NY Mets: 3 offseason predictions from 3 different fans

What’s going to happen this winter with the New York Mets? It’s the question husbands ponder as they turn over in bed and stare at the wall while the wife accuses him—in her own mind—of thinking about other women. You know the meme!

I’m not quite sure myself what to expect from the Mets. The front office is getting shaken up, the coaching staff is almost completely different, and we have a team looking to make up for their shortcomings in 2021.

To find some answers, I asked three members of the Rising Apple team to give me their offseason predictions. I wanted them to keep it simple. Tell me who the Mets sign in free agency, who they trade for, and who they trade away. They left out the more minor dealings, still focusing on deals that’ll grab headlines. Let’s see what your fellow Mets fans think will happen.

Michael Cahill makes his offseason Mets predictions

Let’s start with who Michael Cahill thinks the Mets sign in free agency and go from there.

Mets Sign:
Marcus Stroman
Noah Syndergaard (QO)
Aaron Loup
Javier Baez
Michael Conforto (QO)
Mark Canha

Cahill seems confident that the Mets roster won’t have too much turnover as far as their free agents are concerned. He’s hoping for reunions with five of their free agents including two via the qualifying offer. It’s a little too optimistic for my blood. I think Michael Conforto will reject the qualifying offer and end up somewhere else. I also believe the Mets will have to choose between Javier Baez or Marcus Stroman. My gut tells me Stroman gets a better deal elsewhere.

The big surprise name here is Mark Canha. The longtime Oakland Athletics first baseman/outfielder is a free agent this offseason and could fill in some gaps for the Mets next season. Sometimes powerful with an expected solid career .344 OBP (he’s in Oakland after all), I can see how he might end up with New York in a platoon situation or merely as a great bat off the bench.

Mets Trade For:
Matt Chapman

Cahill is predicting one big trade for the Mets and that’s the acquisition of another Athletics player, Matt Chapman. I’m a bit torn on him. On one hand, he’s a great defender with some good pop. On the other, he is coming off of a .210/.314/.403 season with 202 strikeouts.

Mets Trade Away:
J.D. Davis
Mark Vientos

Cahill wasn’t able to go into too much detail on the trades because, frankly, I don’t like anyone arguing over exactly what types of trades make sense. It’s a fool’s errand. Who is to say which Single-A add-in is good and which isn’t?

I can only surmise from what Cahill did present that he thinks a deal between the Mets and Athletics for Chapman could cost them J.D. Davis, Mark Vientos, and possibly more. The appearance of Vientos in the deal definitely seems to make sense because of how tricky it could be for the Mets to move forward with him and Brett Baty in the future. With Chapman under contract with the club through 2023, they can figure a few things out, possibly even allowing Baty to play some left field in the big leagues.

Cahill’s predictions favor the Mets in free agency and allow them to add to the roster with one big trade. What do the other Mets fans have to predict?