You can trace the trail of bread crumbs back to David Stearns making run-prevention his primary talking point in the aftermath of the Mets’ implosion last season. Actually, farther than that, considering Pete Alonso only played in Queens last season because he was treated like an outcast on the free agent market.
No, unlike the Edwin Diaz departure a day earlier, there was no mistaking the Mets’ intentions regarding Alonso after he agreed to five-year, $150 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
They didn’t even make an offer.
Stearns clearly thinks the Mets are better off without his most prolific slugger, and now the burden of proof is on the team’s president of baseball operations to demonstrate why that is the case.
It’s one thing to break up a core that has underachieved or failed when it mattered most in three of the last four seasons, and Stearns does deserve some credit for having the guts to do that. But it’s quite another to have a plan in place to replace that core and make the team better.
From the outside looking in it’s hard to see how the Mets won’t miss Alonso’s power and productivity, at least in the short term over the next couple of years, which should be a priority for a team that is supposed to be trying to win a championship in that same window of opportunity.
And while I thought it was vital that Alonso agreed to DH at least part-time, due to whatever yips caused him to make every throw he made an adventure, let’s be real: He was their best clutch hitter last season on a team that was wildly inconsistent with the bats, especially when it counted most.
Offering protection for Juan Soto in the lineup was no small matter in itself. Who might that responsibility fall to next season? Right now there’s no obvious choice, and even signing Cody Bellinger wouldn’t necessarily be the answer.
So how can the Mets be better without Alonso, especially after Scott Boras made it clear weeks ago that Alonso indeed was willing to be that part-time DH?
That’s the question at the heart of what is currently The David Stearns Winter of Discontent, if you will. He has to know most Mets fans are convinced he wants to operate with the small-market mentality that was a necessity for him as GM of the Milwaukee Brewers.
And that can’t be a comfortable feeling, especially for a native New Yorker. So Stearns must be truly convinced he can make the right moves to put a winning team on the field next season, knowing he would have to take the slings and arrows that come with being committed to moving on from players like Alonso, Diaz, and Brandon Nimmo.
Whether that proves to be the self-confidence of a smart baseball man or the misplaced confidence of a value-driven analyst is context of sorts for what now becomes the most fascinating of offseasons for the Mets.
Whatever you think of Stearns at the moment, he still has to have a plan, right? Surely he wouldn’t subject himself to such unpopularity without one. He also has Steve Cohen’s billions and a highly-regarded farm system, which means he has the resources to be bold and creative.
I know, I know, he has done nothing to indicate he’ll act in that matter, but he has also never been in this position while running the Mets, with essentially a blank slate in front of him.
Is he truly consumed with finding exceptional value in every acquisition, as it seems to this point? Or can he pivot when needed to spending Cohen’s money for the best talent, even if it feels like an overpay?
From Day One, Cohen essentially has talked about making the Mets a Dodgers West of sorts. Is it possible Stearns is actually determined to build something of a Brewers East, winning with a scrappy, pitching-and-defense ballclub?
That philosophy worked in Milwaukee, at least to a point. The Brewers’ lack of success in the postseason for the last several years is more than the crapshoot nature of October: It’s also a reminder that it’s harder to win at that time of year without stars in the lineup and on the mound as well.
Just last season the Dodgers dominated the Brewers like it was the varsity against the JV.
All of this is a way of saying Stearns needs to re-discover and embrace his inner New York, if that’s possible. Run-prevention is a nice catch-phrase and there’s no disputing the Mets’ defense hurt them down the stretch last season, but I’d make the case the offensive failures were at least as costly, if not more so, in September, and, most notably, the lack of quality pitching was the biggest issue of all.
With that in mind, I believe this could still be the type of eventful offseason that at least gets Stearns back in the favor of Mets fans.
There are a lot of ways he could go now. Bellinger brings the type of all-around game that Stearns seems to prioritize, with his defense and base-running and solid hitting.
Alex Bregman would provide defense and a productive right-handed bat at third base, and he is hailed for his leadership as well, which may or may not be something Mets’ management feels the need to address. Brett Baty likely could slide over to first base if necessary, having proven to be versatile enough to play well at third and second.
Kyle Tucker could be the thumper the Mets need now, though his desire for a long-term contract seems to be exactly what Stearns wants to avoid.
You know the names on the pitching front as well: Michael King is uber-talented and available on a relatively short-term deal due to his injury history, if indeed Stearns wants no part of longer deals for Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez.
I still don’t think the Detroit Tigers are trading Tarik Skubal, but he has the pieces to go get Freddy Peralta, Joe Ryan, or Eury Perez.
And if he signs Robert Suarez for the back of the bullpen, it’s possible the Mets won’t miss Diaz all that much.
Finally, as one scout told me on Wednesday, “I guarantee you Stearns has two or three guys in mind as trade targets that nobody sees coming yet. I think everybody in baseball is curious to see what he does from here.”
In short, there are still plenty of ways Stearns can change the narrative of this offseason in the coming weeks.
But he has a long way to go to earn the trust of the fans again.
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