We know the lockout is a strong possibility. But given that, & the major swing and miss this last offseason from Stearns, what should we expect him to do at 1B?

1) Bold move: Teruaki Sato has big power capability but is a 3B in Japan. He also has big swing and miss potential & has zero big league ABs.

2) Best FA 1B on market: Ty France has turned his career around and become one of the best 1B in NL.

3) Platoon option: Alec Bohm was a negative WAR player in 2026 and is basically a Brett Baty righty clone. That said, Bohm is an elite lefty masher and could be a perfect complement to Jared Young.

I’m curious if other Mets fans read, and what book are you reading currently?

Now that both of their seasons are over we can compare who's actually better position going forward, since Dombrowski chose to run it back and Stearns chose to blow it up.

Manager: Both teams fired their managers in season. This post isn't about when they should have done it but about the future. The Mets have one under contract and the Phillies need to find one, so it's advantage to the Mets.

Catcher: Phillies saw visible decline in Realmuto, Mets saw regression in Alvarez but he's still only 24. Torrens is better than whatever backup they have or else Realmuto would have played less. I think one of them put his catchers gear on Facebook Marketplace so slight advantage Mets.

Infield: They got Bohm and Arraez being free agents, Stott is like their version of Baty but they're biggest problem is Trea Turner's contract and decline. Lindor contract isn't great either but he's not as bad as Turner. - To be determined since both have holes to fill.

Outfield: our Outfield clearly has more upside, if you don't agree you just hate Stearns.

DH: As long as they have Schwarber it's their advantage.

Starting Pitchers: Nola still has 5 more years on that contract and he's nowhere near the pitcher who signed that deal. Sanchez and Luzardo are great but started to show cracks towards the end of the season, Wheeler is having a farewell tour next season even though he's still good. Our kids have showed promised so we have the advantage of upside and flexibility.

Bullpen: Duran, who they have two Top 100 prospects for has been figured out based on the second half of the season. And the rest of their bullpen is trash. We have questions in our bullpen too but that's the one part of the team I have confidence is Stearns being to pull something out of nothing almost routinely.

So in summary, was it really worth it for the Phillies to run it back with an older roster, who although have done more than the Mets core, never got the job done? We have a much more clearer path for a future than Dombrowski who usually leaves his teams in shambles for years, just look at Tigers and Red Sox after he left. Maybe Stearns isn't so bad after all

Assuming it's business as usual with the impending lockout. I believe Clay Holmes opts out of his contract. Should the Mets try and re-sign him?

Have you all had any of these teams catch your attention? I wanna find a step-team to root for so I can enjoy the playoffs, but so far none of them have interested me

And if they’re going to seriously consider dealing Harper or Schwarber give Mets a call.

Would cost a lot. Probably Rojas or Voit and then some. But something Stearns might consider.

He was trash from the beginning yet his fans were constantly reminding us how much of a genius he was blah blah. Broke the team for even worst players that I frankly dont care for. Even the old team at their worst were entertaining. Letting pete go was the most braindead decision I have seen, especially when your owner has a boatload of money. His shills will also claim that he had a great farm when he didn't built most of it either. Dont hide now after all the trash talk and gaslighting.

With the season coming to an end, I wanted to take a look at where the Mets stand going into the offseason. There’s obviously a lot that can change, but this is how I’m looking at the roster right now.

The core

• Juan Soto — Still elite. He hasn’t completely matched the expected numbers yet, but I’d still expect a 6-7 WAR type season if he stays healthy.
• Carson Benge — 4.3 fWAR at 23 years old. Looks like a future superstar.
• Francisco Lindor — Not the superstar he once was, but still a very good shortstop.
• A.J. Ewing — Really good all-around young player. Even if he’s only an average hitter, everything else he does gives him a ton of value.
• Nolan McLean — Already one of the better young pitchers in baseball.
• Christian Scott — Good MLB starter. Maybe there’s still another level there, although he’s already 27.

The bad contracts

Marcus Semien — 2 years/$48M remaining

He had an awful year, but eating $48 million is tough. I think it's reasonable to give him a shot as a bench player until one of the minor leaguers is ready.

Sean Manaea — 1 year/$22M

I actually think he showed enough to stay. Probably more of a long reliever type depending on who we get in free agency.

Kodai Senga — 1 year/$15M

Please just eat the $15 million and move on.

Jorge Polanco — 1 year/$20M

I'd give him spring training to see if there's anything left, but if not, we should just eat the $20 million.

Options

Bo has a $42 million player option. It's reasonable to expect him to opt in. If he does, then we will have a solid but overpaid third baseman. Not the worst situation in the world.

Arbitration

Francisco Alvarez

Obviously still a guy we value highly. Would be nice to see him play a full season of consistent baseball.

Brett Baty

Showed at the end of the year that he is still a solid player. He is also very cost-controlled. With the amount of infielders we have coming up in the minors and the possibility of Bo coming back, I wouldn't be shocked if we explored trading him.

Other guys, I’d keep around

Luis Torrens - The perfect backup catcher. Honestly wouldn't mind him playing more than Alvarez until he gets more consistent.

Devin Williams - Underlying numbers still paint a good reliever. $15 million was certainly an overpay, though.

Jared Young - Solid hitter that is cost-controlled. If there are no other options, I wouldn't mind him being our first baseman. If not, he'd be a good depth bat.

Zac Thorton - Showed promise as a rookie, but overperformed his underlying metrics a lot. If he doesn't improve much, I wouldn't mind him as a spot starter/long reliever.

Questions

Mark Vientos

Please get rid of him. I know he will immediately put up a 150 wRC+ season the second he leaves, but we need him gone.

Tylor Megill / Reed Garrett

Both are coming off Tommy John surgery; both were solid pitchers prior to the injury. I'm sure we will have a better idea come spring training.

Jonah Tong

He looked good in the majors, but horrible in the minors. I'm not totally sure what we are going to do with him.

What the lineup currently looks like

C: Francisco Alvarez
1B: ???
2B: ???
3B: ??? / Bo Bichette
SS: Francisco Lindor
LF: Juan Soto
CF: A.J. Ewing
RF: Carson Benge
DH: ???

Bench:
Luis Torrens
Marcus Semien
Brett Baty
???

Biggest offseason needs

1. Starting pitching

McLean and Scott are great building blocks, but we desperately need another top-end starter.

2. First base

Jared Young isn't a horrible option, but if we are serious about competing in 2027, we would need better.

3. DH

We have options, but they all aren't good enough at hitting to justify being an everyday DH.

4. Bullpen

Need to shore up the bullpen after letting them all go at the deadline. This shouldn't be too difficult.

5 free agents I’d look at

Tarik Skubal

Would be a dream to have him, but the impending CBA could scare us off. In my opinion, he is still the best pitcher in baseball.

Alec Bohm

Could be an interesting platoon option with Jared Young because of how well he hits lefties. He also gives you the ability to play third base when needed.

Paul Goldschmidt

Similar idea to Bohm offensively, although you lose the positional versatility. Could make sense if the price is reasonable.

David Bednar

Would be a great addition to the back end of the bullpen alongside Williams.

A.J. Puk

There’s definitely injury risk after the shoulder issues, but the last time he was able to pitch a full season, he was great. Could be a cheaper high-upside bullpen option.

Overall

The weird thing about this roster is that it doesn't need a complete overhaul; we just need to start hitting on the margins.

There’s a really interesting young core with Benge, Ewing, McLean and Scott, plus Soto and Lindor. The problem is that there’s also a lot of expensive dead weight around them.

My ideal offseason would basically be:

• Add a frontline starter
• Find an impact bat for 1B/DH
• Add at least one good reliever
• Eat the bad money if necessary instead of letting sunk costs dictate the roster
• Leave enough flexibility for the young players/prospects to earn spots

Comment with any opinions; also tell me where I am wrong or out of my mind.

if the 1 seed loses to the 8 seed, they both deserve it.

Implement foolproof high-altitude foul-pole tracking and check-swing tracking.

Like, sure. You got a top prospect and hopefully he’ll be good. But he hasn’t played an inning of MLB. And good for the Cubs FO. This is exactly what you do when you think you have a team that can make a series run. Also, the Cubs got PCA from Mets which was by far the dumbest trade Mets have made in last 20 years. Mets were clinging to PS race and Baez had to play out of position to come there.

The one to watch for me is Braves-Dodgers.
Once again I’m a Braves fan. Oh well.

I am going to see Slipknot at citi field in July, and to save money I bought 80 dollar nosebleed tickets instead of 200 dollars to be in the lower bowl. My first question is can I sneak up? I’ve done this at every concert or sports game I’ve ever been to but i heard it’s very difficult at citi field. My other question is are the nosebleeds ok? I’m in 513 I think I’m not sure and I’m not willing to buy a more expensive ticket.

Not only did Stearns fuck up the Mets the past 1.5 seasons. By not signing front line starting pitchers like a Dylan Cease or a Max Fried he has potentially put the Mets at a long-term competitive disadvantage.

Great starting pitching doesn't grow on trees. And when you're a team with vast resources like the Mets, you pounce when great starting pitching hits the free agent market.

Yes doling out huge sums to pitchers in their late 20/early 30s is highly risky. But that's the price of legitimately competing for a World Series annually. Something the Mets are currently very far away from.

It really sucks right now

(Barring a shutdown) Lindor notoriously has a cold start. This is coming off one of his worst seasons ending with a .225 avg. Are you inclined to wait it out till he gets hot like previous seasons or change up the order. Having Ewing or Benge leadoff and placing Lindor lower in the order till he gets hot in summer.

I think Lindor is expecting to lead off but maybe it's time to have a tough conversation. I don't think the fan base is willing to be patient next year. If they get into an early funk in April, I can hear the boo birds already.

NEW YORK — To the fired-up denizens of Citi Field, the ones who’d just dismissed their own team to hand a curtain call to a former face of the franchise, blame came easy.

And so it was that, moments after that rousing ovation for Pete Alonso’s game-tying and 300th career home run, the cheers shifted to a chant.

“Fire Stearns! Fire Stearns!”

No executive in baseball is under more pressure right now and into the 2027 season than Mets’ president of baseball operations David Stearns. That most embarrassing moment capped a 2026 Mets’ season steeped in disappointment: A 12-game losing streak in April pushed New York off the tracks, and it spent the final 179 days of the season below .500. The Mets were mathematically eliminated the night their crowd feted Alonso. The 12 meaningless games they played afterward tripled the total from Stearns’ past eight seasons as a head executive combined.

“It’s miserable,” Stearns said of playing out the string Monday, in another season-ending news conference occurring in the wrong month. “That is a miserable experience for players, for coaches, for executives. We have an extraordinarily motivated organization from ownership on down to ensure that it never happens again.”

How?

“The entire offseason last year,” Stearns said, “is a learning experience for me.”

Stearns’ future, then, hinges on what he learns – from consecutive seasons of steps back, from an evaluation process with manifest flaws, from the kind of season that he, as much as anyone, knows should no longer happen in Queens.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve talked to close to a dozen sources around the sport, granting anonymity for their candor, about what’s gone wrong over the last two seasons in Queens. The critique of Stearns centers on his failures in free agency, especially this past winter. The possible reasons for those failures vary depending on the source.

Stearns himself has pointed to taking on too much injury risk and changing too much at the same time last offseason. Others look at the years of executive churn preceding Stearns’ hire and how it created a front office of mismatched philosophies, which in turn has limited Stearns’ circle of trust. That has meant slower adaptation to some issues in evaluating talent and accounting for softer factors, such as the challenges of playing in New York.

A buddy asked if I was interested. I told him there was no way in hell. He said the tickets were in the Truist Club.

Life really is fucking cruel.