Two conflicting truths about the 2025-26 NY Mets offseason

Two conflicting truths are at play with the New York Mets right now. It’s all about change. The 2026 roster is going to look very different. They’re not even done subtracting either. All they’ve done is remove three core members of the roster leave.

Puzzled about what the plan is for the Mets? You’re not alone. There are so many moving parts you’d think Leonardo Da Vinci sketched this team’s offseason blueprints as some sort of whimsical flying machine that can tell time and create electricity.

The two truths about the Mets offseasons

It’s true, change is good

Looking back at the first thoughts from fans at the Brandon Nimmo trade, we figured it was one way to really change things up within the organization. Trading Nimmo made re-signing Pete Alonso more practical. It would allow them to retain Edwin Diaz at a record-setting amount for a reliever. Little did we know both of them would be gone, too.

Change can be a good thing. As many have been pointing out, it’s not as if the Nimmo/Alonso/Diaz trio won a whole lot. It’s not their fault exclusively. Since 2019, the Mets have had a multitude of reasons for coming up short.

After the way 2025 went, sticking with the same plan wouldn’t be enough. It’s true. Making changes is a good thing.

It’s true, too much change too quickly can be problematic

Herein lies the debate. How much change did the Mets need? They were a tie-breaker short of making the playoffs. It’s still not good enough to just sneak in. Had they taken that final Wild Card spot over the Cincinnati Reds, they would have been disposed of quickly by the Los Angeles Dodgers, too. Just being good enough to crack the playoffs is unacceptable. Yeah, you had a prom date but she was a picture cut out from a Sears catalog.

In need of change, the Mets have been quick to make major ones. The trio they’ve let go of is extreme. They’re bound to have a couple of misses in trying to replace each of them. Rather than reload a small part of the roster, the Mets may be looking at a turnover rate of more than a quarter of the team’s main players.

It’s not as if the Mets have enough young players to replace the ones who’ve departed either. Carson Benge is regarded as the closest to MLB-ready. He kind of fit with the team even in a situation with Nimmo sticking around. The Mets figured to trade away a couple of their major league players while re-signing at least Alonso or Diaz, if not both. They went in a whole new direction which seemed to be largely unplanned.

It’s true. Too much change, too quickly, can be harmful. It’s a shock to the system. Bound to get some things right and others wrong, the Mets have risked alienating fans in favor of going from riding an easy merry-go-round to an upside-down rollercoaster. Those upset by the loss of longtime Mets such as Nimmo, Alonso, and Diaz may have a hard time rooting hard for Freddy Peralta, Luis Robert Jr., and Bo Bichette because all three are candidates to depart after one year.

Just remember, it’s a game of cheering for laundry and not the people.