6 most important Mets players who won't be back next season

A noticeable and maybe forgotten impact David Stearns had on the New York Mets was the roster turnover when he took the job. Multiple players were non-tendered rather than held onto for the 2024 season. The first year President of Baseball Operations wanted to put his stamp on the franchise. Because the Mets sold at the 2023 trade deadline, there wasn’t much debate about bringing any of their free agents back. Most holdovers were easy to part with.

It’s an entirely different situation this time. The Mets bought and added many more upcoming free agents into the mix. They went from having a medium-sized class to a much larger one.

After coming up short, we should expect Stearns to build a team closer to the image he wanted them to be all along. This includes letting some free agents go. These are the six most important ones from the 2024 regular season who won’t be back.

1) Pete Alonso

The big guy. Homegrown. Powerful. Lovable. Gone? Discussion about the future of Pete Alonso in Flushing has been rampant for well over a year. That’s what happens when a player of his magnitude reaches free agency for the first time.

The will he or won’t he of Alonso’s return to the Mets will remain up for debate until the moment he has a new deal. Frustrated fans with his performance in 2024 will pay the Uber to send him to the airport (Newark, too!) if it means getting him out of town. Others can agree he’ll be difficult to replace. Despite the down year, small moments in clutch situations, and everything else that went into his 2024 season, bringing him back should be among the offseason priorities.

Alonso won’t have a plethora of suitors, however, someone will be willing to give him a short-term deal worth a lot of money. Those types of deals other Scott Boras clients received where he can opt out after a year or two will be what Alonso gets. It’ll come from someone other than the Mets because they have alternatives already on their roster. There’s also a mega free agent they’ll sign to ease the pain.

Some big clutch playoff home runs certainly help his free agent case, but shouldn’t do much to move the needle in terms of the dollar amount or years. Something in my heart tells me Alonso will be gone in 2025 but return to the Mets within a year or two after an opt out in his contract.

TLDR Version: The Mets will successfully sign Juan Soto and then pivot to making Mark Vientos the primary first baseman.