It sounds like the NY Mets might make the exact opposite mistake this offseason

SNY’s Chelsea Janes grabbed a virtual letter opener this week and answered some questions from fans about the future of the New York Mets. The future is all fans have right now. The present, as improved as it has been in recent weeks, still has too many fresh wounds.

The bulk of the questions that came in had to do with who stays, who goes, and some ideas on what the Mets can do to rectify some of their issues. There were no major revelations other than an early suggestion that the Mets may indeed end up making the exact opposite mistake this offseason.

If you want to point at one thing the Mets did wrong after 2025 it was how much they turned the roster over. We can all accept trading Jeff McNeil. Most would say trading Brandon Nimmo or letting Pete Alonso walk was the right thing to do for the sake of trying something new. In hindsight, as bad as Marcus Semien has been, the Alonso free agency departure was the killer.

Janes gave her perspective on what the Mets will do with some of those long-debated players we’ve been waiting to turn a corner for good. Her belief is we see a lot of those same faces except for maybe Mark Vientos.

The Mets could be making a big mistake by not changing enough this offseason

Vientos seems to be the one player on the roster they’d be willing to part with as a non-tender candidate. The same is true for Ronny Mauricio, but as he toils away in the minor leagues, that’s as clear as anything. It’s the other two Baby Mets that are up for debate.

Brett Baty has been useful at best yet hardly the first-round pick quality player we thought he’d end up becoming. Unable to even replicate McNeil’s offensive numbers in most seasons, he remains a questionable player to let linger around. Janes believes he gets one more year. A minor league option still intact for next season will give the Mets authority to demote him if needed.

Then there’s Francisco Alvarez. Sometimes appearing to look like the next best-hitting catcher in baseball and in other moments a rally-killing nightmare, his situation is far different from Baty. The Mets could probably get something of better value in return for Alvarez. Younger and with two minor league options left, teams convinced they can either turn him into a proficient major league hitter and/or improve his defensive skills would gladly take a shot at him. Alvarez loses a lot of his luster when he’s not hitting. In seasons like the current one where Luis Torrens is running circles around him defensively and putting up competitive stats at the plate, it’s hard to picture how Alvarez really fits in other than a 3-days-a-week catcher with some DH starts in there as well.

It's not an easy situation for the Mets when looking to make change

The difficult part for the Mets will be the changes with the veterans on larger contracts. Francisco Lindor trade rumors seem to have quieted down for now. Players like Semien, Jorge Polanco, Sean Manaea, and Kodai Senga have not lived up to the salary and would be difficult to move even with so few years left on their deals. More than likely, trading them would be strict salary dumps where the Mets eat a portion of the money or possibly take on another bad contract. It’s probably worth exploring because keeping things too similar into next year doesn’t seem so wise. This is the exact kind of logic that would cost jobs and further delay a turnaround.

The Mets aren’t a total disaster with multiple younger players stepping up and a core of stars already here. It’s those in-betweeners that are the issue. Tearing apart the bullpen as much as they did, trading Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazoban despite not having expiring contracts, will make this an active offseason for the Mets in that regard.

As for the rotation and the lineup, it’s going to take some creativity and unexpected cuts or trades to make a large enough dent to notice. Janes doesn’t mention the idea of selling undesirable players because those are the kinds of things that kind of come from out of nowhere.

The Mets are in a spot where they can try again with essentially the same roster they have right now. Just because they can doesn’t mean they should.

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