Josh Naylor stays put, Pete Alonso’s market, Edwin Diaz at 50/50 & a new Top 30 Mets Prospects list

Josh Naylor stays put, Pete Alonso’s market, Edwin Diaz at 50/50 & a new Top 30 Mets Prospects list

Welcome to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. On today’s show, Joe released his new top 30 Mets prospects list. We break it all down. We also talk a big free agent option and Josh Naylor coming off the board, the latest on Edwin Diaz, and of course, answer your mailbag questions. So, subscribe to the Met Spot at Apple podcast, Spotify. You can watch every episode on SNY’s YouTube channel or wherever you get your shows. What’s up everybody? Welcome to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. Performance range style. Three different ways to make every drive an occasion. Whatever your reason, there’s never been a better time to say, “Let’s take the Cadillac, the all-electric Cadillac family of vehicles. Escalade IQ, Vistic Optic, and Lyric. Visit your Tri-State Cadillac dealer today.” Hey, I’m your host Connor Rogers, joined as always by my co-host Joe Deo, who has been hard at work on a new top 30 that everybody is waiting for by now. It should be out as you’re listening to this. I’m going to hammer some some questions about it today on the show. But before we get to any of that, Joe, how are you? Have these been late nights or is this something that’s kind of a slow burn you can update throughout the couple months that by the time it’s ready to publish and update, it doesn’t feel like a lot of work? It’s a lot of work, Connor. I am. There’s no way other ways. I I’m I’m naturally a procrastinator to a degree and I I should have been just doing this over the last month and a half, but instead I was like, you know what, I’ll do it in like two weeks. That’ll be perfect. And you know, as everything you do with NFL draft and and college football, there’s a lot of calls, there’s a lot of conversations with people, and I try to make sure the conversations are both with Mets people and nonmets people. and then I blend my thoughts into it. So, it’s kind of a two week deal of trying to jumble all these different thoughts, put it into one and put together a list that I feel good about. And uh yeah, I feel really good about it and I hope everybody goes and reads it. smi.tv. It’s a lot of words, so have a little patience, but I think you’ll come away feeling like you learned something about all 30 of these prospects. And I would love it if every single person that listens to this podcast goes and reads it and either a if you’re a YouTube person, leave in the comment what comments what you think about the top 30 list. And if you’re just a podcast guy, uh, leave a fivestar and let us know what you think about the top 30 because I think it’s going to be a big piece of something we could go back to because the Mets are probably going to be trading people from this list some point this winter. I was going to say two things. one that’s a good prompt that if you have any thoughts on it, leave us that fivestar review like Joe said or leave a a comment in the YouTube comments and we’ll bring it up next show. Ask even more questions on it. That’s a chance of the audience to get involved. Number two, Joe, very savvy of you and the lovely team at SMY to get this thing out before the well uh well before the winter meetings because I have a feeling plenty of guys on this top 30 will not be on it after a couple moves are made. We think the Mets are going to make at least one significant trade this off season. But speaking of the offseason, let’s jump right into it. This isn’t really fun news, but this is the nature of free agency. Josh Naylor agrees to a five-year deal per Jeff Passen to go back to the Mariners. The Mariners made him a priority. They see him as part of their core, part of their nucleus that took that team as close as you can get to the World Series this year. It was a great year for Josh Naylor, 28-year-old free agent first baseman. As we record this, we don’t have the exact numbers um on what the money is per year. I’m sure a lot of estimates have it somewhere in the hundred million dollar range, which isn’t wild. And that’s kind of the nature of the first base market. So, Joe, I think a lot of Mets fans had two reactions to this. At least I know I did. One, disappointment. I really like Josh Neller and I thought he was a really good fit for the Mets. Number two, a little bit of the now what because we don’t know where things stand with Peter Lonzo and the Mets, but this was a very very thin market that just lost one of its biggest names. That was a part of it. I’m just glad, Connor, that the hot stove is starting to percolate just a little bit. We usually get a we get a couple things before Thanksgiving and then then we get into the winter meetings and that’s when things will really pick up. But what it shows really is that timing is everything in Major League Baseball free agency. And Josh Naylor got offered a five-year deal and he pounced because I’m not sure if that was something that if he sat out on the market for a period of time and maybe waited for Alonzo or waited for other things to transpire, would that deal still even be available to him? Um, as far as like the direct impact to the Mets, of course, you lose one of the potential fallbacks if Pete Alonzo were to depart and go somewhere else. But on the other side of the coin, I know there’s different takes on this, but for me, I don’t think this really impacts Alonzo’s market much at all. Naylor is 28 years old. Allonzo’s about to be 31 years old, so there’s an age gap. Naylor is a significantly better defensive player, so it’s an easier projection forward over the next few years. I still, Connor, in my heart of hearts, I think Alonzo is going to do better than he did last year, but I don’t think that he’s now getting a five-year deal or more just because Josh Naylor got a 5-year deal. Yeah, Joe, I totally agree with you. I I think that if anything I don’t think this helped Pete Alonzo because once again we what Peter Alonzo needed was somebody on the first base market to just have this breakthrough kind of deal and and you know you can’t even put Vlatty in this context obviously at all which was very unique circumstance the age is the big factor here and Naylor seemed and once again we don’t have the exact money but it seems like a situation where he took the term over the AAV. If he went out to the market, he probably could have got a three-year deal with a higher AAV than that’s going to come in with this one. But he clearly liked his time with the Mariners organization. The Mariners are an organization with Jerry Dotto that they make more trades than anybody in Major League Baseball. So, this might have had an expiration on it. They might have had to say to Josh Naylor, “Hey, this deal, we can’t leave it on the table forever because we got to have a solution for you and we might have to make that solution and we have to pull this deal once we do.” So, he said if if he felt he was happy there and he liked the term of the deal, then so be it. We know with Petonzo right now because he’s been as transparent as possible about this and you look who he hired as his agent and his, you know, the season was over for 10 minutes and he’s saying to the media that he’s opting out of his deal. Like I I don’t necessarily have a problem with that because we all know it’s coming, but the tone of it was like, okay, we know where the eyes are set on right now. Pete Alonzo is going where the most money goes, and that’s fine. He’s earned the right to do that. So, but that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a team out there willing to give Pete a six or a seven-year deal, like you said, Joe, for a 31-year-old first baseman. And now the Mets kind of have to figure out that okay, Pete Alonzo, there’s a good chance he’s their best option, right? You just, this is the dance they did last year where he was their best option and his market was not kind to him that they were they got what they wanted, a deal that wasn’t very long and Pete got what he wanted with the opt out. So, I’m not set that history is going to repeat itself here and think it just ends exactly how last offseason ended, but this is the first domino where if you’re a Mets fan that really wants Pete Alonzo back, well, your argument is what are their options, Joe? It’s what if there’s something that that exists, we don’t see it right now because it has to be on the trade market and those are harder for people like us to project. Definitely harder to project trades like Munitaka Morakami. I’ve heard some where there’s so much risk. Yeah, there’s a ton of risk. Like you essentially you’re signing Morakami with the hopes that he is Peter Alonzo. Like that’s essentially what you’re doing. You want him to be Pete Lonzo. So just keep the Pete Alonzo that you already know. And I think we’re getting to the point and we talked about it a little bit on last week’s show that there is no question that Pete Lonzo is the best option for the Mets, especially if what Scott Boris said at the GM meetings is valid. that he is willing to spend some time at DH now. And Alonzo has already openly said, I believe it was with Mike Puma or someone with the post that he knows at some point he’s going to have to become a designated hitter. If he’s willing to split that up now, I’m a little more willing to stretch on the years that I was maybe originally willing to do with the thought that Allonzo is going to be hard-headed and say, “I’m a first baseman. I don’t care what the metrics say. I’m a great first baseman. Uh but if he’s willing to split his time, you know, I’m I’m thinking of being a little more flexible because the reality here is if Allonzo does walk, which I acknowledge the very real possibility that that occurs, the Mets plan B has to be better. And that’s something we said on last week’s show. And it’s very hard to see that path unless they’re going to go a defensive first baseman and then Kyle Schwarber at DH and you tie up BH for a long time with an only DH. So it’s almost feels like the antithesis of what David Sterns might actually want to do. Uh, it’s a very it’s a very convoluted discussion and I’m hopeful that like you said it won’t have the same outcome as last year where his market craters and he essentially crawls back to the Mets for whatever. But I’m hopeful that there can be a meeting of the minds here. Let’s do four years. Throw in a fifth year vesting option or something like that. There’s a point where David Cerns has to step out just a little bit of his comfort zone and make sure that the Mets are in position for 2026 to not be 2025, right? And with that comes a little bit of a like you hinted at, Joe, a given from Pete that one of the pathways for the Mets to be better this year is to shore themselves up defensively. And part of that is that Pete Alonzo doesn’t play 160 games at first base if he’s back. So, it it just takes a little, you know, everybody giving a little bit here, but we’re we’re going to have a lot of conversations about Pete until because he’s he’s going to have a market. We hear a lot of noise about the Red Sox and uh we’re going to talk more about the Red Sox during our questions because we got some really good fivestar reviews and YouTube questions regarding this. But, yeah, Josh Naylor, the first big domino off of that first base market in free agency. And a little bit more news on one of the Mets other current free agents. That’s Edwin Diaz who said it’s 5050 on his return to the Mets, which is probably the biggest change in tone I think so far, Joe. With Diaz it always felt like, and I’m not saying he doesn’t want to be back because he clearly does, but you would think by now Diaz has had some kind of conversation and maybe he’s gotten an indication that it is going to be a little more difficult to be fair to the Mets. Maybe the Mets were on the side of this unlike last time where last time they said here Edwin Diaz this is the biggest reliever contract we want you here easy like easy to get done sign it this time maybe it’s going to be more of a go see what you can get and we’re going to be here at the end of the day I hope this is the Mets thinking we’re going to be here at the end of the day to match any offer you get which is a little bit more hard ball than we’re used to the Mets seeing play with Edwin Diaz but 5050 Joe, the one this one with me like I’ve been pretty pessimistic on the return of Pete Alonzo. Although Josh Neller coming off the board does change things a little because I don’t know what the solution’s going to be, but I’m still pessimistic on the return of Pete Alonzo. I can’t sell losing Edwin Diaz. I don’t know what the plan would be. I’m not convinced there is a forget better plan than Edwin Diaz closing games. I don’t even think there’s a plan that comes close to matching him closing games. And this one is simply about the money with Pete Alonzo. There’s arguments about the term. There’s arguments about his inability to defend. There’s arguments about how his bat will age. Whether you agree or not, those arguments exist. With Edwin Diaz here, Joe, this is one that the Mets better be really, really careful here because I think there’s a lot of contenders that will value him very highly. I love the 5050 thing because one, it’s free agency. Duh. But also, you’re like an odds guy. If you say there’s 30 options for a guy and one team has a 5050 shot, that that’s that’s pretty good odds. I would say that Edwin Diaz is going to be back with the Mets. Yeah, a pick them for the Mets is not the worst odds. Yes, that that’s how I’m trying to interpret this. But really, I think what it comes down to, and Diaz expanded beyond this and talk about how he has to do what’s best for his family, which translation, who gives me the most money, is who I’m probably going to sign with. And every single free agent has the right to do it. And this is Edwin’s last bite at the apple for a long-term deal. Doesn’t mean if he signs a four or fiveyear deal, his major league career is over after it. But at that point, he’s in his mid late30s. He’s going to be signing a one-year deal or maybe a two-year deal. So, he has every right to go ahead and try it. But I am with you 1,000%. I really want Pete Alonzo back. But the Mets absolutely have to have Edwin Diaz back. And if that means you’re going longer than you’re comfortable, that is what you’re going to have to do. And David Sterns, you mentioned kind of like the maybe more hard line in negotiating. Like Billy Eper was probably just like, “Okay, Edwin Diaz, this is great. Here’s here’s five-year deal. Let’s let’s move forward.” But Sterns is very knowledgeable of what the market looks like. And yeah, go ahead and if you get a five-year deal from somebody, come back and maybe the Mets will match it. Or maybe he’ll go out there and see he has a qualifying offer. He wants to be record money as a as a reliever. How many teams are really gonna jump at that? And I I still think Diaz would like to be back. I think the Mets would like to have Diaz back. And I don’t think that is just GM speak, I think they really do want him back. And from my seat, for whatever that’s worth, uh they they dang sure better get it done, right? I think it’s interesting, Joe, with Sterns and I think there’s not a lot of nuance conversations around Sterns anymore. There’s just part of the fan base that is furious from last year and thinks he won’t spend on any players and there’s, you know, the other part of the fan base that, you know, full transparency, I think we align with this that believe in his long-term outlook, but we do call it like we see it. I think there’s times where you’re doing what’s pragmatic and you’re doing what’s smart for the goal of long-term sustainable success. Long-term sustainable success in baseball is achieved by drafting and international free agency vacuumed up into player development. I mean, I know that’s the most simple way you could say that, but that’s I mean, you do this as much as anybody in the industry in terms of coverage of draft, free international free agency, and player development. Like that’s really the pillars of what it comes down to. But there are certain organizations and this is going to make for a very interesting CBA situation a year from now that I can’t wait. And by can’t wait I mean it’s going to be exhausting to talk about and cover. So it’s nice we don’t have to right now. There are cheaper route like there’s better roots easier routes right and for David Sterns works for in the organization where there are where money doesn’t really matter. So you can patch your holes with money and one of the holes as Edward Diaz is not on the Mets today. He’s not. The Mets don’t have a closer today. Patching one of those holes would be that exact situation where just use the money, right? Like that’s that’s what it’s there for. So I do think there’s a fine line of times where like not going out and giving eight years to Corbin Burns or Max Freed. Yeah, there’s a real healthy argument not to do that in our opinion and we’ve already seen some of the dividends pay out from that and we’ve also seen the other side of it. But retaining your closer that at his best is the best in baseball. You just kind of want to like kind of nudge David Cerns and be like use the cheat code like you have the cheat code that a lot of other executives wish they had. Am I crazy? Hit hit up up up down down triangle circle circle square and and bang back where we belong there. Yeah. what the Mets need to do, and I’m not saying they’ve done a poor job of this because obviously they haven’t. They have Francisco Lindor, they have Juan Sodto, like they have star players, but that money cheat code that you’re kind of talking about, it should be to keep the best players when you have the ability to or add the best players to the roster that you can. And there is nobody, in my opinion, better than Edwin Diaz. The difference here is you just want to be careful what you’re spending on overspending on the middle of the market. You don’t want to be caught too much in doing that. But sign the best, trade for the best, get the best, and then you supplement it, as you said, with the farm system, with the player development and drafting and everything that goes into that. That is how you’re going to build a team that is a not just a playoff contender year after year, which would be a step up for Mets fans, at least for us, but a potential World Series contender. Speaking of the system, let’s go down to the farm. It’s a special one. Of course, Joe has, as we’ve been teasing, has his new top 30 Mets prospects list. And reminder, as soon as you’re done listening, or while you’re listening, you can pull it up right now on sm.tv and follow along. Joe, I ask you this, I feel like every time you make one of these, but was there anything unique while making this one? Something that stood out to you or just your overall big picture thoughts on the group this time? Big picture, it’s an excellent group of prospects. Like I’m writing about guys in the 20s that I’m like, “Wow, this profile decision some hard some harder decisions, but also too just some of the profiles of guys that are in the mid late 20s. I’m like, man, if this was few years ago, this guy might be like prospect 13, prospect 14 in the type of system that the Mets had at the time.” And it’s a huge credit for me for the way the Mets player development system has come together over the last call it two three years. Some may take this glass half empty. I’m a glass half full guy. There was only let’s call it two and a half first round picks on this list. Carson Benj, Jet Williams, and Mitch Voit was like he was a sandwich round pick. So, like he was the Mets first pick, but not like a technical first round pick. And part of that is guys like Kevin Prada and Colin Hal haven’t lived up to the first round pedigree that they were. But the other side of that is holy heck, this team is drafting guys in the the third round, the fourth round, the fifth round, even later than that, and turning them into legitimate prospects that a can be contributors to the Mets or B pieces in trade. headline at the real top of the list. Nolan Mlan, third round pick. Jonah Tong seventh round pick. Brandon Sprro second round pick. And those are big time big time prospects in the sport. So, it’s a it’s a refreshing list to make and there’s some really exciting pieces, especially on the pitching side as you get deeper and deeper into the system. All right. Who’s the biggest riser in this rendition? It doesn’t necessarily have to be somebody that wasn’t even on your last top 30, but somebody that’s made a pretty significant climb. Yeah. So, my from my last 30, which was just after the trade deadline in early August, there wasn’t like a significant like there wasn’t someone that sat at 22 and they’re now 13 or something like that. But I want to take this just over the last full season heading into uh the 2025 year. AJ Ewing was on the just missed top 30 for me. So, he just missed and I probably should have put him in, but kind of last second he he was he was probably like 31 or 32. Now, he’s number six and wild. He was dangerously close to cracking the top five and even pushing someone like Brandon Spurrow outside of the top five. You look at Yuing’s profile, it is bat-to ball, it is elite swing decisions. Uh the power is not a huge part of his game. He’ll run into some things on the pole side, but largely it’s going to be putting the ball in play, getting on base, and incredible athleticism. He had 70 stolen bases this year, reaching the double AAA level. um he started to hit the ball a little bit harder as as the year went along, but you want to see maybe a little bit more of that and continuing to increase on like his line drive percentage because I’m not looking for Euing to be an absolute slugger. Uh but you want to see just a little more impact to the baseball. That’s nitpicking to me. This is an upthe-middle true center field prospect that is a future everyday big leager. And I spoke to one person not with the Mets organization that saw him multiple times this year and said at the same age he’s like a light Pete Crow Armstrong. And glorious if you look if you look at his early years he wasn’t really projected to be the power hitter that he ultimately became. And I don’t think Euing’s gonna become a 30 home run guy, but like Pete Crow Armstrong turned into, but everyday center field type of player. Uh, a really exciting prospect that came from the fourth round compensatory pick that the Mets got for Jacob Deg Grom leaving for Texas. And now he’s a borderline top five prospect in the Mets system. And I could tell you dating back to the trade deadline, and I’m sure it’ll be the same case this winter, uh, the Mets phones were lit up by opposing teams trying to get their hands on AJ Euing. Yeah, I think the Mets should learn from their past. And this wasn’t David Stern’s decision, obviously, but I don’t I would have a hard time trading away any center field talent at this point. It’s just a rarity in the game. It’s something that’s been a rarity for the Mets. And even if you have a starting center fielder that is plus defensively plus speed, but a mediocre to average bat, it’s still so valuable in the game. Look at what the Mets dealt with at the end of last year. So, um, that should really excite fans because Euing is somebody that, like you said, Joe, he’s had a big time rise. We constantly talk about on this podcast how vital athleticism is going to be for this organization as some of the key players start to get older and now you think of Jet Williams and you think of Euing and even like Benj obviously isn’t the same speed threat as those guys, but he’s a younger player that brings more athleticism. So yeah, that’s a that’s a really exciting one. How about a you know, this is always the tough ones, but we try to be informative. How about a drop off from the list? somebody that you said, “Okay, this player is going the right direction.” And then maybe since July or even going back to maybe a year ago, it just hasn’t gone that way. At the beginning of the season, and I did the spring breakout game broadcast with Steve Gbs and Jim Duket, and this guy hit a home run in the spring breakout game, and that’s Boston Barrow. He’s a guy that we thought was going to break out in a really meaningful way. He added some weight. He added some strength and what it came down to is it just didn’t translate on field this year. He hit only 224, 282 on base and OPS barely above 600. He did steal 28 bases as he is a pretty good athlete. But the reality here is Barrow doesn’t impact the baseball enough and it’s a lot of ground balls and unfortunately you have to at some point in time. You could add on the weight, but there’s it’s more than just being more physically mature. You have to work on your swing mechanics and get it to where you’re barreling the ball up more effectively. And it’s a it was a tough year for him. I try to give him somewhat the benefit of doubt because of his age. Uh but this is a guy that for me is a bigger faller because I just had such high expectations for him coming into the year and he unfortunately uh wasn’t able to meet them. and he’ll get an opportunity obviously to come back in spring training and reestablish his value. It’s not like he’s done for as a prospect just because he had a down year. Uh but you’re going to need to see some meaningful changes from Barrow I think for him to kind of jump his way back up the list. Last thing, was there anything I’d call it a fun fact but maybe even wonky while writing this up where because you know with Nolan Mlan the big thing we always talked about was the Mets are going to let him play both ways while developing and eventually he settled into pitching. That looks like a pretty good decision. We’ve talked about different stories with guys in the past, but was there anyone interesting? Could be on the back end as well that you go, “Oh, this is a little bit of a different background.” Um, kind of unique. I think you’re going to see a lot in the in the latter part of the 20s into the end of the list. Some pitchers from the 2025 class that the Mets are very excited about. guy at the at the real end. Um Nathan Hall is someone that kind of stood out to me as he had internal brace surgery, so he’s gonna be he missed most of the last college season and then heading into the beginning of 2026. He’s going to be a little bit behind, but it’s a fast ball up to 98 miles an hour, a really good slider. Uh, so he’s one I would keep an eye on. But if you want to go to kind of the early 20s, that Bingmpington rotation is generating a lot of attention. Guys like Jonathan Sanucci, guys like Jack Wedding, guys like Will Watson. But there’s like another layer to that Bingmpington rotation. Zack Thornton is one that I want to talk about as well. erra below two this year, 1.98, but he only pitched 72 innings or so. He had an oblique injury and that kind of wiped out the rest of his season. This is a old school pitch ability lefty. He throws nothing but strikes. He only had 11 walks on the season. It’s a fast ball in the low 90s, touch 94, curveball, slider, change up, like your typical like if you were just to go on MLB the show and say, “Make me a Road to the Show pitcher.” The generic kind of person like build will be a Zack Thornton type of pitcher. And he looks like a backend type of starter that you could rely on to take the ball and throw strikes. And then another one I want to highlight, RJ Gordon. He was a 13th round pick. So again, back to the story of these late round guys becoming something. He was a college reliever turned pro starter. He missed his last year of college with again internal brace elbow surgery and his velocity ticked up in his first go at pro ball up to 95 miles an hour. And talking to a couple Mets people, they they have a plan for him this offseason and said don’t be shocked if if that number’s ticking up during 2026. Uh he had a 3.36 RA pitched across a couple levels obviously ending at DA Bingmpington. 147 strikeouts in 128 innings. He had a kick change this year. That was like the first thing the Mets had him do and it already looks like a weapon within just a few months and shows kind of where this modern day pitching is that you can just try this grip, throw it in a few bullpens and and it could turn into something. Uh you’re going to need him to throw some more strikes, I think, to really amount as a starter. But if he ends up a multi-ining type of reliever, that is incredible value for the 13th round in an MLB draft world that the odds of making it after the 10th round are so minimal. I think RJ Gordon looks the part of a future big leager. Of course, you could check out Joe’s allnew top 30 Mets prospect list on smy.tv and of course you could find it on his Twitter page at well at PSL2 flushing. You’re listening to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. Subscribe to the Metspot at Apple Podcast, Spotify, SMY’s YouTube channel, or wherever you get your shows. Let’s close out today’s episode with the mailbag. We save plenty of good stuff for this. Jay, we’re going to package two together here. Jay Bloom 4, thank you for the fivestar review. Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Arizona Diamondbacks are open to trading Catel Marte. They’re looking for players to fill several holes. What type of package do you think the Mets can offer to do that? I would do it. I would do one of Mauricio or Vientos plus Jet Williams and Sprrot. Is that too much, too little? Marte would be an awesome addition at second base. If you bring back Pete, your top five is Lindor, Sodto, Marte, Alonzo, NMO. Let me know your thoughts. And then, uh, Baitman is king on YouTube said, “Would you prefer to sign Bregman or trade for Catel Marte?” Catel Marte, not somebody we have talked about yet, Joe, with the Mets. um a little bit on the older side when you factor in trading here. Marte, I know he’s 32 right now. He just turned 32, so he’ll have his age 32 next season. He’s been on a six-year deal. He’s actually under contract until at least 2030, but he has a player option in 2031. So, for a 32 year old, listen, Marte is good enough that they probably can move him. I mean, this is somebody that had an 893 OPS last year and a 932 before that, but there’s a little bit of that I don’t want to call it the Canó feeling with this because it it just feels disrespectful, but man, like I don’t know if you’re going to be want to paying that contract from 2029 to 2031. Am I am I being really picky here, Joe? You could tell me if I’m being ridiculous. Yeah, Connor, I would say there is probably some appetite that the Mets can still take on some length in contracts. Marte is the best second baseman in baseball. So, if you are if you are trying to win right now, going and getting Catel Marte is going to significantly increase your chances of doing so. I wouldn’t go as far and I know you weren’t either to to compare it to Robinson. It’s not apples to apples at all. Yeah, he he was clearly on the down side of his career, but how many guys do you want tied in through 2030 into 2031? Um, as far as a package, like that doesn’t feel incredibly far off in my eyes. Like m maybe there’s a couple substitutions you make, but a guy like Jet Williams would fit wonderfully in Arizona. Brandon Spro hops right in their rotation and then they get another infielder like Ventosa Mauricio because I think ultimately this contract if Arizona does decide to move Marte which of course their their GM nicely said the GM meetings highly unlikely. We love Catel Marte. He’s not going anywhere. Uh but if they were to move him, it’s by no means a salary dump, but it’s kind of getting out of a contract that they wouldn’t maybe hate to get out of because there was some like weird stuff too in 2025. Like I think there was like a robbery at his house and he was away for a while. Like just some kind of like weird things have transpired with Marte over the last couple years. But, uh, for me, I hate to ride the fence because I try not to do that, but he’s a guy that, boy, I’d be ecstatic to get a Catel Marte jersey and wear it to City Field this year and watch him be fantastic for the Mets, but I really don’t know if I want him here for that long of a period. Right. So, here’s my my take on it. I think say he the Mets trade did this trade for him tomorrow. We would record the podcast and we would be like, “God, we can’t wait to watch Catel Marte with the Mets this year.” I mean, you’re talking about somebody that once again can play in the middle of the infield and give you, we’ll call it, 28 to 32 home runs next year. Uh, hit not far off from 300, get on base at a 37% clip. like all these things that are just the dream. The problem is the reality is, you know, as well that’s not what it’s all about. Why you’re why, like you said, Joe, it’s not a salary dump. So, if you’re I think the combo would be like you’d love Marte if it was just, hey, we’re just taking on the contract because we’re the Mets and we don’t care about money and we’re going to be paying a ton of 36 year olds one day and we’ll just pay the money then and replenish the team then. Who cares? But yeah, if you’re trading two notable pieces in Jet Williams and Brandon Sprro, I I would be very surprised if Jet Williams has the career that Catel Marte has, but you’re still weighing the the youth movement to it to that. So, that’s a complex one, especially the fact it seems like he’s probably one of the biggest names out there this off season that we know of so far. if they’re really willing to listen to him. And if you’re the Diamondbacks, you probably should be willing to listen to him because maybe you’re you’re it’s you’re selling high while you can, right? You’re literally selling high while you can. Marte probably has two elite years left, but then you’re also getting out of three years where you wouldn’t want to be paying that contract and you got a lot of young talent for him in exchange. So, I actually think this is one of the most interesting questions we’ve gotten on the mailbag for a really long time because I’m with you, Joe. actually struggling to answer it. If the goal is to win a World Series this year by any means necessary, then yes, Catel Marte fits the bill. But if the goal is to also be somewhat responsible, lean into a youth movement, which Jet Williams is a big part of, which brings me to the second part of this, and this kind of changes the dynamic. Would you prefer to sign Alex Bregman? Because Alex Bregman does not cost you Jet Williams. He does not cost you Brandon Sprro. He’s not as good as Catel Marte, but I also don’t think Bregman’s even gonna get a contract, Joe, that would surpass Marte’s current contract. So, I think it depends how you look at it, right? Like I think Alex Bregman’s going to get significantly more money per year than Catel Mart is getting. I think Marte is isn’t his contract like just under $20 million a year or something in that neighborhood is weak. But I’m talking about the the term but for sure and the term probably like how different will it be? Like is Bregan’s looking at what maybe a four-year deal, five at the most? Something like that. And without the qualifying offer, probably almost the same. It could be a little less. Yeah. But more per year. And Mart’s a way better player. And I have to shift Brett Batty to second base at least temporarily. Like that’s fair. Give me m give give me Marte over Bregman and I’ll deal with the fact that I have to replace you and me not it has to happen at some point and I don’t mind I don’t mind switching uh switching roles with you every once in a while. Um but Jet is a guy that look I’m a huge fan of. Everyone knows how big of a fan I am of Jet Williams and I think he’s a future everyday really good second baseman that would make an impact on the Mets. But as you said, Catel Marte makes a major impact on the Mets right now. And if Pete Alonzo does go, Catel Marte is closer, I think, to the type of bat that you could talk yourself into being the quote unquote Pete replacement rather than Bregman, who I think is still a good hitter, but you’re not feeling awesome if Alex Bregman’s hitting behind Juan Sodto as his protection. It’s just Bregman’s a good hitter. Marte is a special hitter, right? No, that’s a really fair way to put it. And this is the kind of stuff that like it’s once again until it gets reported, you you oh, Catel Marte could be out there. That’s kind of harder to project because this is the kind of move. Not necessarily this one, but a trade of this capacity is something that is going to have to be on the table for Sterns. The creativity. Mikey Ray YT says, “Looking at the pitching market, I’m curious what you think about uh Tatsuya Emi. He has tremendous upside and wouldn’t cost a qualifying offer like most of the top pitchers, but there’s definitely some uncertainty there. Do you think he’s worth the risk?” Joe, have we talked about Emma yet? Kind of like when I briefly mentioned in our pitching preview, I think. Yeah. Yeah, we haven’t done much on him. Uh exciting exciting young pitcher. 27 years old, fast ball will get up to 99. He could stand to elevate it a little bit more, but he has like the kind of arm slot that you’re looking for to do so. He throws a slider, which very uniquely is like a backup slider, but almost all the time a backup slider. You know how like sometimes you’ll be watching it’s just like a that slider backed up on Diaz? Like Emi is almost I don’t I think it’s intentional because it happens so much. intentionally throwing backup sliders, which have really confused NPB hitters. I don’t know how that will translate to America because I don’t know of any pitcher that is throwing backup sliders all the time. He mixes in a splitter like, you know, often is for Japanese pitchers. Talking to a couple people about him projection kind of like a mid- rotation starter. So, I don’t think you’re signing EI with the idea of him being your ace. Like, I think he’s projects more like a number three, but has really good stuff and maybe the right pitching system can pull just a little bit more about uh out of him. The key here, Connor, is he’s not attached to the Qo, which is key, right? I just said key twice, but uh he’s not attached to the qualifying offer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tatuya Emi got more money than Framber Valdez got or more money than Dylan C. Scott. The market I think yeah he’s younger. There is risk but at this point the risk of coming from Japan to America is not the same as it used to be. No, like they have all they have all the advanced data over there and there’s people incredibly smarter than you or I that know what percentage change there is because it’s a different baseball in the NPB. It’s a smaller ball with more raised seam. So, it’s a little bit different than the Major League Ball, but they have algorithms to tell you kind of like what’s the percentage drop off you could expect. Uh, but EMI is a guy that I know the Mets are interested in and Andy Martino has reported as such. Now it’s just a matter of what his market ultimately looks like and it it could be, you know, well over hundred million dollars, maybe even creeping a little bit closer to two. Yeah, I’m fascinated by him because once again, it’s a younger arm there. The upside is always tantalizing with a guy like this. And of course, we’re factoring in the downside, but it also fits the mold that we know Sterns likes to upgrade the team as much as possible with surrendering the least amount of assets possible. And the qualifying offer not being attached is a like it’s a big feather in the cap here for sure. So, uh I like that shout out from Mikey Gray and I think the Mets would absolutely be interested here. just kind of fits, you know, kind of what they’re looking for in a sense. Evan Schwarz 2293 said, “We got Nate Lavender back. I’m so hyped. Does he have a shot of making the opening day bullpen?” Uh, Evan, you and Joe are in the same bucket here. Joe texted me right away when Nate Lavender was back. It was kind of one of the more hilarious departures and returns. Joe, he he didn’t really do anything while he’s gone and now he should be ready to go. Yeah, Lavender. I I remember we were in Port St. Lucy for our show at to to kick off the year and Lavender pitched and had an excellent outing that day and all the reporters huddle around his his locker. And I heard the the best description of a fast ball I think I’ve ever heard from a player. And they’re like, “Why do you think you get so much swing and miss on your fast ball despite you’re really throwing like 93 94?” He’s just like, “I throw it with might.” And I’m like, “Hell yeah, you do.” Uh, but Lav Lavender being back, he had Tommy John’s surgery. The Rays picked him up in the rule five draft and the rule five rules, I guess, carry over to the following year if a pitcher is injured. And he also had, I believe, bone spurs or bone chips cleaned up at the end of August, which isn’t like a a crazy uncommon follow-up to Tommy John. And the Rays, they’re always a team that the their 40man roster is always so deep that they’re they’re making trades today and tomorrow. Like they have too many guys that they need to protect from the rule five. So somebody has to go somewhere else and Lavender just wasn’t going to make the cut. So they put him on waiverss. He cleared waiverss and by rule he goes back to the Mets. As far as making the opening day roster, I don’t think so. But hey, he could come into camp as a non-roster guy because he’s not on the Mets 40 and he could compete for a spot. And at worst, he’s in Syracuse and awaiting a call when you go through 50 pitch. 39. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. 50 pitchers. 100%. Yeah. You’re going through all those arms though. There’ll be a Nate Lavender day in 2026. I feel confident in that. Yeah. Save this clip, Jeff, for June 28th when the Mets have a double header and Nate Lavender’s got to eat seventh and eighth inning of game two. He’s the 27th man and he comes in to to pitch behind Tatsuya Ei. Yes, that would be nice. Uh, our last question from Matty Rhodess. Thank you for the fivestar review, Matty. At the end of the season, David Sterns was asked about whether he would be hiring a GM, and it did not seem to be a priority for him at this time. What is the difference between the role of a GM versus president of baseball ops? Seems like they are one and the same, but I’m sure there are significant differences. What are the benefits of having both positions and how would their responsibilities be divided up? And are the Mets missing out on anything by not having a GM at this time? So, David Sterns is the GM of the Mets and he just has a much more powerful title, which with powerful titles comes more money. So, I mean, obviously Joe, you are very equipped to answer this, but like the reality is it’s just another opportunity for the Mets to get another smart person in the room because a GM title and salary is very appealing to a lot of top talents out there where if the Mets were just employing a GM, it’d be harder to bring in a high-end talent because then they’re like, “Oh, cool. I’m the assistant GM.” Well, a lot of the point being, there could be an assistant GM out there that is insanely talented and if the Mets go, “Hey, you want to be the GM of the team? We’re going to pay you more money and you get a bump in title.” That’s how you get the top end people. So, this is a good placeholder in my opinion for when they want to bring in someone like that. But, I guess the flip side is Joe, not every top talent is going to want to work under David Sterns because then as much as you’re the GM, you’re not the guy. It’s a game of titles, Connor. That’s really what it is. As you said, David, this is how front offices are. He’s the GM. He’s the president of baseball operations. There is no physical difference between the two titles where the difference can come into play. Kind of to to um to Mattiey’s point here, like the divvying up of responsibilities. A lot of the the thought was when David Sterns came on, there was a thought that Billy Eper was going to remain as general manager and everything happened that happened there. The reality is it’s you go ahead and you do a lot of the day-to-day stuff. So, it leaves the president of baseball operations to be able to focus on the big picture strategy and the GM deals with the day in and day out uh of things. and leaving that role open, I think, is intentional by David Sterns. Not that he’s unwilling to give out the responsibilities that the GM would require under him. He wants to make sure he’s getting the right person when that job maybe inevitably gets filled. And it could also be as a mechanism to keep somebody like Eduardo Brzuela in the organization who’s an assistant GM. A lot of people think highly of him in the sport and maybe someone’s looking to hire him as a GM under a president of baseball operations at some point in time and Sterns can just say, “Nope, you’re you’re staying here and you’re you’re going to be the general manager under me. You’re not going to go be the general manager under insert president of baseball operations here.” Right. There’s there’s a lot of nuance to this. My experience covering this in the NFL for a long time is it’s and this isn’t the way everywhere, but the the smart organizations, you might be able to go get someone that you’re going to pay a lot of money. They’re going to have this really nice title and it’s not in their bio on the website or publicly known, but that guy might be for the baseball’s sake. Like we think this guy really specializes in pro- free agency like and yeah, right. We’re going to we’re going to pay him to be our GM. His strengths are he’s almost gonna run our free agency where yeah, everything’s going to go through David Sterns, but David Sterns is managing player development and the draft and international free agency and working with that person on pro free agency, but that person might be able to go find you that reliever for one year, $9 million that because it’s a manpower aspect. So that’s guys have strengths and weaknesses. I I’m fascinated by over the years Joe to watch and we’ve already seen the change since Steve Cohen has been here the Mets international scouting and I’m not talking about in Latin America which is very very important but overseas in Japan as we just had the conversation about EI like the Mets for what two decades we never even imagined them going after uh you know players on that side of the earth and now every time a guy is a free agent if he’s even open to the idea of playing somewhere that’s not the Dodgers the Mets usually circling. So that’s there’s a whole another problem with that side of international free agency, but you get the point. The Mets are getting on the short list, right, of teams that are going to be considered. Giants, Dodgers, Mets, Mariners, Red Sox Red Sox sneak a couple in every every once in a while. They had Matt Tazaka and and Yoshida more recently. But Connor, great point too on like free agency and things like that. Like nowadays too, trade talks often initiate at the lower levels. Like the assistant GMs are the ones that start talking and then it trees up. It’s like, okay, David, Terrick Scooble, Detroit’s willing to listen. They have interest in this and then he’ll get with uh Scott Harris in Detroit and and then they’ll they’ll work on on the crux from there. But it’s definitely like a a tiered thing and I think there’s an advantage to eventually having a GM. But I think Sterns wants to make sure that that role is plugged with somebody that is going to make a significant difference and it’s not just hey we have a GM so I have to do a little less. You don’t want you certainly don’t want that to be uh the goal of David Sterns. It’s a great call out. It is funny and and some fans would be surprised by this that trade talks can start with I don’t want to say low-level employees but lower level employees than the GMs like you just said Joe one year and I’ll close with a story when I was at the NFL combine I was I was at a restaurant in in a in a secluded room and you know two people at the table that I know were were directors in front offices they were not the general managers of their team and they started to kick around a player one team. One guy wanted the player and the other team was like not really tied to keeping the player throughout the offseason. And the talks went on. I’m sitting there, you know, and sure enough, like a couple because it’s at the combine, the league year when the league year starts. A couple weeks later, you see a couple weeks later. Yeah. You see on Twitter the trade go through and those were just directors. They both said how they had to run it up to their GMs to approve the compensation and give the final sign off. So, like you said, these things really do star at all uh layers of organizations and run up to GMs because like yes, the guy that you are always going to default to for every organizational decision the Mets make from personnel is David Sterns, but there are so many different people at all levels organizations that are involved in personnel decisions and and running ring those things up to the top. So, this is the Mets pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. Performance, range, style. Three different ways to make every drive an occasion. Whatever your reason, there’s never been a better time to say, “Let’s take the Cadillac, the all electric Cadillac family of vehicles, Escalade, IQ, Vistic, Optic, and Lyric. Visit your Tri-State Cadillac dealer today.” Joe, I’ll ask you this every week until it happens. Do you think next week’s episode we will be discussing any transactions for the Mets? Instead, this week we discussed one uh that was a player we both liked but went back to the Mariners. Yeah. Uh don’t think so, Connor. uh Nate Lavenderesque kind of return. We did miss on the coaching staff. I thought this week we’d be breaking down the coaching staff, but uh we’re getting there. That’s the way I’m going to look at it. Once you get to Thanksgiving, that’s kind of that’s kind of the you’re starting to get over the hump of the early winter and everyone kind of knows what they’re planning to do. Uh so I don’t think so for next week, but hey, there’s always a couple things in November and we got one with Josh Naylor. Uh, there’s no saying that it can’t be the Mets. Remember to subscribe to the show at Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Leave us a review with a question and we’ll look for it for a future mailbag. And of course, you can watch every episode on SNY’s YouTube channel. Become a subscriber over there as well. Thanks so much everyone. We’ll catch you next week.

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo keep talking Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, and also dive into a new Mets Top 30 Prospect List! First up, the guys look at the deal that Josh Naylor signed in Seattle to stay with the Mariners, and discuss whether or not that contract truly affects the free agent market for Alonso. Then, Connor and Joe react to comments from closer Edwin Diaz about the odds for his Mets return being “50/50.” Later, the guys get into Joe’s all-new Top 30 Mets Prospects List, and open the Mailbag to take on questions about Ketel Marte, Alex Bregman, Tatsuya Imai, Nate Lavender, and the potential of David Stearns hiring a GM. Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and read Joe DeMayo’s Top 30 Mets Prospects List at www.sny.tv!

Today’s Show:
00:00 Welcome to the show!
03:20 Josh Naylor signs in Seattle, what it means for Pete Alonso
11:15 Edwin Diaz says odds are 50/50 he returns to the Mets
18:20 Down on the Farm: Joe’s all-new Top 30 Mets Prospects List!
21:00 Big rise: A.J. Ewing
24:20 Big fall: Boston Baro
27:10 Name to know: Zach Thornton
28:05 Name to know: R.J. Gordon
29:55 Mailbag: Trade for Ketel Marte?
35:30 Mailbag: Sign Alex Bregman?
37:50 Mailbag: Thoughts on Tatsuya Imai?
41:15 Mailbag: Does Nate Lavender have a shot at OD bullpen role?
43:45 Mailbag: Will David Stearns ever hire a GM?

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo bring you The Mets Pod, a podcast dedicated to all things New York Mets! SNY’s signature podcast is a weekly show that delivers everything a Mets fan wants to hear about the team from Queens, including news, analysis, exclusive interviews, special guests, and more!

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