Right moves allow NY Mets to get away with minor changes at 2 out of these 3 positions

New York Mets fans won’t let David Stearns sleep through the offseason. After two straight years of missing the playoffs and the 2026 season being over before we knew it, it’s back to the drawing board.

Despite coming to the Mets with a small market resume, Stearns has taken Steve Cohen’s cash and spent. Juan Soto was a no-brainer decision. He has regularly invested in others, often favoring a shorter deal even if it means a higher AAV. Caught a little too much in between the behavior of a drunken sailor spending at will and a seafarering designated driver who’ll take the free glass of water instead of rum, this is the offseason where the Mets may try to make financial excuses at some positions.

Luckily for them, there are three position groups where not spending a lot of money might be acceptable as long as they manage to make the right decisions. They can’t go cheap at all three of these spots, but getting away without adding cash at two of them feels feasible.

Where can the Mets get away with not spending?

First Base

The Mets have to do something at first base. Jared Young isn’t cut out for the load of facing lefties nor do they look like they have much of a backup plan other than to put Brett Baty there in case of an injury. There are some creative things they could do such as moving someone new to the position. What’s kind of off the table is expecting Jorge Polanco to play much defense at all.

The minimum the Mets have to do at first base is add a right-handed hitting first baseman who’d be an upgrade over Mark Vientos. It’s practically a given Vientos has played his final game for the Mets. Paul Goldschmidt is probably the most realistic free agent who’d accept the platoon role. Ty France has little incentive to join the Mets knowing he could easily get bumped out into the short half of a platoon.

Second Base

Marcus Semien and Brett Baty are probably going to share second base more than David Stearns ever planned they would. Semien’s downfall could have a minor uptick, but the defense wasn’t even sharp enough to plan for him to be a number nine hitter. The Mets could use some sort of an added infield presence. It won’t be for someone to take over any significant number of at-bats at second base.

The urgency here is more dependent on the growth of the young players. Jefferson Rojas, if Bo Bichette is back, immediately becomes in contention to nab playing time there. Emilien Pitre is someone else who could get some playing time pretty quickly. It’s hard to imagine the Mets actually adding a true second baseman with this many prospects and two major leaguers already on the roster. What’s more, a plan of moving Bichette over there later in the season or from the start of the season is yet another one of those cards they could pull.

The Bullpen

The Mets bullpen might not be stacked with high-salaried players. They already have Devin Williams making big money. Kodai Senga seems destined to have a role in some capacity. We might even see Sean Manaea take on a longman role…again. You can build a decent Mets bullpen without doing much at all. Daniel Duarte, Nate Lavender, Dedniel Nunez, Cionel Perez, and Austin Warren are all acceptable options.

The trouble is the Mets can’t enter next year with all of those players. They need some sort of an upgrade and that might be limited to one mid-tier arm. Don’t overlook waiver claims or even a trade. The one role the Mets do have to heavily consider refilling is the one lost when they traded Luke Weaver. One $10-12 million pitcher is the absolute maximum to expect. After witnessing a Milwaukee Brewers vs. Tampa Bay Rays World Series, we should prepare for the Mets to think savvy over spendy.

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