Revisiting the Mets' Most Significant Offseason Departures

The Mets parted ways with four key members of their core in the offseason. How are they faring with their new teams, and how did the Mets do with replacing them?

The New York Mets have struggled to replace Pete Alonso in the lineup this season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Mets will have a brand new look again when they start the 2027 season thanks to a slew of trades that sent out veterans on expiring contracts while adding exciting new talent to the farm system. The overhaul of the roster really began last winter, when David Stearns moved on from four of the team's longest-tenured players: Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and Edwin Diaz.

While the Mets did make an offer to keep Diaz, who spurned them to go to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Stearns actively dealt away Nimmo and McNeil while showing little interest in matching Alonso's five-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. With the perspective of hindsight after nearly four and a half months of play, now is as good a time as any to examine how these decisions have panned out for the Mets.

Pete Alonso

The move that has backfired the most for the Mets appears to be Alonso, who has put up a strong year in his first season with the Baltimore Orioles. Over his first 124 games in Baltimore, Alonso has hit .266 with 27 home runs, 80 RBI, and an .851 OPS in 463 at-bats. While his counting stats project to be slightly lower than his 2025 campaign, where he hit 38 home runs and drove in 126, Alonso's Wins Above Replacement total could exceed that mark as he has already racked up 3.4 WAR this season, which is on par with 2025 (3.4).

Defensive improvement at first base has helped prop up that number, but the telling figure to watch with Alonso will be his OPS figure, which was .873 a year ago. Advanced metrics from Baseball Savant indicate that Alonso has lost a little bat speed this season compared to last, which could be the beginning signs of a potential decline.

The big hold-up with the Mets and Alonso was years, as Stearns showed little interest in giving him a five-year commitment. The problem the Mets ran into was that their backup plan was Jorge Polanco and Mark Vientos, neither of whom came close to living up to their potential, while also creating a gigantic first base hole for the team in the long run.

There is no doubt the 2026 Mets would be better with Alonso on it, but their various other issues with injuries and poor performance mean they would probably be closer to 10 games under .500 than their current 13 under.

Alonso's Orioles are barely hanging on in a mediocre AL Wild Card race, at two games under .500, so the early win would go to Alonso for now, but this could swing in the Mets' favor by the end of his contract if Stearns finds an actual first baseman soon.

Brandon Nimmo

One of the biggest gripes Mets fans have complained about with the offseason is the decision to dump Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien, who has been a flop at second base. There is a lot of stubbornness with the fandom, which only sees that Nimmo is having a better offensive season than Semien without factoring in that Nimmo had a no-trade clause and was not willing to move to DH, limiting the team's options about what to do with him.

Nimmo is the primary right fielder for the Rangers and has put up his typical offensive numbers so far, batting .271 with 13 home runs, 47 RBI, and a .773 OPS in 119 games, generating a 2.0 WAR. It is important to note that Nimmo is 33 years old and was under contract through 2030, which meant the Mets needed to move on from him if they wanted to find homes for their younger outfielders.

Brandon Nimmo's departure from New York opened the door for Carson Benge, who is in the running for NL Rookie of the Year. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Carson Benge was Nimmo's immediate replacement and is in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year honors, batting .272 with 14 home runs, 49 RBI, and a .751 OPS while generating 2.4 WAR. That production is quite good for a player 10 years younger than Nimmo, who should get better, but the Mets were also able to find a spot for A.J. Ewing without Nimmo around.

Ewing is not as strong offensively as Nimmo, batting just .249 with seven home runs and 28 RBI in 84 games, but he also has a higher WAR than Nimmo. Elite defensive ability in the outfield has helped Ewing generate 2.2 WAR, giving him Pete Crow-Armstrong potential at just 22 years old. This decision was clearly the correct process from Stearns.

Jeff McNeil

The move to add Semien made McNeil expendable, so the Mets essentially salary-dumped him to the Athletics in December. While McNeil started hot, he cooled off significantly and entered the day batting just .259 with five home runs, 39 RBI, and a .663 OPS in 108 games, good for 0.5 WAR.

That production wouldn't have helped the Mets that much, but it is somehow still better than what Semien has done, whose hip injury and sudden defensive decline have made him a -0.5 WAR player. Semien has hit more homers (14) and driven in more runs (41) than McNeil, but he is starting to cede playing time to Brett Baty at the position.

This decision appears to be a wash for the Mets, who at least can feel good that they have Mitch Voit, who is getting ready to seize the second base job a year from now. It seems unlikely that the A's will pick up McNeil's club option for nearly $16 million next season, which could leave him on the market for a one-year deal with someone to extend his career.

Edwin Diaz

While Diaz was the one player in this group the Mets wanted to keep, that decision has worked out quite well for New York. The Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten next to nothing from Diaz, who missed several months due to injury and has been hammered since coming back from the IL.

Diaz is pitching to a 10.66 ERA and 2.45 WHIP in 15 appearances, blowing four saves and walking 10 batters in 12.2 innings pitched. Manager Dave Roberts has indicated he will give Diaz a chance to figure out his command issues, but the results have been alarmingly bad for him so far.

The Mets turned to Devin Williams as their closer, and he has been better than Diaz, but it doesn't say a ton. Williams has a 4.66 ERA and 1.66 WHIP in 38 appearances, converting 16 of his 19 save opportunities. Although Williams' splits show he has fared much better in pure save situations (2.45 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 19 appearances) than in non-save situations (6.64 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in 23 appearances).

A strained right shoulder has Williams on the injured list, allowing Kodai Senga to get some closing opportunities in the interim. There is some hope that Williams gets more comfortable in his second year with the Mets, giving this one a chance to break in the Mets' favor as well.

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