Things will get better…right?

Since I've known for a while that my next blog was scheduled for today, the Monday after baseball's annual winter meetings, I figured we might have some significant moves from the Mets to talk about. You know, things like making big free agent signings, retaining some of their best players, maybe a trade or two, something like that. All in all, the expectation - at least from the fans, anyway - was that the Mets would come out of the meetings with a better team, and we would all be excited for the start of the 2026 season. 

As we mentioned in the opener of last week's podcast, we couldn't really talk about the winter meetings, because a lot of crazy stuff could happen between the time we recorded (Monday night) and the time the podcast aired (Wednesday morning). "Crazy stuff" was quite the understatement.

The first domino tipped over a couple of weeks earlier, when the Mets traded the team's longest-tenured player, outfielder Brandon Nimmo, to the Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien. It was a shift away from the core of players that have largely carried this team over the past several years, and it was done largely to bolster the team's defense; Semien won a Gold Glove this year, while Nimmo's defense, once well above average, has declined of late, turning into more of a liability out in left field.

The linked article about that trade ended with a quote from Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns: “I think it's a recognition that what we did last year wasn't good enough … and running back the exact same group wasn't the right thing to do.”

Just days before the winter meetings began, the team signed free agent reliever Devin Williams, who was coming off a terrible season with the Yankees. Mets fans were hoping this wasn't a replacement for Edwin Diaz, but rather a setup guy to help build a bridge to one of the game's best closers.

That earlier quote from Stearns slipped by many of us Mets fans at the time, but it became painfully clear last week, when, in rapid succession, Diaz signed with the Dodgers and then, without so much as a counteroffer from Stearns, Pete Alonso departed for the Baltimore Orioles, with both players signing deals that were entirely within reach for the team with the richest owner in baseball.

Stearns was most definitely intent on not running it back for 2026, even though 2025's failures could hardly be blamed on either Alonso (.871 OPS, NL-best 41 doubles, 2nd in the NL with 126 RBIs) or Diaz (NL Reliever of the Year, 1.63 ERA, 28 saves, 13.3 K/9).

The core was no more, and Mets fans were furious that three of their favorite players in Nimmo, Alonso, and Diaz were gone, and, at least as of this moment, little has been done to try to replace Alonso's production. I get it, Jorge Polanco is a good baseball player, but he's nowhere close to replacing the 40 homers and 100 RBIs that Alonso brought to the lineup; he's also played one game in his career at 1B, and that's where the Mets intend to play him most of the time. Despite all the talk about run prevention, they are replacing a well-below-average defender in Alonso with a below-average defender in Polanco. Doesn't exactly make me excited about next year.

On top of that, Williams, who might not have even wanted to end up with the Mets, has now been upgraded to the closer's role - a role the Yankees took away from him because he was so bad - and, aside from Diaz, the bullpen has lost several other free agent relievers to other teams, including all three that were acquired via trade during the 2025 season (Gregory Soto, Ryan Helsley, and Tyler Rogers). In addition to Williams, three major-league vets are locked in for the Mets bullpen next year in lefties Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter and righty Huascar Brazoban; several spots remain up for grabs, and it's only a matter of time before the better remaining free agent relievers come off the board.

Speaking of pitching, I can't really let this blog out into the world without talking about one of the Mets' biggest weaknesses, arguably the one that killed their 2025 campaign: The starting pitching. The starters routinely failed to go deep into games, often lasting five innings or less, which was a terrible burden to place on the bullpen. Between injuries and underperformance, the Mets wound up using an MLB-record 46 pitchers during the year, and so far the beleaguered rotation hasn't changed very much. The only exception is Nolan McLean, who pitched well down the stretch after getting called up from Syracuse late in the season; having him start the season in the rotation is an upgrade all by itself. He may just develop into the ace of the staff, or at worst a No. 2.

Given the lack of details from the front office, it's hard to say what the Mets blueprint is for 2026, which will mark the 40th anniversary of the last Mets team to bring home a World Series title. Are they going to sign a couple of the remaining elite free agents, such as outfielder Kyle Tucker or pitcher Framber Valdez? Are they going to swing a franchise-altering deal with the Padres to acquire closer Mason Miller and others, potentially at the cost of wiping out their farm system? Are they going to let the kids play and roll out rookie pitchers Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong again, and call up Carson Benge and Jett Williams and see how they do in the lineup?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.