Many have assumed that the New York Mets’ strategy this offseason will just be to pay the top free agents, like Juan Soto and Pete Alonso, as much as possible. That would make sense given Mets owner Steve Cohen’s track record.
However, that may not be the case according to MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“The Mets’ winter strategy is the biggest mystery among executives,” Nightengale wrote. They don’t believe that David Stearns, president of baseball operations, is interested in keeping Alonso for $200 million or paying Soto close to $700 million. They believe he’s much more interested in spreading the money around to address numerous areas by signing Walker – or perhaps moving Mark Vientos to first base and finding a third baseman like Alex Bregman.”
“The wild card, of course, is Mets owner Steve Cohen,” Nightengale continued. “He plans to personally meet with Soto next week, according to the New York Post and could tell Stearns to sign Soto no matter the price tag.”
The fact that the Mets may not actually be in play to give Soto or Alonso the largest contracts available would be a shock, but given president of baseball operations David Stearns’ background is not exactly surprising.
Why New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns may be hesitant to overpay Juan Soto and Pete Alonso
Before joining the Mets last offseason, Stearns had spent the last eight seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, operating under a much smaller budget. It would make a lot of sense for Stearns to believe that the best way for the Mets to approach this offseason would be for them to focus on signing a number of players who can have a larger impact on the team than just one or two superstars.
However, it is believed that Cohen is willing to spend whatever it takes to improve the Mets. That could mean both signing Soto to a historic contract, out-bidding the New York Yankees for Alonso and also continuing to improve the roster in other ways.
While signing Soto and re-signing Alonso would make the Mets one of the weaker defense teams, it is difficult to ignore the offensive impact that the two of them would have together in Queens. If they have the chance to sign both players, Stearns does not have much of a choice but to go along. However, if it is clear that they need to pivot to other options, then Stearns’ strategy may make more sense.
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