What seemed to be a winter to strengthen the New York Mets ended up becoming an unexpected blow for their roster, as the organization allowed Edwin Diaz to go to free agency, saw Pete Alonso leave for the Baltimore Orioles and weeks ago said goodbye to Brandon Nimmo after sending him to the Texas Rangers, three key pieces in the project have left without any replacement of caliber.
But that’s not all, names like Jeff McNeil and David Peterson are also on the way out. McNeil has been left with virtually no role since Marcus Semien came in to take his place and if he leaves, Francisco Lindor would be the only survivor of the old core that owner Steve Cohen had promised to strengthen after acquiring the franchise in 2020.
David Stearns changes course: Mets bet on new core regardless of noise
The annoyance of the fans is evident, but president of operations David Stearns believes that the previous base was not enough and the reality supports his position as they only had two postseason appearances in six years and painful collapses in 2021, 2022 and 2025. Now the manager sees no point in continuing to invest in players entering the decline phase of their contracts, even if they are beloved by the fans.
Stearns has chosen to cut his cycle short and is now following his philosophy that led him to build competitive teams in Milwaukee, and is now beginning to guide the plan to surround Juan Soto and Lindor with a more sustainable roster. Stearns has been clear that he prioritizes flexibility over retaining short-term, high-priced icons of the past.
Juan Soto is exposed on the Mets: a weakened roster and a 2026 full of questions
Juan Soto finds himself without the super team he was promised when he signed with the Mets. The original idea was to surround him with batting talent, depth and an elite bullpen, but today the Queens team seems to be in rebuilding mode and although there are still names in free agency such as Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger or Robert Suarez, there is no guarantee that any of them could sign.
Mets fans have always criticized the slowness of the previous management to put together the roster and now it has happened again with Steve Cohen and David Stearns, who must hurry to begin planning for the 2026 season and avoid a failure like that of 2025 when they failed to advance to the postseason.
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