1 prediction for each of the 4 major NY Mets players who left this offseason

Four core pieces of the New York Mets roster are gone. We’ll see a very different ball club when the team opens up the season. The kind of turnover the Mets endured this offseason was unexpectedly large. We figured a free agent might leave. A trade would take place. Who saw Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil all going away?

There’s no mystery where they’ll begin the year. But what will they do? Let’s make a prediction for each of them.

A prediction for each member of the Mets core that left this winter

Pete Alonso has a career-year but misses the playoffs

Pete Alonso is going to rake in a hitter’s ballpark down in Baltimore. The Orioles are coming off of a hugely disappointing year (something we have in common) and becoming the veteran leader in the lineup is going to look so good on Alonso that he ends up putting together a career year. He won’t top his home run total from 2019 but his batting average and OBP will be monstrous in comparison to what he did for the Mets. Unfortunately, the Orioles miss the playoffs again. The story for them becomes how they needed more than a Polar Bear added to the roster to catch the best teams in the AL East.

Edwin Diaz spends some time out of the closer’s role

It’s not going to be bouquets of roses thrown at Edwin Diaz all year long. There will come a time in 2026 when Diaz loses his closer’s role. We saw it before in New York, dropping out from the ninth inning briefly in 2024. Diaz might be regarded as one of the best closers in baseball, but he’s also human. Dodgers fans will see some of the same hiccups from him that they experienced out of Tanner Scott in 2025.

Brandon Nimmo is an All-Star then falls off in the second-half

Brandon Nimmo is finally going to earn his first All-Star selection in 2026. He’ll be regarded as a snub and replace an injured player. Unfortunately for the Texas Rangers, it’ll be all down hill after the All-Star break. Nimmo will struggle in August and even into September with inferior numbers. Nimmo hit only .190 in the second half of the 2024 Mets season. Something like this, or worse, will be the way year one with the close to .500 Rangers goes.

Jeff McNeil ends up traded to the Yankees or Phillies

Jeff McNeil will have his revenge, sort of, on the Mets. At the trade deadline, he ends up traded to the New York Yankees or Philadelphia Phillies. Each club had some hypothetical use for him this offseason even though he was never getting traded to either place. How can McNeil’s villain arc not include playing for one of those ball clubs? A bolder prediction: he’s traded to the Phillies and signs with the Yankees next offseason.