It took a while amid a lot of backlash from the Mets faithful over the jettisoning of Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, but in a rapid-fire six days last week David Stearns was finally able to put together the team he’s wanted in Flushing. And you would have to agree the additions of Bo Bichette and Luis Robert Jr. to the lineup, and Freddy Peralta to the top of the starting rotation, appear to make the Mets significantly better than the disappointing 83-win outfit of last year.
And all it cost was a ton of Steve Cohen’s money and a few young players who didn’t figure to be major factors on the 2026 team.
In his determination to rebuild the Mets with an emphasis on run prevention, it is still a bit of a head scratcher how playing newcomers Bichette at third and Jorge Polanco at first — positions neither one of them have ever played before — accomplishes that, but Robert, who came over the White Sox in a $20 million salary dump for the still unproven Luisangel Acuna, is an elite defensive center fielder. And as Stearns pointed out Thursday, the addition of Marcus Semien at second base gives the Mets another premier defensive player, and, if not the corners, they are greatly improved defensively up the middle.
But that’s if the 35-year-old Semien (who missed the last six weeks of last season with a fractured foot) and especially Robert, who has a history of nagging injuries and only once played more than 110 games in six years with the White Sox, stay healthy. Because of his five-tool talent, however, Robert, at 28, was worth the gamble by Stearns, and to Cohen. What’s another $20 million added to the $351 million payroll? Besides, that’s a smidgen to the $42 million Cohen will be paying Bichette next year (see below).
Of all the acquisitions Stearns has made this offseason, none was more significant than the trade with the Brewers that capped off the dizzying week in which he sent two top prospects, righty Brandon Sproat and versatile speed merchant Jett Williams for Peralta and reliever Tobias Myers. Until now it was as if Stearns had a blind spot when it came to top echelon starting pitchers, refusing to go beyond three years for any on the free agent market, and it came back to really haunt last year.
But scouts I talked to believe, even though Peralta can be a free agent after this year, Stearns got a steal of a deal for the 29-year-old righty who led the NL in wins (17-6) while finishing fifth in the Cy Young voting last year. According to one scout: The key to the deal was the 5-7 “gnat” Williams, who can play second base, shortstop and center field and had 17 homers and 34 stolen bases at Double-A and Triple-A last year:
“The Brewers love those pesky little guys like Williams, who can run and also hit for power, doesn’t strike out a lot and can play a lot of positions. Kind of like the guy they got from the Yankees (5-7 third baseman Caleb Durbin) last year and (5-7 Sal) Frelick who did such a good job in right field for them. That’s their game.”
The scouts also really like the 27-year-old Myers, who they believe will be a plus factor in the Mets bullpen this year.
“I was frankly surprised the Brewers included him in the deal,” said one of the scouts. “He’s a work horse who throws strikes.”
The Yankees were in on Peralta initially but would have had to give up at the very least their top prospect, shortstop George Lombard Jr., as well as a starting pitcher — a price they were unwilling to pay for a rental player, especially since they expect their injured starters Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon back in May and Clarke Schmidt by midseason.
With the lineup and starting rotation now set, I would expect Stearns to do a little more fine tuning with the bullpen, but after rebounding from losing out to the Dodgers for Kyle Tucker with three bold moves for Bichette, Robert and Peralta he has the satisfaction of — at least for now — no longer being the most hated man in Queens.
IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
It’s the opinion here that Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is getting a bad rap from the Philly fans upset over him losing out to the Mets for Bo Bichette. Understandably Dombrowski is just as upset about not landing Bichette after Bichette’s guy from the Blue Jays, Don Mattingly, helped launch the recruiting process when he was hired as bench coach by the Phillies and Dombrowski reportedly offered a seven-year deal in the $200 million range — only to be blind-sided by a panic-driven and stupid three-year/$126 million offer by Steve Cohen and the Mets. Why do I say stupid? Because not only will the Mets be paying a ridiculous AAV of $42 million over the three years for Bichette, but they also gave him the ability to opt out after the first year which — if he does — would entitle him to another $5 million according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Think about that. Cohen conceivably could be paying Bichette $47 million in 2026 — along with an additional $15.2 million in 110% luxury tax — and watch him walk away. As one former GM told me: “In what world does a team pay a player for leaving?” (By contrast, the Yankees’ five-year/$162.5 million contract for Cody Bellinger contains opt outs — but only after the first two years — by which time he’ll be 32, and there’s no payoff if he leaves.) There’s no way Dombrowski, who’ll one day go to the Hall of Fame as one of the savviest GMs in baseball history, could or would have competed with such an irresponsible offer. Meanwhile, after losing out on Bichette, Dombrowski is being criticized by Philly fans and some Philly media for essentially bringing back the same team next year — but a big part of that was re-signing Kyle Schwarber for five years/$150 million. And in Brad Keller (75K, 2.07 ERA in 69.2 innings for the Cubs last year), Dombrowski added a nice bullpen piece for two years/$22M along with former All-Star Adolis Garcia for outfield depth, and with the money saved on Bichette, he was able to bring back Phillies mainstay catcher J.T. Realmuto on a three-year/$45M deal.
