found themselves in the exact same position. They were two games up on the Braves for first place in the NL East, needing to win just one of three games in Atlanta to wrap up the division. But the Braves swept the Amazins and they were forced to settle for the first Wild Card spot. They then went on to lose to the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round.

The experience left a bitter taste in their mouths. They knew to a man they were the better team, but the Braves were better when it counted: down the stretch; the Mets folded like a bad poker hand.

Well, here we are two years later. Once again the Mets have their fate in their own hands. Four games against the Phillies, three against the Braves, and three against the Milwaukee Brewers. For what it's worth, this is a much better team than the one that collapsed late in the 2022 season. Both their starting pitching and bullpen (yes, THIS bullpen) are deep, and they are among the best scoring teams in the league. Since June 1, the Mets are 60-35, the best record in the majors. The Houston Astros are next at 57-37. If this team were to make it into the postseason, they would be very difficult to beat.

But that's the catch: they have to get in first. It won't be easy. The Phillies are battling the Los Angeles Dodgers for the overall best record in the National League, which would earn them a bye in the first round. As for the Braves, well, let's just say that the Mets don't have a good track record against them. The last time they bested them in a meaningful series was 1969. They will be battling a lot of past demons when they play them next week in Atlanta.

Regardless of how these next ten games go, David Stearns deserves a lot of credit for not panicking at the trade deadline. The moves he did make made sense and helped solidify the team. By not mortgaging the future, like his predecessor did, he held onto his young players. One of them, Luisangel Acuna, was called up to replace the injured Francisco Lindor. To say he's hit the ground running would be an understatement. He's hitting .467 with 2 HRS, 4RBIs and an OPS of 1.400 in just five games. 

Acuna was the gem the Mets got in the Max Scherzer deal. While Scherzer has been injured most of this season, Acuna had an impressive season at Triple A Syracuse. This kid is going to be a star. Can you see him playing alongside Lindor in the Mets infield? How many owners do you suppose would be willing to eat $88 million just to restock their prospect pool? Steve Cohen also deserves a lot of credit for this turnaround.

For now, though, the Mets future is now. Luis Severino goes up against Taijuan Walker of the Phillies. Severino has been the Mets most consistent pitcher all season long, while Walker - an ex-Met - has struggled. It is vital the Amazins get off to a good start against this Phillies team. A week ago, they dropped two of three in Philadelphia. They would like to exact some payback.

They can start tonight. 

It's Time for Alonso to Put Up or Shut Up

After getting off to a 4-3 start on this road trip, that would've been 6-1 had the bullpen not blown two saves, the New York Mets find themselves three games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third and final wild card spot in the National League. They're in Chicago to play three games against the White Sox before returning home to CitiField to play three against the Boston Red Sox and three against the Cincinnati Reds. Having dropped two out of three to the Oakland A's in their last home stand, the Amazins cannot afford to take the Chi-Sox lightly. Anything other than a sweep would be unconscionable. Suffice to say, the season is hanging in the balance.

Also hanging in the balance is Pete Alonso's career with the Mets. The slugging first baseman is a free agent after the season and his agent, Scott Boras, is said to be looking to ink him to a multi-year contract in the neighborhood of $300 million. But whether Steve Cohen believes Alonso is worth that much, especially with Juan Soto expected to hit free agency, remains to be seen.

To be sure, Alonso is the best home run hitter the franchise has produced since David Wright - whose career was cut short by spinal stenosis. Letting him walk would be a tough decision. But overpaying him would be a mistake. The fact is that since his rookie season in 2019, in which he led the majors with 53 homers, he has failed to live up to his enormous potential. While he is still a potent home run threat every time he steps up to the plate, he is still vulnerable to the high fast ball and curve ball low and away. In 2023, he batted a career low .217. Yesterday, he hit just his 29th home run of the season, which would put him on pace for 35 for the year. For a man with that much power, that is a woefully low number. By comparison, Soto already has 37 and is hitting 40 points higher with a 1.012 OPS. Who would you rather have in your lineup, Alonso or Soto?

Granted, Soto will command considerably more money. But he's four years younger than Alonso and is a better all-around player. He's also represented by Boras, so figure the bidding will start at $500 million over 10 years and could go as high as $600 million over 10. Given that Cohen was all in on Shohei Ohtani before he signed with the LA Dodgers, I can't imagine he'd pass up a shot at landing arguably the second best outfielder in baseball. The first just happens to be Aaron Judge, who compared to what Soto will command this offseason, is the steal of the century at $360 million over 9 years.

But all that could change if Alonso were to have a great September. He is certainly capable of going on a hot streak. If he were to hit 11 more home runs, he'd finish with his third consecutive 40 plus HR season. That would increase his markability, but it would also give Cohen an excuse to pass on Soto and re-signing Alonso, especially if Boras overplays his hand, like he did with Jordan Montgomery.

It's all on Alonso. He is in control of his own destiny. I'm sure Cohen, if given a choice, would prefer to re-sign one of his own over a much more expensive import. And for his part, Alonso has expressed a desire to retire as a Met. But Cohen is, first and foremost, a businessman; a very successful businessman. If he feels the better investment over the long haul is Soto, Pete's days in Queens are numbered.

There are 28 games left in the regular season for the Mets. Time for the Polar Bear to put up or shut up.

Stearns Did the Right Thing At the Deadline

There were no blockbuster moves for the New York Mets at this year's trade deadline. No, "Oh that's the final piece we needed to put us over the top" pronouncements from the Twitterverse. The fact is there wasn't one player David Stearns acquired that would be described as a needle mover. 

And yet, when you look at the totality of what Stearns accomplished, it was actually quite impressive. Without surrendering a single top 20 prospect in his system, he acquired a proven bat in Jesse Winker, a serviceable starter in Paul Blackburn, and badly needed bullpen help in the form of Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, Huascar Brazoban and Tyler Zuber. Stanek was a member of the 2022 World Series champion Houston Astros but has struggled of late; Maton and Brazoban had not allowed a run in their last 5 appearances prior to their trade; while Zuber has bounced around and is looking for a home.

Overall, I'd give Stearns a B+. Yes, I realize the Mets are in the middle of a playoff race. Currently, they're tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final Wild Card spot. The Flushing Faithful have been very patient with Steve Cohen, but there's a limit to anyone's patience. For a franchise that hasn't won a title since 1986, you can hardly blame the fanbase for being frustrated at the seeming lack of urgency at the deadline.

But here's the thing that most people need to remember. With the exception of Tanner Scott, whom the San Diego Padres sacrificed a lot to get, I didn't see a single reliever on the market that would've magically transformed a bullpen that, sans Edwin Diaz and Jose Butto, has been very inconsistent, to say the least. Face it, every team in contention was looking for pitching. It was a sellers market. Stearns would've been a fool to allow himself to get extorted the way the Padres did.

If 2022 taught us anything, it's that even in baseball, there are no shortcuts. The Mets thought they could buy a World Series. It blew up in their face, and Cohen had to fork over a king's ransom to get Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer off his payroll. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. 

I said it before and I'll say it again, I like where this team is headed. They're exciting to watch. Winker will add depth to a lineup that has, with a few rare exceptions, been smacking the hell out of the ball. The additional arms hopefully will stabilizing a bullpen that could use all the help it can get.

But basically, to quote the Dramatics, whatcha see is whatcha get. The Mets were already a playoff contender before the trade deadline; and now they're a slightly better playoff contender. It comes down to the athletes in that dugout.

In the end, it always does.

OMG!

On June 2, the New York Mets record stood at 24-35. They were mired in fourth place in the National League East, with only the Miami Marlins keeping them from the cellar. The Flushing faithful were bracing themselves for yet another lost year. It was looking more and more like David Stearns was going to be a seller at the trade deadline.

Since then, they've gone 30-13 - including a home and home sweep of the Yankees - to improve their record to 54-48. And with last night's improbable win over the Atlanta Braves, they are only a half game out of second place in the East and are a half game up on the San Diego Padres for the second Wild Card. If you saw this coming six weeks ago, you're a better person than me. Frankly, I was already looking ahead to football season. 

So how did the Amazin's turn their season around? Ironically enough, with the one thing most people didn't think they had enough of going into 2024: their bats. In the months of June and July, the Mets lead the major leagues with 256 runs scored in 45 games for an average of 5.7 runs per game. The Minnesota Twins are second with 235 runs in 44 games for an average of 5.3 runs per game. How significant is that? Over the last twenty years, the closest the Mets have come to leading the league in scoring was 2006 and 2022 when they finished 7th with 834 runs and 5th with 772 runs respectively. And those teams are generally considered to be the best offensive teams since that '86 World Series team that finished 6th with 783 runs.

For a franchise known for its elite pitching, being such a prolific hitting team has been the story of the summer. And to think, they're doing it with Pete Alonso having a sub-par year. In 102 games, the polar bear has hit only 20 home runs. He's on track to hit 32. Not counting the pandemic year of 2020, Alonso has averaged 44 home runs per season. Pete is an unrestricted free agent after this year, so it would behoove him to kick it in gear if he expects Steve Cohen to give him the contract his agent Scott Boras is looking for.

The secret sauce for the Mets success at the plate this year has been their depth. Put succinctly, this is the most imposing lineup they've had in years. In addition to Francisco Linder, who unlike Alonso, is having one of his best seasons with a .259 BA, 22 HRs and 62 RBIs, there's Brandon Nimmo - .236 BA, 16 HRs and 63 RBIs - young studs like Mark Vientos - .284 / 13 / 35 in just 57 games - and Francisco Alvarez - .273 / 4 / 24 in 50 games, and OMG singing sensation Jose Iglesias - .366 / 3 / 17 in 37 games. Off-season additions Harrison Bader - .263 / 8 / 36 - and J.D. Martinez - .258 / 10 / 40 - have contributed to the hit parade, as well.

What's impressive about this Mets team is that with the exception of Jeff McNeil, who is starting to come around after an early-season slump, every hitter in the starting lineup has an OPS over .700. That means if you're a pitcher, there are no easy outs. No, "I'll walk this guy to get to the next one," mindset. Unlike the Yankees, who with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, are about as top heavy as the SS Poseidon on New Year's Eve, the Mets spread the wealth around. Each game it seems as if there's a different hero. At the pace they're on, 90 plus wins is not out of the question.

But while their offense may be percolating, their pitching hasn't been anything to write home about. The Mets team ERA is 4.15, 20th overall in the majors. Closer Edwin Diaz, after a rough stretch, is finally starting to round into form. The loss of Drew Smith, who was supposed to be Diaz' set-up man, to season-ending surgery, has made an already thin bullpen that much thinner. The emergence of Jose Butto as a long-reliever has been a pleasant surprise, and the return of Kodai Sengai will bolster a starting rotation that has Luis Severino, Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea and David Peterson. But for this team to contend for the playoffs, Stearns will need to fortify his bullpen at the trade deadline. Adam Ottavino and Jake Diekman aren't the answers.

Do I like where this team is headed? In a word, yes. They're exciting to watch, and with the prospects they have lined up in the minors, the future looks very promising. A tweak here and there by the front office and the Mets may finally give their fans something to root for in October and November. 

Just How Good Are the Mets?

It was, shall we say, an interesting off season for the New York Mets. Coming off a disappointing 2023 campaign in which they went 75-87, new President and GM David Stearns had the unenviable task of trying to put together a team that could at the very least be competitive in the National League East, while also being cognizant of the fact that millions of loyal fans have been patiently waiting for a championship since 1986.

Regarding the latter, before we go any further, it should be noted that in 2024 the Mets will be paying Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander collectively $55 million for the privilege of not playing for them. So while the angst of the fanbase is understandable, accusing Steve Cohen of being cheap isn't. Seriously, can you imagine the Wilpons footing that kind of bill?

It turns out not signing Ohtani or Yamamoto may prove to be a Godsend. Yamamoto got lit up like a Christmas tree in his first start as a Dodger, and the more we find out about Ohtani's connection to his interpreter, the more I think a shit storm may be brewing in Los Angeles. Call me a cynic, but I think Cohen and the Mets will look back on last summer and thank their lucky stars they didn't sign either of these two players. Frankly, it would serve the Dodgers right if the whole thing blew up in their face.

But while saving a billion dollars over the next ten years is all well and good, to paraphrase a well-known, rhetorical question, What does that have to do with the price of tea in Flushing? If you're a Mets fan all you care about is your team, and right now this team has more holes than a golf course. Beginning with hole number one:

The Starting Rotation. Kodai Senga, the ace, is out until May. Even with him healthy, this staff is thin. Luis Severino, the opening day pitcher, was 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA for the Yankees last season. Tylor Megill went 9-8 with a serviceable 4.70 ERA for the Amazins' last season. Jose Quintana was 3-6 with a 3.57 ERA. Then things get interesting. Apparently the plan is for the starters to get to the 6th inning where the bullpen can take over. Good luck with that. Which brings us to hole number two:

The Bullpen: The return of Edwin Diaz will be a welcomed relief, no pun intended. His loss last season likely cost the Mets a minimum of 10 wins. However, it'll be the middle of this bullpen that determines how many save opportunities Diaz actually gets. Stearns is banking on Adam Ottavino to be the set up man, while Drew Smith and newcomer Jake Diekman will do most of the heavy lifting in the 6th and 7th innings. At best, this is a work in progress.

The Batting Order: The signing of J.D. Martinez to hit DH was huge. His 33 home runs and 103 runs batted in will add depth to the Mets lineup, as well as give Pete Alonso - 46 HRs and 118 RBIs - some badly-needed protection. The slugger batted a career-low .217. With Martinez batting behind him, the Polar Bear might be a little more selective at the plate. Francisco Lindor remains the team's best overall hitter and infielder, while Brandon Nimmo is its best and most dependable outfielder. After that, questions remain. Can Starling Marte come back? Can Harrison Bader stay healthy? Is Francisco Alvarez for real or just a flash in last season's pan? Can Jeff McNeill rebound from a disappointing '23? Is Brett Baty the next David Wright or the next Wayne Garrett?

The Bench: Let's not push it, OK?

The Manager: Perhaps the best thing Carlos Mendoza has going for him is that the expectations for this team are fairly low. Unlike his predecessor Buck Showlater, who was brought in to win a title, if the Mets are competitive, that should suffice.

Prediction: The return of Diaz and the addition of Martinez will keep the Mets above .500. Who knows, they could even challenge for one of the Wild Cards. But if I were a betting man, I'd say they fall short of a postseason berth. Record: 83-79, 4th place in the NL East.

Yamamota Goes with the Dodgers

I'll be honest. I was really looking forward to seeing Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a New York Mets uniform for the next ten years. Just based on the scouting reports, the 25 year old has a chance to become one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. And I'm pissed that Steve Cohen, with all his billions, couldn't close the deal. 

But the more we learn about what was going on behind the scenes, the more it becomes apparent that Yamamoto simply didn't want to play for an east-coast team. The Yankees offered him $300 million over ten years; Cohen went a step further and upped the anti to $325 million. That still wasn't enough.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who only a few days earlier had signed Shohei Ohtani to an unprecedented ten year $700 million contract, matched Cohen's offer and inked Yamamoto. Think about it: $1 billion tied up in just two contracts. Somewhere, Charlie Finley is having a stroke.

To those who think Cohen should've just shot the moon, as it were, and gone up to $400 million, there are two inherent problems with that: 1. Regardless of what Cohen offered, the Dodgers would've matched it; 2. Once Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, they pretty much had the inside track on Yamamoto. All Cohen would've succeeded in doing was driving up the asking price for a free agent he was never going to sign. If you think Cohen is despised by the owners now, that stunt would've been the icing on the cake. Take it from a former salesman, trying to out dick the other guy is never a successful strategy.

But let's play devil's advocate for a moment. Let's say Cohen inked him at $400 million. That would've been great, right? A starting rotation consisting of Yamamoto and Kodai Senga would be formidable. With the return of Edwin Diaz, and the addition of a couple middle relievers, the Mets would be a much better team going into 2024 than they were at the close of 2023.

But then there's the matter of what to do with Pete Alonso. The all-star first baseman is set to become a free agent after next year. The price tag for him will not be cheap. His agent is Scott Boras. If you think Boras is going to let one of the game's most prolific home run hitters sign for anything less than what he thinks he's entitled to, this must be your first day on the planet. Trust me, there will be no home-town discount for Cohen. If Yamamoto was worth (fill in the blank), then Pete will be worth at least that much.

You can bet the ranch that if Cohen had signed Yamamota, Boras would've started the bidding for Alonso at that precise number. In other words, by trying to screw the Dodgers, Cohen would've ostensibly screwed himself. I think Cohen realized this, which is why he didn't shoot the moon. And the money he saved by not landing Yamamoto he can now use to address other areas of this roster that need fortifying.

It's important to remember that even without Ohtani and Yamamoto, the Dodgers still had one of the highest payrolls in major league baseball the last two seasons. Yet despite impressive campaigns which saw them win 100 and 111 games respectively, they were upset in the first round by teams that finished considerably behind them in the standings.

The Arizona Diamondbacks, with a record of 84-78, won the National League pennant last season. If I'm Cohen, I'm probably thinking why should I spend all that money on just one player, when I can spend half that amount and get several players? Even in a sport that long ago forgot the meaning of the word frugal, two plus two still equals four. The fact is had Diaz not gotten injured last season, the Mets most assuredly would've finished better than 75-87.

Translation: they're not that far away from a possible wild card berth. Cohen and his new president David Stearns know this. That's why they didn't panic; and Mets fans shouldn't either. Let the Dodgers play the role of pariah. When they crash and burn again in October, something tells me a lot of people in Queens will be grinning from ear to ear.

Is Carlos Mendoza the Next Willie Randolph or Davey Johnson?

In the end, and for reasons we will likely never fully know, Craig Counsell, the man everyone assumed would be the next manager of the New York Mets, opted not to take the job and instead signed with the Chicago Cubs. Was it the money? Perhaps. Or maybe it was something else. What we do know is that Counsell never gave the Mets a chance to match the Cubs offer. So with Counsell gone, Steve Cohen and David Stearns chose Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza as their next skipper.

Almost immediately, the "Who the fuck is Carlos Mendoza?" contingent chimed in with their nickel's worth of "expertise," with several radio talk-show hosts proclaiming they were done with the Mets. One of those talk-show hosts, by the way, was the shit head who hung up on Carl Banks the other week, so take that with a rather large grain of salt.

As far as Mendoza is concerned, he is pretty much an unknown commodity. According to Wikipedia - yes, I had to go there - he spent 13 seasons in the minor leagues. In 2011, he was hired by the Yankees to manage their Gulf Coast League team, and in 2017, he was promoted to the big club where he's been the bench coach since 2020. Apart from a rave review he got from Aaron Boone, it's anybody's guess how he will perform in the Mets dugout.

In fact, Mendoza's hiring is eerily familiar to the Willie Randolph hiring in October of 2004. Like Mendoza, Randolph was a Yankees bench coach with no big-league managerial experience. In fact, the only difference between both men is that Randolph had a distinguished career as an all-star second baseman with the Bronx Bombers that included two World Series rings: 1977 and 1978.

While the Mets won the National League East in 2006 with Randolph at the helm, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS; and then in '07, suffered one of the worst late-season collapses in team history, finishing 5-12 down the stretch and blowing a seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. Randolph's lack of experience was cited as the reason for both failures. He would eventually be fired the following season after the Mets got off to a slow start.

The question for the Mets right now is are they repeating the same mistake they made 19 years ago by going with someone with no big-league managerial experience? The hope is that Mendoza won't be the next Willie Randolph, but the fact is nobody can know for sure. Davey Johnson, if you recall, had no big-league managerial experience either when he was chosen by Frank Cashen to manage the Mets in 1984, and we all know how that turned out. Two division titles and a World Series championship later, the hire is generally considered to be among the best in franchise history.

We also have to keep in mind that Stearns was hired by Cohen because of his expertise in building an organization. Even though the Milwaukee Brewers never won the World Series during his tenure there, he was nonetheless responsible for their ascendancy into playoff contenders. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt here regarding Mendoza, inasmuch as we don't know how the interview went. For all we know, Mendoza hit it out of the park. Take it from a former sales manager who was responsible for hiring and firing, you can never underestimate the importance of a face to face meeting. 

Bottom line, the Mets have their manager in place for the 2024 season. Now they have to fill in their roster. That task will fall exclusively to Stearns now that Billy Eppler is no longer the GM.

But that's another story altogether. 

David Stearns' To-Do List

Well, it's over.

The season from hell that started with such high expectations finally came to a merciless end Sunday in typical fashion: with a failure to get a timely hit and an overtaxed bullpen imploding. A team that won 101 games last year and went to the playoffs, limped to the finish line with a measly 75 wins this year. Disappointing doesn't begin to describe it.

And now with the formal introduction of David Stearns as President of Baseball Operations, the Mets most consequential offseason in over a decade begins. Stearns comes with an impressive resume. In his eight years running the Milwaukee Brewers, they made the postseason five times including this year. He will have his work cut out for him here.

At the risk of being presumptuous, I've whittled Stearns' to-do list down to a precious five.

The Manager: The news that Buck Showalter would not be returning next season should come as no surprise to anyone who was paying attention. While Buck was certainly not to blame for the injuries to Edwin Diaz and Starling Marte, or the less than stellar performance of Max Scherzer, some of his moves this season were puzzling, to say the least.

One game in particular stands out. It was against the Rockies in Colorado in late May when the Mets were still in contention. Buck elected to start Marte in centerfield even though he hadn't played there in two years and he was clearly hobbled by a nagging groin injury. When he was unable to catch up to a line drive in the bottom of the 4th inning, three runs scored. The following inning Buck allowed Stephen Nogosek to get smacked around with no one warming up in the bullpen. The Rockies scored five runs in that inning and went on to win 11-10.

Now that Buck is gone, Stearns and G.M. Billy Eppler will be tasked with finding a replacement who can effectively and more consistently manage this team. The obvious choice is Craig Counsell who has piloted the Brewers since 2015, when he replaced Ron Roenicke. In 2018, he took the Brewers to the NLCS, where they lost to the Dodgers in seven games. He has a record of 707-625, and the fact that he worked for Stearns should give him a leg up on the competition.

Pete Alonso: Stearns made it clear in his press conference that he has no intentions of trading the first baseman during the offseason, saying "I expect Pete to be the opening day first baseman." That is certainly welcomed news for a fanbase that hasn't had much to cheer about lately. And by lately, I mean eight years.

But saying you're not going to trade Alonso is one thing; actually signing him to a long-term deal that will keep him in Flushing is quite another. While no one knows exactly where the negotiations left off between Steve Cohen and Alonso's agent, we can assume the sticking point was term. Alonso would obviously like a long-term contract; the Mets would probably prefer a shorter term.

Given that Cohen was willing to give Carlos Correa $315 million over 12 years, it's going to be pretty difficult playing hard ball with a homegrown guy who, as I pointed out in August, might well finish his career with 700 plus home runs. If I had to guess, I'd say both sides settle on 9 years and $300 million. That would put Alonso just behind Francisco Lindor's $34 million annual salary.

The Starting Rotation: The "dynamic duo" of Scherzer and Justin Verlander - at $43 million a piece - was a case study in how not to build a starting rotation. The former never fully recovered from a torn oblique he suffered last season; the latter missed the first month of this season. Eppler was able to get the return he did because Cohen was willing to eat more than $80 million in salary owed both pitchers. It's fair to say the owner would prefer not to do that again.

The Mets have shown interest in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese ace scouts think could be better than Kodai Senga, who turned out to be one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. A starting rotation featuring these two pitchers would be a formidable one-two punch.

But even with Yamamoto and Senga, the Mets still have questions. Like who's going to be the third, fourth and fifth starter? Tylor Megill had a good second half, so perhaps he could compete for the third or fourth spot. Beyond that it's anyone's guess what Stearns will do.

The Bullpen: It cannot be overstated what losing Diaz for the season did to a bullpen that was already thin to begin with. Getting him back next season will be a huge relief, no pun intended.

But like the starting rotation, the pen has plenty of holes that Stearns will have to fill. Does he bring back David Robertson as a setup man? Does he trade for Diaz's younger brother Alexis, who had 37 saves for the Cincinnati Reds this season and is arbitration eligible, to give the Mets a dual closer threat?

The Kids: One of the few bright spots this season has been the emergence of catcher Francisco Alvarez as a genuine talent behind the plate and the development of infielders Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio. Alvarez looks like the real deal. The rookie hit 25 homers and drove in 63 runs. But while the infielders showed promise, they are still works in progress. Stearns may elect to keep all three or he could dangle one or more as trade bait if he believes he can get a proven outfielder, infielder or pitcher in return.

The good news is the Mets finally have their front office in place. Now it's up to them to build a championship team.