Freddy Peralta is the Mets latest acquisition, and will fortify their pitching rotation.
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Slow and steady wins the race. Listening to talk radio and reading newspaper headlines, most certainly does not. After a shocking (to their fans) start to the off-season, New York Mets president of baseball operation David Stearns, utilizing the checkbook of billionaire owner Steve Cohen, and the guile he learned while spending seven years in mid-market Milwaukee’s front office, has remade his club into a team that should not miss the playoffs next season.
The Lost Boys
At the outset of the Hot Stove Season, the Mets moved fan-favorite Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers in return for sure-handed, but potentially bat-hamstrung second baseman, Marcus Semien. This was part of Stearns’ plan to improve run prevention.
To help keep their bullpen in order, the Mets made closer Edwin Díaz a three-year, $66 million contract offer. He took three million more to sign with the World Series Champion Dodgers. Based on his statements after the deal, it seems like Díaz wanted to be on the West Coast more than the East Coast; but one must wonder if New York had added three million + $1 to their offer, would the fire-baller have stayed?
The very next day, the franchise’s all-time home run leader signed a five-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets never made an offer to Pete Alonso because, as it was reported, the competing bids were outside their “comfort zone”.
And then, in a salary dump that could have been viewed as addition by subtraction, the Mets sent infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil to the Athletics for a minor league pitcher. This move saved the team about $12 million (they sent $5.75 million to Sacramento to help offset the $17.75 million McNeil is due in 2026).
And the coup de grâce came when the Mets again lost out to the Dodgers, with Kyle Tucker electing to play in Los Angeles rather than Queens. Steve Cohen sent out a tweet intimating that they would land Tucker on a four-year, $220 million deal, just to have the Dodgers throw an additional $20 million on the pile and win the day.
At that point, Mets fans were out of their minds, despondent, worried that 2026 might actually be worse than 2025, concerned that Stearns was out of his depth, and resigned to another era of “LOL Mets.” Stearns had no such concerns.
The Found Treasures
In anticipation of losing Díaz, the team signed potential closer Devin Williams to a three-year, $45 million contract. This provided them the protection they needed if/when Díaz moved on. Chalk one up to Stearns’ foresight.
And after Alonso signed with Baltimore, they signed Jorge Polanco to play first base, despite the fact that he has worn a first baseman’s mitt for a total of 1/3 of an inning in his career. But the former Twin and Mariner came up as a shortstop and has played 430 games second base. The team believes he has the physical skills and athleticism to be serviceable just a little farther to the right side of the infield.
Less than 24 hours after Tucker spurned the Mets, the team pivoted to Bo Bichette, bringing him in on a three-year deal worth $126 million. Some viewed this as a panic signing, as Bichette slots in at third base, a position he has never played. But there is no question that his bat will improve the lineup.
Earlier this week the team utilized their infield depth to trade for the center fielder they desperately needed. In return for Luisangel Acuña, New York now has potential superstar Luis Robert Jr. and his 65-grade raw power playing alongside certified superstar Juan Soto.
And just when the fans and pundits thought the front office had forgotten about their pitching needs, Stearns called on his former team to extricate ace Freddy Peralta and reliever Tobias Myers from Milwaukee in return for right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat (who the Mets drafted both out of high school and college) and infield prospect Jett Williams. Peralta comes to New York with a career 3.59 ERA and 3.66 FIP, at the low, low cost of $8 million for one year. Myers has two years of experience, comes on a rookie contract, and could either start or come out of the bullpen.
It may not have been what the fans wanted and it certainly unfolded in an unorthodox manner. The team make look wholly different than the one that missed the playoffs by one game last season, and the ditty “Meet the Mets” may need to once again be on the charts. But when the dust settles and the Metropolitans open the season at CitiField against the Pirates, they just may be a better ballclub than the one that limped off the field in Miami last September*.
*Just accounting for the players referenced above and based on 2025 statistics, the net result of these moves improves the Mets by 4.5 bWAR. And if Devin Williams (-0.3), Bo Bichette (3.3), and Luis Robert Jr. (1.4) play up to their potential, the delta will be even greater.