Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns addressed the media on Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours after seeing his team lose to the Miami Marlins on the final day of the regular season, capping off a collapse that kept his club out of the postseason.
Stearns hit on a wide array of topics, including the possibility of shaking of the team's position player core, as well as Pete Alonso's looming free agency.
While the Mets’ starting rotation is very much in flux, many of the starting position players remain under contract heading into next season, outside of Alonso and role players like Starling Marte, Jesse Winker, and Cedric Mullins.
Still, Stearns said the Mets will need to be “open-minded” when it comes to the core group of position players in order to build a team that “fits together better.”
“I think we’re going to have to be open-minded on our position player grouping so that we can improve our run prevention,” Stearns said. “Does that mean there are robust changes? I don’t know. Does that mean people could be playing different positions? Maybe. Does it mean we ask people to play different roles? Maybe.
“A day after a season ends, I’m certainly not going to commit to what things look like in spring training or Opening Day, but I’ll say it again, our run prevention this year was not good enough, and that’s pitching and defense. They go hand-in-hand, and we need to improve in both.”
He later added: “I come at this like we need to create a better roster that fits together better. I think our players worked their tails off. I think they came to the park with the right attitude every single day, and it didn’t work, so I need to take a long, hard look at our roster.”
As for Alonso, who said on Sunday that he will indeed opt out of his contract and become a free agent at the end of the season, Stearns gave an answer that he also said many times around this point in the calendar last year.
“Pete is a great Met. He had a fantastic year,” Stearns said of Alonso, who became the club's all-time home run king this season after re-signing. “I said this last year and it worked out – I’d love to have Pete back and we’ll see where the offseason goes.”
Stearns also said that when it comes to Alonso, or any impending free agent, the player’s entire fit, on and off the field, are taken into account.
“Whenever we’re talking about departing free agents or players who were with us who are then free agents, it’s always the wholistic package of what that players brings to an organization,” Stearns said. “It’s what he means to the team on the field, it’s what that player means to the community, what that player means to the fanbase. That is always part of the decision-making process, and I imagine it will be again this offseason.”
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