What Alonso's departure says about Stearns’ long-term vision

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The dismantling of the Mets continued this week at the Winter Meetings, where, a day after Edwin Díaz agreed to terms on a three-year contract with the Dodgers, franchise home run king Pete Alonso shook hands on a five-year, $155 million deal to join the Orioles, according to a source. Alonso’s deal is not official but will be after he passes a physical.

Over the past two and a half weeks, the Mets have moved on from three of their longest tenured players: Alonso, Díaz and Brandon Nimmo, whom they traded to the Rangers in November. Those three had all been Mets since at least 2019, forming a core that later came to include Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto.

That nucleus no longer exists, and it appears obvious that the Mets at least somewhat intended for things to go this way. They never made a formal contract offer to Alonso, according to a source, because it became clear early in the process that the bidding would go to levels they weren’t comfortable approaching. The Mets did make a $66 million offer to Díaz, but the closer never circled back because his camp felt the Mets weren’t going to outbid the Dodgers.

In the case of Nimmo, the Mets dealt him for Marcus Semien to improve their defense and create roster flexibility.

Nimmo, Alonso and Díaz had combined to play 23 seasons for the Mets. Along the way, all three became fan favorites -- particularly Alonso, who passed Darryl Strawberry this summer to become the franchise’s all-time home run king. As recently as Monday, president of baseball operations David Stearns called Alonso “a great Met” whom the team “would love to have back.”

So, then, why break up this core? The most logical answer is that it had not proven successful.

In 2019, Alonso’s rookie season, the Mets fell short of the playoffs despite a late-season surge that included breakouts for several young players. They took a step back the following year, again missing the postseason despite an expanded pandemic playoff bracket. More than half the league made the playoffs that season, but the Mets did not. The next year, Lindor’s first with the franchise, the Mets endured multiple public relations gaffes en route to 85 losses.

Things finally seemed to be changing in 2022, when the Mets won 101 games. But they cratered down the stretch, dropping three pivotal games to Atlanta to lose their grip on the National League East title, then lost a home Wild Card Series to the Padres. The following year, after reloading their roster with a spendthrift offseason that included the signings of Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga, along with new contracts for Nimmo and Díaz, the Mets performed so poorly that they engineered a historic Trade Deadline selloff.

A hiatus from all this losing took place in 2024, when the Mets leaned on Jose Iglesias’ “OMG” vibes to rally in the second half and make it all the way to within two games of the World Series. But their success didn’t last. This year, the Mets again missed the playoffs with one of the most expensive rosters in Major League history.

Outside of the magical 2024 run, the Mets have won one playoff game since 2015.

After missing the postseason on the final day of the 2025 season, Stearns described the Mets’ core as a collection of “very good to elite players who at times have played at a very high level.” He added that “the ceiling remains high” for Alonso, Nimmo, Lindor and company.

But Stearns also acknowledged things would need to change, citing team defense as a particular area that needed to improve. Alonso and Nimmo both graded out as below-average defenders in 2025, which are numbers Stearns can measure. Those players’ impact on the fan base, he acknowledged, is something he cannot.

Regardless of any concerns about loyalty, however, Stearns has shaken up the core. There’s no turning back now: no matter what the Mets do the rest of this offseason, their roster will look very, very different heading into 2026. For some, that will be a sad thing. In Stearns’ eyes, it can be a good thing. Perhaps Stearns put it best last month following his trade of Nimmo.

“I think once we got into the offseason and had the time to fully reflect on our team is when I became convinced that we weren’t just going to run it back -- that we were going to make some changes,” Stearns said. “You’re never sure which changes are actually going to occur, which changes are actually going to be possible. And that’s still the case as we move forward.”