A debate no NY Mets fan wanted to have this offseason about the LA Dodgers

The New York Mets' completely reshuffled their cards this offseason, moving on from the likes of Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso while bringing in Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, Devin Williams, and so many others.

Among the more profound losses was Edwin Diaz's departure for a record-setting closer contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which deprived the Mets of the best reliever in baseball. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, New York emerged as the favorites for Kyle Tucker (going so far as to offer him a $55 million AAV), only for the Dodgers to swoop in at the last moment and offering him a ridiculous four-year, $240 million contract.

Though the team has done a nice job pivoting away from both superstars, their new shared home does beg the question: Which player will draw the ire of Mets fans more this upcoming season?

Who should Mets fans boo more in 2026: Kyle Tucker or Edwin Diaz?

Like every campaign, the 2024 NLCS participants will play two series during the 2026 regular season. The first comes early, from April 13-15, with the Mets heading out to the West Coast to take on the defending champions in their own home.

It's the next meeting that figures to bring out the raucous boos and fired-up crowd. The series in Queens takes place just a week before the trade deadline, from July 24-26. Assuming both teams are in contention at that point — as is widely expected by most prediction models — the atmosphere in Citi Field will feel like nothing short of a playoff game.

While whiffing on Tucker certainly hurt — he was a near-perfect replacement for Pete Alonso in the middle of the lineup — his connection to the Mets was only serious in the final days before he took the coward's way out and signed with the Dodgers. Plus, the team immediately turned around as signed Bichette instead, which severely mitigated the blow.

Watching Diaz take a three-year deal from the Dodgers was just a pure gut punch, even with the benefit of hindsight that allows us to know he's been replaced with Williams, Luke Weaver, and Luis Garcia. Though he'd former a bad habit of oscillating between elite and middling seasons, Diaz was firmly in contention for the title of "baseball's best reliever" when he left New York for Los Angeles.

Considering the many ups and downs he experienced during his Mets tenure, it'll be nothing short of infuriating if Diaz turns in another marquee campaign with the Dodgers in 2026. If he makes even a single appearance during that three-game series at Citi Field, expect him to be showered by an astonishing amount of boos (and probably worse) as he trots out to the mound from the visitor's bullpen.