On a more mundane note you have a tab encouraging giving a gift subscription. But you can’t click on it through the app. You have to go to the actual site to give a gift. It took me a month to figure that out. You should tell people to go to metsfix.com if they want to send a gift.
I think we can take Stearns literally when he said he wanted Pete to test his market and come back to them. Has Boras/Pete found an offer higher than 3/68? I highly doubt it. Sammon's updated reporting saying that this offer included opt-outs make sense, AND saying they are willing to go slightly above that offer. That tells me they're willing to probably get to the expected 3/75.
But if Pete/Boras can't tell you with a straight face that they have another offer on the table, why would we offer that?
My guess is Toronto could slightly top the Mets offer and Pete could save face by accepting that deal. And then one day he'll wonder, "What the hell did I do to myself?"
Yep. Especially when they finish in fourth place while the Mets make the playoffs again. Then in the off-season he watches Bichette and Vlad leave, while other guys get traded.
I would not be surprised if Stearns didn't really want Pete back unless it was on their terms. I was texting my friend during the 8th inning of Game 3 in Milwaukee that this was the end for him. I really think the only reason we are still involved at this point was due to his HR and his subsequent playoff production. He doesn't seem to be a Stearns type player, esp for big money.
However, I would be very surprised if the answer is "Brett Baty is our 3B going into the Spring". I'd do a 2-year deal for Santander (even though that would be way below what he was expecting) to play first. But having Baty at third and moving to Vientos to first does not scream "fun" to me.
It's possible they want Acuna playing full time again at AAA but could he be the backup IF since he provides a lot on defense/speed as a bench piece too?
depending on his health, mauricio is a an option at 3rd base. i'd be much more willing to let that play out than a 3rd straight year of hoping baty isn't bad. then you've got acuna/mcneil to take starting 2B and the utility IF roles.
I like Mauricio's raw talent, but I would be very hesitant to have him be anything more than a small option. He hasn't played in over a year and is apparently still rehabbing.
I'm a 40-year Mets fan, but not a New Yorker. Maybe it's something about the local water, but I don't get the appeal of boofhead rail-humping and flailing away at balls every good pitcher is going to get him out with when the pressure's on (lottery-winning oncers aside). The brilliant first season is history. Stearns showed last year he knows what he's doing, and I think he still does.
“In other words, why couldn’t the front office come to this conclusion earlier in the offseason, realizing Alonso was highly unlikely to sign at their preferred price, allowing them to be more aggressive when several cost-effective first basemen, such as Carlos Santana and Paul Goldschmidt, came off the board?”
This above all else is why I’m still confident Pete will be back. I find it hard to believe Toronto, Chicago, LAA, whoever will materially outbid the Mets … and the offer floated could’ve also been front-loaded to encourage an opt-out. If he leaves, it’s out of spite at the negotiations - not exactly unreasonable, but don’t see it. There’ll be a last minute call, a rush of negotiations, and we’ll have a deal announced within an hour from an initial report. Hope I’m right.
We all know Pete and what he’s done plus the excitement he gave us his rookie year. If he flies out against Williams in Milwaukee we aren’t having this conversation right now. Pete has worked hard to become an OK first baseman. He also makes the asshole pucker on many plays when games are on the line. I still see that dropped pop up that ultimately didn’t hurt us but those are the plays that open floodgates and can cost the team a series. With the type of pitchers we have defense is a must and Lindor scoops with the best even if he doesn’t get the gold gloves he deserves (he was robbed last year) but he’s another year older and I still see a hole that protects Soto. We have a top two but who is three? Nimmo? Nope. Stearns still has work to do and I expect more moves to come either before spring training or during. Stearns did stress he wants a team that has youth and veterans. Hope Vientos doesn’t have a sophomore slump. I’m not sold Pete is gone yet.
I think the Mets signing Winker was not them signaling a pivot from Alonso. It could be that the timing was coincidental. As you said they were always going to sign another bat. And Winker was always on the radar for that. It could just be that they finished their deal with Winker at the same time that Boras pissed them off to the point that they announced that they were going in another direction. This could just be a negotiating tactic when one side has the other in a corner. And the reason why the Mets didn’t look elsewhere sooner due to them knowing that the gap would be “impossible “ to overcome given Alonso’s expectations is because it was not impossible. They waited him out and now their offer is the only logical choice for Pete. The only thing keeping him from signing would be emotional or because Boras is willing to hurt his client to save face (which I guess is also emotional).
If this is really the end for Pete - it bums me out. IMHO the backup plan to out Vientos at 1st where ne never has played and Baty who basiclly stinks at 3rd is hard to swallow.
The Mets need a big bopper who can at least be adequate defensively at 1B (I'm thinking Santander). I'm OK with a Marte/Winker platoon at DH, but not thrilled. And they need to sign Iglesias (more valuable than Pete last year!) to play 2B, backup SS, and sometimes 3B—and full-time at 3B, if the three youngsters can't handle things there.
We'll have to let this play out before we can say anything meaningful.
I don't believe that the Winker signing and Alonso issue are at all related, and I don't think anyone else thinks that, either.
The obsession about the payroll tax and upcoming CBA strikes me as wide of the mark. But I've been wrong before. Maybe the Mets intend to do something incredibly dumb?
From what I've seen, the 2025 Mets' payroll is still about $60 million less than it was in 2024. I've always suspected that Stearns had hoped to bring that number down, cutting, say, $20 million overall. But I also believed, and still believe, that they want to compete for the Division title this year.
This is largely on Pete Alonso. And I'm afraid we're all going to have to suffer the consequences of his grand self-delusion.
But I'll say this: It's one thing for a tough negotiator to land a deal; but to be a tough negotiator only to watch the fish swim away . . . that's far less valuable. However, I realize that in any negotiation, you have to be willing to walk away from a deal.
i think it's probably down to his value to the mets and less about a budget capped internally. 3yr/68-70m is what he's worth to the mets. anything above 25m aav is a bad deal for the mets, and i'm glad to know cohen/stearns are sticking to it. as long as they don't budge on that figure, pete is the only one that has to suffer the consequences of his grand self-delusion.
I think Stearns showed his cards when he signed Holmes, an extreme ground ball pitcher, to start. You can’t put out a poor infield behind him, and that’s what it is with Alonso and Vientos at the corners. Stearns knew Pete wouldn’t be back.
On a more mundane note you have a tab encouraging giving a gift subscription. But you can’t click on it through the app. You have to go to the actual site to give a gift. It took me a month to figure that out. You should tell people to go to metsfix.com if they want to send a gift.
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I think we can take Stearns literally when he said he wanted Pete to test his market and come back to them. Has Boras/Pete found an offer higher than 3/68? I highly doubt it. Sammon's updated reporting saying that this offer included opt-outs make sense, AND saying they are willing to go slightly above that offer. That tells me they're willing to probably get to the expected 3/75.
But if Pete/Boras can't tell you with a straight face that they have another offer on the table, why would we offer that?
I think Boras royally screwed this up.
My guess is Toronto could slightly top the Mets offer and Pete could save face by accepting that deal. And then one day he'll wonder, "What the hell did I do to myself?"
Yep. Especially when they finish in fourth place while the Mets make the playoffs again. Then in the off-season he watches Bichette and Vlad leave, while other guys get traded.
I would not be surprised if Stearns didn't really want Pete back unless it was on their terms. I was texting my friend during the 8th inning of Game 3 in Milwaukee that this was the end for him. I really think the only reason we are still involved at this point was due to his HR and his subsequent playoff production. He doesn't seem to be a Stearns type player, esp for big money.
However, I would be very surprised if the answer is "Brett Baty is our 3B going into the Spring". I'd do a 2-year deal for Santander (even though that would be way below what he was expecting) to play first. But having Baty at third and moving to Vientos to first does not scream "fun" to me.
It's possible they want Acuna playing full time again at AAA but could he be the backup IF since he provides a lot on defense/speed as a bench piece too?
I would be shocked & discouraged if Baty is our 3B this season.
depending on his health, mauricio is a an option at 3rd base. i'd be much more willing to let that play out than a 3rd straight year of hoping baty isn't bad. then you've got acuna/mcneil to take starting 2B and the utility IF roles.
I like Mauricio's raw talent, but I would be very hesitant to have him be anything more than a small option. He hasn't played in over a year and is apparently still rehabbing.
I'm a 40-year Mets fan, but not a New Yorker. Maybe it's something about the local water, but I don't get the appeal of boofhead rail-humping and flailing away at balls every good pitcher is going to get him out with when the pressure's on (lottery-winning oncers aside). The brilliant first season is history. Stearns showed last year he knows what he's doing, and I think he still does.
“In other words, why couldn’t the front office come to this conclusion earlier in the offseason, realizing Alonso was highly unlikely to sign at their preferred price, allowing them to be more aggressive when several cost-effective first basemen, such as Carlos Santana and Paul Goldschmidt, came off the board?”
This above all else is why I’m still confident Pete will be back. I find it hard to believe Toronto, Chicago, LAA, whoever will materially outbid the Mets … and the offer floated could’ve also been front-loaded to encourage an opt-out. If he leaves, it’s out of spite at the negotiations - not exactly unreasonable, but don’t see it. There’ll be a last minute call, a rush of negotiations, and we’ll have a deal announced within an hour from an initial report. Hope I’m right.
We all know Pete and what he’s done plus the excitement he gave us his rookie year. If he flies out against Williams in Milwaukee we aren’t having this conversation right now. Pete has worked hard to become an OK first baseman. He also makes the asshole pucker on many plays when games are on the line. I still see that dropped pop up that ultimately didn’t hurt us but those are the plays that open floodgates and can cost the team a series. With the type of pitchers we have defense is a must and Lindor scoops with the best even if he doesn’t get the gold gloves he deserves (he was robbed last year) but he’s another year older and I still see a hole that protects Soto. We have a top two but who is three? Nimmo? Nope. Stearns still has work to do and I expect more moves to come either before spring training or during. Stearns did stress he wants a team that has youth and veterans. Hope Vientos doesn’t have a sophomore slump. I’m not sold Pete is gone yet.
I think the Mets signing Winker was not them signaling a pivot from Alonso. It could be that the timing was coincidental. As you said they were always going to sign another bat. And Winker was always on the radar for that. It could just be that they finished their deal with Winker at the same time that Boras pissed them off to the point that they announced that they were going in another direction. This could just be a negotiating tactic when one side has the other in a corner. And the reason why the Mets didn’t look elsewhere sooner due to them knowing that the gap would be “impossible “ to overcome given Alonso’s expectations is because it was not impossible. They waited him out and now their offer is the only logical choice for Pete. The only thing keeping him from signing would be emotional or because Boras is willing to hurt his client to save face (which I guess is also emotional).
Agree with all of this.
I think the Mets saw that Pete/Boras was trying to hold them hostage, perfectly willing to drag this into late February and into March.
The Mets have kept trying to sign Pete at fair-market contracts and he keeps refusing. What choice is left?
Their camp turning down 168/7 or whatever it was, coming off a decent year but trending downward has turned out to be quite an error.
Please read this article about the value and contract status of Nolan Arenado and tell me you're still against the Mets trading for him -> https://redbirdrants.com/what-is-nolan-arenado-s-value-and-how-does-that-play-into-the-cardinals-trade-talks
Good piece, thanks. If price is right -- and if we're willing to rethink what we expect out of him as a player -- it is maybe a solution.
It blocks Baty, but that's not really a concern for me.
It blocks Mauricio, but he can force his way into 2B if he ever recovers and produces at AAA.
There is a part of this -- Stearns looking forlornly at Vientos immobile at 3B -- where a defensive upgrade in the infield seemed inevitable.
If this is really the end for Pete - it bums me out. IMHO the backup plan to out Vientos at 1st where ne never has played and Baty who basiclly stinks at 3rd is hard to swallow.
The Mets need a big bopper who can at least be adequate defensively at 1B (I'm thinking Santander). I'm OK with a Marte/Winker platoon at DH, but not thrilled. And they need to sign Iglesias (more valuable than Pete last year!) to play 2B, backup SS, and sometimes 3B—and full-time at 3B, if the three youngsters can't handle things there.
so vientos is projected to be 7th best in WAR at 1st base next year and pete was 11th last year? that says a lot.
Any projection that has Baty as the 12th highest WAR at 3B is not worth the virtual paper it is virtually printed on.
We'll have to let this play out before we can say anything meaningful.
I don't believe that the Winker signing and Alonso issue are at all related, and I don't think anyone else thinks that, either.
The obsession about the payroll tax and upcoming CBA strikes me as wide of the mark. But I've been wrong before. Maybe the Mets intend to do something incredibly dumb?
From what I've seen, the 2025 Mets' payroll is still about $60 million less than it was in 2024. I've always suspected that Stearns had hoped to bring that number down, cutting, say, $20 million overall. But I also believed, and still believe, that they want to compete for the Division title this year.
This is largely on Pete Alonso. And I'm afraid we're all going to have to suffer the consequences of his grand self-delusion.
But I'll say this: It's one thing for a tough negotiator to land a deal; but to be a tough negotiator only to watch the fish swim away . . . that's far less valuable. However, I realize that in any negotiation, you have to be willing to walk away from a deal.
I still hold out hope for an 11th-hour agreement.
But damn.
i think it's probably down to his value to the mets and less about a budget capped internally. 3yr/68-70m is what he's worth to the mets. anything above 25m aav is a bad deal for the mets, and i'm glad to know cohen/stearns are sticking to it. as long as they don't budge on that figure, pete is the only one that has to suffer the consequences of his grand self-delusion.
I think Stearns showed his cards when he signed Holmes, an extreme ground ball pitcher, to start. You can’t put out a poor infield behind him, and that’s what it is with Alonso and Vientos at the corners. Stearns knew Pete wouldn’t be back.
Hmm... I wonder why McGuire's later years are so high in WAR?
Yup. Same reason as Barry Bonds.