Mets bring in Jorge Polanco, Padres trade noise, and what David Stearns could do next | The Mets Pod

Mets bring in Jorge Polanco, Padres trade noise, and what David Stearns could do next | The Mets Pod

Welcome to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. On today's show, we break down the Jorge Palanco signing and why a blockbuster trade could be on the horizon. We also go down on the farm to talk untouchable prospects. And of course, we answer your mailbag questions. So, subscribe to the Mets Pod on Apple Podcast, Spotify. You can watch every episode on SMY's YouTube channel or wherever you get your shows. What's up everybody? Welcome to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State [music] 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." I'm your host, Connor Rogers, joined as always by my co-host, Joe Deo. and Joe, thank God the Mets made a move before this podcast because we would have been sitting here and be like, well, this could be next, this could be next, but we can't really say much until it happens. Jorge Palano, welcome to the Mets on a two-year uh contract that there's some things we do know, Joe, and we'll break him down. What he is offensively, what he's been, and there's some that we don't know, specifically how much DH time he'll see, how much first base time he'll see, something he hasn't done. But what was your, you know, first reaction to the Jorge Palano signing? A player that admittedly a lot of Mets fans don't get to see a lot of with him playing on the West Coast for the Mariners last year, at least until the postseason. This news broke, Connor. I was quite literally around the corner from the Queens Baseball Convention. I was at the traffic light where I bang a left and then take a right into the parking. Like, that's when the news broke. So, good timing for the Mets to be considerate of the Queens baseball convention, which was a great event over the weekend. But Palano to me, I think a lot of people are looking at it because, as you said, we'll mention and talk about the defense and where that could be headed. This isn't a Pete Alonzo replacement. If you want to look statistically, this is a Brandon NMO replacement, >> right? The stat lines are jarringly similar on the two, but Palano this year 821 OPS hit 26 home runs. Really his first first kind of healthy season over the last couple years. He's dealt with some knee issues, some hamstring issues. Uh in 2024, he actually had to get a knee surgery and it looks as if he was pretty healthy in 2025, at least from the offensive standpoint. spent a lot of time at DH. But when we talk just the bat, the bat that is Jorge Palano, there's that 821 OPS that he had this year. Some players that it was better than, I put this list out on Twitter if you didn't see it. I'll list them here for you. Cody Bellinger, Brent Rooker, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jazz Chisum, Francisco Lindor, Riley Green, and Gunnar Henderson. Some It's some pretty good company. And there are and there are two things offensively that the Mets really struggled in in 2025. That is hitting left-handed pitching. >> Palanco hit .305 with an 888 OPS against left-handed pitchers. And then runners in scoring position. That was a topic for months on this show. He hit 337 with a 985 OPS with runners in scoring position. So all in all, I think this is a good move. You just have to try to not look at it like they're trying to replace Pete Alonzo with Jorge Palano. >> I agree with you, Joe. I I think it's one of those moves that I think every move the Mets make won't necessarily feel like, okay, this guy is now this guy's role. Now, if they went out and traded for a high-profile closer, okay, that's an easy one. Then that player is now the new Edwin Diaz. That's one of the easier ones in baseball to draw up. But in terms of trying to build out a lineup and change a lineup and specifically change the lineup because of the different looks you can run out there defensively, you do need every piece of the puzzle. But Palano individually, Joe, I love the stats that you brought up and I'll piggy back off of you. No matter if you feel, you know, clutch stats can be a little bit more volatile or high variance yeartoear. There's no denying what Palanco did last year. I mean, two outs and runners in scoring position. He batted 400. He had an OPS over,00 late and close, which is a stat we've talked about on this podcast before. You know, traditionally, you know, you're tied games or you're within striking range, I believe seventh inning and on. This is a guy that had an 852 OPS in late and close. And I don't mean this to take away from Brandon NMO because Brandon NMO was one of the many culprits last year of this problem, but showing that it's clear the Mets value these things. NMO with two outs and runners in scoring position last year. Had a sub 700 OPS late and close. He had a 331 OPS. He batted 128 late and close. It And once again, that's not just to pile on Brandon NMO. It was the Mets as a whole that could never win games when they were behind in the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning or take a lot of games when they were tied in those innings. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Palano is going to repeat an 1100 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position or that he's going to have an 852 OPS in late OPS in late and close games. But is he just a couple notches below that? And that's a jarring upgrade for the lineup, especially after you make a couple other moves. That's the hope with the Mets. You can't guarantee anything in baseball. And you brought up the health issues, Joe, which would probably be my biggest concern. I think actually finding the right spot for him in the lineup, whether he transitions nicely to being a part-time first baseman or he's just a DH. You love that he's a switch hitter. I think that makes you feel really good about his aspects, his ability in the in the lineup at DH because you can kind of move him all around the lineup. So overall, individually, I like the signing, but I will admit that it's yet another one of those moves of how will this entire thing look when all is said and done. And of course, it comes with a little bit of injury risk because at, you know, 32 years old, a guy that's been banged up and doesn't necessarily have a, you know, a definite home right now on the field. Ultimately, we'll see. The Mets are making a bet. They're projecting. Um, you know, they've had some success and they've had some misses with trying to project guys into different roles from their previous year's role in the past. And ultimately, we'll see where this one goes, but the Mets needed offense, Joe, and I think they got that in Jorge Palano. >> Totally agree, Connor. And when you look at this, it's it's just a puzzle. That's what the Mets are putting together, right? And I and I know what fans want is, okay, the really big piece Pete Alonzo, the really big piece Edwin Diaz fell off the puzzle. you now have to insert a really big piece in that spot. And they may do that throughout the course of the offseason, but that doesn't mean that's going to be what the next move is. Like, you can't dictate that. You can't operate in order of trying to get the best player now and then the second best player after that and then the third best. Like, Palano, I think, is a good piece. And when I look at how they're going to transition him from a defensive standpoint, the more you read, the more it sounds like first base might be a real thing. And David Sterns had done this one time before when he was with the Brewers. He had at the time very top prospect that ultimately never panned out as a hitter, Ken Hera. You may remember that name. Yeah, he was a second second baseman, not particularly great defensively. Sterns actually moved him to first base to acquire a veteran highquality defensive second baseman in Colton Wong. So let's call this Jorge Palano and Marcus Simeon. Same type of scenario. So that's a risk and we don't know how he's going to transition if he is playing first base, whether that's a minority of a time, a majority of the time, a split. Um the the next moves will dictate, I think, kind of where where that stands. But as far as just becoming a first baseman, you would think from like an athletic profile, he'd probably be one of the better ath athletes that play first base. But there's so much that comes into playing first base defensively. It's it's the money ball thing with Ron Washington. Tell them tell them how easy it is. Wash. It's really hard to play first base. There's so many things that you have to do that you don't do at any other position. Uh, so it's going to be an adjustment and I would hope the Mets have a plan that will include somebody else on the roster that has experience at first base in case this this experiment doesn't go according to plan, at least from a defensive standpoint, and you have the fallback that Palano played 89 games at designated hitter in 2025. So, he's comfortable in that spot. And if I were building the Mets, I would have signed Palanco to be the designated hitter. He could play some second, he could play some third. And if you want to teach him first, so be it. Just to put that kind of like in his tool belt. >> Yeah. I think that once again, I don't think this stops the Mets from making other moves that are in the first base market. Like would the idea of a Wilson Contrarus trade pop up again? I don't know. Ultimately, he's a guy that already adjusted very nicely to first base where he was a plus glove. And it kind of goes back to Joe why why you can make this move early is Palanco has played multiple positions and he's a switch hitter where it feels like he's kind of a chess piece addition right now and it's addition and it's you know maybe not perfect at just one place but if a move opened up that you really like you feel like you could actually he's a little more nimble. So, speaking of this signing, I think one of the biggest stories around uh came from Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lynn, and Will Sammon. Obviously, Will was just on our podcast from the winter meetings. We know, you know, how much clout Will has right now, breaking stories and being all over every >> Yeah. Absolutely crushing it. So, those three combined for an article on the Athletic that was talking about the Mets and Padres's potentially lining up for a deal. And right away it got out of the way that this is not including Francisco Lor or Fernando Tatis. This was more in line with guys like Nick Paveta, a starting pitcher that I know you really liked in previous free agencies, Joe, coming off a great year. Raone Laurato, who's a corner outfielder that has a really good bat. And I think the biggest name would probably be Mason Miller just because it's obvious that the Mets aren't going to be closing any doors to upgrading a closer. When they initially signed Devin Williams, it felt like they like that he can close games, but would be more of a lights out setup kind of guy. And then we know all the prospects the Mets have right now and how can you know AJ Prowler the GM of the Padres's is a guy that's not afraid to make high volume moves Joe as we've seen in the past because teams like the Padres's operate on a different budget where they might be willing to let some higher paid proven players go and get back a quantity of players to kind of not only replenish their farm system but get young guys that might be major league ready. So, what did you think of this? I don't want to call it a rumored deal, Joe, because it feels like a wide range of conversations are happening, but more of the overall thought of the Mets and Padres's being two teams that could line up for a blockbuster deal. I think they match up perfectly as far as what the Mets need, the Padres's have, and what the Padres's need, which is largely some getting some payroll off the books as they're heading into like an ownership change and some different things on their end that they kind of need to trim some payroll. Uh I think there's there could be a match here. And what I love about AJ Prowler, we talk about how Jerry Dotto loves to trade all the time. That's a pretty thing common thing we mention here. AJ Prowler is the guy that calls you to trade all the time. But he's not like, "I just feel like making a trade. Let's just do something." He's the guy in your fantasy football league that calls. He's like, "Hey, Connor, want to trade?" And you're like, "Yeah, I need a running back. You need a wide receiver. Can we just swap an RB2 for a wide receiver, too?" He's like, "Nah, you got Christian McCaffrey and Jamar Chase. How do I get them both?" >> Right? >> Whoa. Like that. That's the kind of guy AJ Prowler is. So, he's not trying to make a one for one trade. He's trying to make a four for five trade. like just a unique guy. But when I look at kind of the fit here, I think Nick Paveta is a tremendous fit for the Mets. And I wish they listened to me last year when I said that they should sign him, but they were scared off at the time reasonably so by the qualifying offer. But Paveta turned in a year that if you just go and put Nick Paveet and Freddy Peralta right next to each other statistically, Peralta had a couple more strikeouts. Paveeta had a slightly lower erra. Like very similar pitchers. Paveeta pitched like a frontline guy this year. And and then in the bullpen you want to talk Mason Miller and I get it right. Mason Miller is electric. I think he could be >> one he's one of if not the best closer in baseball. Certainly in the conversation with Edwin Diaz and Haldis Chapman. Like that's kind of I think the the top group of relievers in baseball. But I have some skepticism that the Padres's are going to move Miller. They gave up Leo Dallas Devise at the deadline and two other guys. That's like giving up devise is a top five or so prospect in all of baseball. They're now gonna >> huge move and that's Pller going for it, right? But now five months later, this is not to ding the Mets prospect. I'm gonna talk about in a second, but like they're not going to turn and trade him for Jonah Tong. Like that's not that's not equal necessarily. So I I have some skepticism that Miller will come together, but you tell me I could get my hands on Jeremiah Estrada. Yep, I'm into that. Adrien Morahone, yep, totally into that. So I I feel like there's just such a good fit and the Padres's want some controllable starting pitching and whether that is a Jonah Tong or a Brandon Sprro or you take a a step down to the Jonathan Sanuis or Jack Wedingers or Will Watson's like all these pitchers that the Mets have it feels like if there is real motivation on both ends that I think there could be a match here. And I think the bird's eyee of it all, Joe, besides these specific players and these specific teams is that the Mets, considering their lack of action besides Palanco, might not love this free agency class and might view the trade market, especially where they line up right now. And this is something that you've been kind of bracing Mets fans for for a while is that for the first time in a long time, the Mets have quantity and quality in the farm system. And what that allows you to do is there there's only so many spots. And it's not that all these guys are going to be hits, but even if even if the Mets went out and hypothetically, and this is far hypothetically, signed Framber Valdez today. >> Sure. and you put him in the rotation and then you go, okay, how many spots in this rotation wouldn't we be better equipped to move one of Tong or Sprro and fill an area of need that we can't get elsewhere? And once again, they haven't made that move in free agency, but they might view it as even if all of these guys hit in a fantasy world, we wouldn't have room for all of them. So, where is our surplus of talent right now that we can use? And you kind of just highlighted that with the Padres's right now where they're in a situation where they might be sitting there going, "Well, we need to trim some payroll and we do want some young talent because we always do and we're willing to take a risk by giving up this guy and maybe kind of spreading out our dart throws." Where the Mets right now, once again, they might just want more proven commodities for this major league team. Yeah, they might leave a rotation spot open or even two and say, "Okay, we feel really good about Nolan Mlan. We think by the halfway point of the season, one of Tong, Christian Scott, and Sprro will establish themselves, but we're not going to go into the year and leave three-fifths of the rotation up to young guys and say, "Yeah, let's see what happens. Hopefully, it works out." Where some other teams that spend less money might be willing to do that. So, I think the overall number one, the reporting on this trade by those guys was was awesome because, you know, kind of pulled back the curtain of what's been going on lately, but also Joe, it might have just kind of shined a light on it's been quiet so far, but what Sterns really prefers to do this winter rather than going out and giving a bunch of 31 and 32 year olds four to seven years of term across the board. You could pick your spots and do it. And I've said on this podcast, there's going to be times where you have to get uncomfortable and do it. But you can't make a habit of doing it not only every year, but multiple times in one off season because then you run into a roster crunch, you know, down the road. >> Yeah, you can't. And I think where we as fans have differ, and we should because we're fans, that's what we do, right? >> Each off each each off season, the Mets need to don't just go for the flavor of the week or the flavor of the year. like paying a premium for someone just because they are the best at a position in free agency in a given year. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. And right, >> I don't want I don't want David Sterns to turn into, you know, an opportunity where he's passing on any good player just because they get more than three years as we talked about on last week's show. But when you look at free agency this year, Fran Valdez, he's interesting, but he's 32 years old. There's a lot of mileage on the arm. Would I be interested in him? Yeah. But I'm not interested in signing him for six years. I'm not interested in signing him for five years. >> If you could do three, four might be pushing it, but like you could talk me into going four on Valdez because I think what the point you made at at the outset is the Mets are looking for more stability in this rotation. And we're looking as fans as they need an ace. That's you hear every single day from every single person. The Mets need an ace. There's one ace out there. It's Terrick Scooble. And I don't I don't get the feel that that's something that's probably going to happen this this winter. Next winter we'll have a different conversation. >> He'll be the oneto of next winter. >> Yeah. And I and I think that's where you see David Sterns and the Mets. That's where they're going to step out of their comfort zone for the exceptions in free agency. Otherwise, I think they just need to up the floor here a bit and get somebody that they believe can pitch in a short playoff series. Like that should be I think the ultimate goal is to make sure you're acquiring a starting pitcher that could pitch game one, two, or three in a ear in in a playoff series. Like that's how I think they need to approach it. >> You're listening to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. Subscribe to the Mets Pod at Apple Podcast, Spotify, SMY's YouTube channel, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, Joe, let's go down on the farm. And this week, Down on the Farm is presented by Bingmpington University. Start your future at Bingmpington University, the only New York college named a top 10 public Ivy by Forbes. We'll dip into the mailbag early for this one. Mikey Chips and Matson 74 on Twitter. Joe, can you give us the prospect other than obviously Mlan that you really don't want to see go in a trade? I didn't want to be boring and just be like Carson Bench because he might be the opening day center fielder or left fielder. I wanted to go a little deeper and I was torn here Connor between Elellon Pñena and the reason for him would have been well they just signed him for a whole lot of money. He had a really awesome first year but he's an 18-year-old that hasn't come states side yet. So, I don't feel like you're gonna get value as if, let's just say, a year or two from now where he establishes himself here, he gets to the middle of the minor leagues and now he's, you know, a potential huge asset. Now, I think it would be almost selling low in a sense because teams are just going to say he's so far away. We we can't give up a frontline guy for a deal based around Elon Pñena. But I'm gonna go with AJ Ewing, who I ranked number six in the system when I did my update at the end of the season. And the main reason I'm going to do it is we're talking about the Mets needing a center fielder and looking into the marketplace for center field help. Center fielders don't really exist in baseball to have a chance to both hit and play defense. And >> yeah, it is. So, when you have one, think Pete Craw Armstrong a few years ago, hang on to the center field profiles. That's what I think I would try to do, knowing that they're not all going to work out. But AJ Ewing broke out this year in a huge way from somebody that just missed my top 30 at the beginning of the season to being ranked number six now. He hit 315, OBP over 400. Doesn't hit for power. If you're watching on YouTube, you could see he hit three home runs. And I think the next step in his development is getting stronger and not necessarily turning into a home run hitter, but just impacting the baseball more. But you're buying batto ball. You're buying pitch recognition skills. Uh you're buying speed, athleticism. He could play truly can play center field up the middle. He stole 70 bases this year. >> Nuts. >> I think I think Yuing is a future everyday player. And one thing I really love to see at the winter meetings when David Stern started talking about prospects in the system, he's always talked about Carson Benj. He's always talked about Jet Williams. He's always talked about the pitchers, you know, Mlan, Tong, and Sprro. This was the first time that I heard David Sterns in a public forum mention AJ Ewing as a piece of the Mets future. Uh, so the former fourthround pick has really turned heads with the Mets and has made significant growth since they drafted him. And now he's just outside the top five in the system for me. And I would not be shocked if we get to midseason and he was cracking top 100 lists in some of the major national publications. Joe, I know he was a fourth round pick and he's he just turned 21 in August, but was he someone that they had to switch around and bump the bonus a little bit to get to come out? Because usually a fourth round high school pick that's already succeeding like this. You know, it's just not every day that you see this kind of trajectory is what I'm saying. >> Yeah, he was a little overslaught. He wasn't significant like like we've seen with guys like Trey Snyder. It wasn't like a millionoll kind of signing, but he was overslaught. Some of these guys, they're they're ready to turn pro and don't don't really prefer to go to college. And I think Euing was >> to play school. >> No, did not come to play school. The alltime quote all time quote. Uh but yeah, Euing, I think it was someone that was interested in turning pro. He got more than slot value and uh the Mets are reaping some rewards on him becoming just a notable prospect. And whether that means he is a future center field option for the Mets or he turns into a significant trade chip. Uh I wouldn't trade him right now because I want to keep my center fielders, but it's it's something that is just a benefit to the Mets going forward as they build out their roster and organization. >> All right, let's get to the mailbag. We got a lot of good questions this week. Thank you to everybody. Starting with Joe Mama's house on our five-star review. We always appreciate those. Two questions. So, one, do you think it is possible that Sterns always intended to go with Williams as the closer? Is this a case of him thinking he is so smart that he was going to take the Deon Williams upside over Diaz for less money? And two, Sterns is talking up uh giving young guys a runway, but now he's collecting second baseman and blocking Jet. How good of a shorts stop is Jet? Might it be a good long-term move to shift Lindor to second and put Jet at short? Lor is a great shortstop, but he is not a gold glove shorts stop and he's only going to decline from here. All right, a lot to unpack with this Joe. Let's start with the first part. I mean, from everything we know, the plan all along was not to just sign Devin Williams and otherwise they wouldn't have given Diaz a threeyear $66 million offer, which we know happened. And our understanding is that Diaz stopped going to the Mets as far as we know. I mean, once again, these are things that all the details will probably come out over time. Diaz said in his presser in a matter of 30 seconds, he said it wasn't easy and then he said going to the Dodgers was easy. So, take that for what you will, but Joe, I don't I don't think Also, now there's rumors that they've called about other teams closers in the trade market. So, I no, in short order, I don't think they ever signed Deon Williams and said, "This is our closer. We don't care about any other high-end relievers." I think it just didn't work out with Diaz, which once again we'll say uh is a shame and we we especially wish it did. The Mets, you know, something went wrong there that's not making a lot of sense. >> Agreed. I I I don't know everything that happened, but however it however it transpired, Edwin Diaz is not a Met. When the Mets signed Devin Williams, it was with the intention of him being a high leverage reliever. I think they were comfortable if he ended up the closer and if the Diaz thing worked out where he went somewhere else. My thought was he's getting five years someone in somewhere and the Mets were were not going to go there. So, we could have that conversation all day about the whole three-year and how how they should have handled it. But, they didn't they didn't sign Devin Williams just to be the closer. And there's one remark that was made and I'm seeing this a lot and I want to at least address it a little bit cuz I see it everywhere where basically it's like David Sterns is doing this cuz he thinks he's so smart. Like can we just calm down just because it wasn't the move that you want? David David Stern signed Devin Williams for the contract he did was not David Sterns trying to outsmart the world. He's signing Devin Williams based on his history of being a top- end closer in baseball off of a non ideal year for a contract that as we talked about last week would have been double this if he didn't if he didn't have necessarily the the first half that he did with the Yankees. And then on the the second half of things about Jet Williams shortstop, that's his most comfortable position because it's what he's played all of his life. I'm not moving Francisco Lindor off shortstop anytime soon. I know it wasn't quite as good as it was the year before in 2025 with Lindor, but he's still a topend defensive shortstop. And if you tell me he's going to win a gold glove in 2026, I'm going to believe you. So, I want for right now Lindor and Marcus Simeon to be my middle infield. And I think that has a chance to defensively be the best in baseball or or dang close to it if not the best. And I expect Jet Williams this off season to get a lot a lot of work in the outfield. I think they're going to increase his center field usage, maybe give him some shots in left field to see how that could translate. But I would expect you see more Jet Williams outfield reps as as we head into spring training and into the regular season knowing that you have the fall back that he can play shorts stop, he can play second base much more naturally. Yeah, I think that one as much as Lindor is a team guy and we we know that you do need to be careful with what you'd be asking is the one of the veterans of your team that's, you know, done everything the right way to switch positions for a guy that we don't even know if he'll be a good major leager. And I get it. This podcast loves Jet Williams. We do think he's going to be a good major leager, but we have no idea. So then what if you prematurely switch Lindor to second and Jet struggles and has to go back down like most young players do over and over again. Do you say, "Hey, Francisco Lindor, sorry we need you back at short." If anyone would probably be a good sport about it, it's probably Lindor, but then you're also not factoring in that they just got Marcus Semian for three years. Where's he going? Where's he going? like it just I get the idea, but logistically and emotionally, uh, I don't I don't really think now is the time to be exploring that. All right, the next one from Andy Morano. Thank you for the five star review. With Edwin Diaz departing over a modest difference in dollars, is it time to talk about the negative impact Sterns may be having on his roster of players and free agents? Is there any legitimacy to the idea that there may be some mental fatigue from players feeling devalued or lowballed consistently by their own team president? So, I'm curious your thoughts on this, Joe. Uh, but before you go, I think there's there's two sides of this one, like there often is. I think one I think if Sterns Diaz is the first time where I'm a little hung up on this, where I'm like, I thought they wanted Diaz and they got cute and they lost and they look foolish. But with other guys, I don't know if it's been that way. with Pete. They've told you what whether you agree or not what they think of Pete for a long time now. They did not think Pete will age well and were not willing to go to a deal with over three years a term, two different off seasons, and that's just the way it was. That doesn't mean that he's always going to have that fatigue on players on the roster. David Sterns didn't draft or trade for or sign Pete Alonzo. And even when he was here and the Mets did extend Pete Alonzo one time, we know it was Steve Cohen. So I I think I'm not really ready to give a definitive response on this one yet. If it if it happened with like some young players on the team that you don't need to overthink. I mean, it's hard because they just don't really have anyone like that. The the one guy that looked that way at the half point was David Peterson because he's a free agent after this year and he had a bad second half. So, I don't necessarily think that's the case. Now, if you did this with every negotiation, say if David Wright was on this team, a 27y old David Wright was on this team and they were like, "We're going to let David go to market and he'll come back to us." Then I'd be sitting here and going, "Okay, there's there's just no emotional awareness of when is the time to just get a deal done and when is the time to try to win every negotiation." But Joe, the Diaz one disappointed me, but besides that, I haven't felt that way very often about Sterns because we haven't really seen a lot of examples of it. >> It hasn't happened much. I will what I will say kind of to to back Andy here just a little bit is >> I think it's a fair point though to bring up >> it is and it's a good question. Look, people in general in life, doesn't matter what your line of work is, want to be wanted. And sometimes when you are someone like David Sterns who thus far plays very strict to his valuations, that is going to rub some people the wrong way. And who knows, maybe that was part of the equation with Diaz. We we don't know. Like it it did he expect the Mets to be more aggressive and they were just so firm and that that bothered him? Like some people will be bothered by it, some won't. Everyone's different. Some players are very invested in their free agencies. Some players just say, "Hey, Connor, my agent, just call me when something's going on." Like that. That's everyone kind of handles it differently. Uh so I think we do need a bigger sample size here to see if this is just how David Sterns handles everybody. And there is going to be a point where >> you do have to stray from valuation. And it's short term, but I think Jorge Palano as a free agent is slightly like that. I don't think Jorge Palano was projected to get $20 million a year, but he got $20 million a year so they could get the term that they wanted, which is something we've always talked about. The kind of advantage of Steve Cohen's wallet is being able to overpay quote unquote on the short term in order to trim the years. So that way you're not giving three years to a guy, you're giving two, etc. But the one guy that I think because like you said, it's hard to pick like an example on the current Mets roster as far as like who they would handle this way. The only one I could think of right now is in a couple years when Francisco Alvarez is a free agent, right? >> How will he how will he handle Alvi? But that's that's a bigger picture. Alvi still needs to establish himself. Yeah. But yeah, but we need we need, I think, more data to make a declaration that David Sterns is going to not treat homegrown players with, I guess, maybe the respect that they've earned and warranted. And at some point, he's going to have to deviate from that, especially Connor, if we're going to get into a world where we're giving opportunities and runways to all these young players, and some of them are going to work out of and some of them aren't. But the ones that do, you want to at least keep some of them in house long term as well. >> Without a doubt, it would it would make you feel better as a Mets fan if there was a time where it was necessary to get ahead on an extension and they did that or there was, you know, an example of a negotiation just feeling easy because the once again the only one that I can really sit on and I was upset about it as anyone else is I they absolutely played with their food with this Diaz negotiation. In theory, he never should have even gotten to free agency. And once he did, there's a world out there where the Dodgers were out there and wanted him. And the Mets knew that. And you have to operate a little differently and they didn't. But if this is I'm not ready to go, this is just a reoccurring theme all the time where I think some people are feeling that way because Diaz and Pete happened in a 48 hour span. >> Correct. 100%. But for me, it's just that I digested a year ago how they felt about Pete and the deal he signed with the Mets with the opt outs and no term kind of spoke to you where Pete's market was last year and that changed this year. All right, our next one from NYRJD. Do you think the potential upcoming labor dispute in 2027 has any impact on the lack of willingness from the Mets to offer contracts longer than three years or is it just more of Stern's philosophy? I don't, Joe, because we just don't know what that'll look like. They could grandfather in all the deals now if they put in a salary cap where they go, "Hey, have you signed a deal before this was decided on? You know, there's not really a way for us to factor it into the salary cap." Nobody knows what it's going to look like and nobody knows if a salary cap will be agreed to. Will there be amnesty buyouts available for teams to make it a little bit more fair to get them under the cap, which is something the NHL did? um in our lifetime there's so many unknowns. I would be disappointed if the Mets are operating a certain way because of the fear of the labor dispute. That's I because I don't see other teams operating that way at all right now. >> And that is why I don't think they are because if other if other teams aren't then I don't think the Mets are. I do think this is how David Sterns looks at things. And as we've said a couple times on this show, a couple times on last week's show, so we just don't keep repeating it. Like he's eventually going to have to grow beyond this to continue to make the Mets where they need to be. But when it comes to just free agency in general, I think you're going to see David Sterns live in this world most of the time. I think he's he if if I I think and this is just Joe's opinion. If David Sterns had his brothers, the Mets team would be built on as much young homegrown talent as possible and then you supplement it with the Juan Stoos, with the Francisco Lindors, with the Starf free agents and then everything in between is one-year deal, two-year deal, max three-year deal. Where you get into trouble as an organization is when you play heavily in the middle of free agency for term because then you're just when you if you're in the middle of free agency more often than not it's because you're a average to maybe a slightly above average player and if you lock in term with those guys you're now guaranteeing you're just going to be average or or thereabouts for four years out of position. And I think he likes the flexibility of being able to maneuver the roster and move pieces around. And if I that's what I think he would like to do. And now we just need to see this this whole picture really come together. And um yeah, the tw we'll talk about the 2026 roster certainly for the next few few weeks as as we head into spring training, but I think big picture that's my guess how David Sterns would love to see the Mets built. >> Andre Manasan 9740. Thank you for the question from YouTube. My question is, how long of a leash does Sterns have with Steve Cohen? Another terrible season. And does Cohen replace Sterns? I mean, if the Mets have a terrible season, I wouldn't rule anything out because they were a colossal disappointment last year. And yes, they haven't spent a ton of money this offseason right now, but I think in a month or two, we'll look back at it and realize the Mets made a lot of moves and tried to turn this thing around. I mean, if they win 80 or less games, I think all bets are off in any conversation. Steve Cohen is a guy that notoriously will replace people to get better results any, you know, any any drop. And um I don't think that's something he wants to do or even wants to entertain. But he's also somebody that has big expectations. But I just I'm not I'm not even ready to have this conversation, Joe. I I wouldn't rule it out, Connor, but this is a very and understandably so emotional question because everyone is on edge right now. And I get it. The the Mets traded Brandon NMO, they they let Diaz go. They let Alonzo go. And so far, they've basically signed Devin Williams and Jorge Palano. So, right now, as currently constructed, the Mets roster is not as good on paper as it was last year. But on paper means nothing because the Mets didn't win in 2025 and there's a lot of reasons for that. It's certainly not those guys fault that departed the Mets. But this is this vision that Sterns is going through. We don't see what the vision is. So now we're kind of like, well, they don't know what they're doing. There's a vision. There's a plan. Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And I don't think David Sterns is doing this without Steve Cohen's blessing. Like he's not just on his own willy-nilly being like, "Hey, Steve, my plan this year, get worse. That's what I want to do. I just want to be not as good of a baseball team." I think he's going to just build the team his way in a way that he thinks can win more baseball games than the 2025 Mets did. And that is a different looking roster than what the Mets had. And is that a bad thing? Time will tell. But this this is something that I really think, Connor, I I I truly believe if in 2024, if Pete Alonzo's home run off Devin Williams gets caught at the warning track, this happens last year, >> right? >> This whole this whole purge. So, I think this is something that he's kind of wanted to do in the back of his mind, but was just going to ride the wave of a team that succeeded. and now he gets to build it completely in his vision and that puts the bullseye on his back which opens up the possibility that sure if things are a catastrophe they get rid of him but if things are similar or hopefully just you know a little bit better I I don't think Steve Cohen is has waited for David Sterns for as long as he did to just get rid of him after three years. >> That's exactly right. And you know, some Mets fans don't want to hear it right now, and I understand it's an emotional time for the fan base, but if there's anything we know about Steve Cohen, he's very involved. And there is no world right now where Steve Cohen logged on to Twitter and was like, "Oh, we lost Petonzo. Can't wait to see what we're going to do next." Like, it's just >> who who is Jorge Palano? David, can you please tell me? >> He he types in baseball on Google and tries to learn about his outs. It's I mean when it comes down to it, >> Steve Cohen not only cares about what the Mets do from a baseball aspect, but he's a man that cares a lot about what the Mets perception and marketing looks like. We see we've seen the changes to the stadium. We've seen the changes to the fan experience. We've seen a lot of changes with the Mets and we know how important this entire project around City Field is going to be there. and he's a guy that he cares a lot about his reputation. And if you think Steve Cohen is just gonna sit there this winter and be mocked by the people that are mad when he asked the fans to show up last year and they did and and the Mets were a disappointment or that if I see one more tweet that he got his casino and he doesn't care about the Mets anymore, I am going to rip every hair off this head because I just can't. >> Please don't Conor. >> Yeah, I'll do it. I'm threatening. >> It's It's the best leverage I got right now over all you people. But >> no, in all seriousness, once again, and I was not happy last week. This is my cool off period right now, this podcast. >> I was I was going to ask Connor. I was going to ask how you were doing. Like, we didn't get to that at the beginning show. I was ask how you were doing because I listen back obviously to our episodes. I like to see what we're talking about and I was like >> I knew Connor was mad, but hearing it after the fact, yeah, he was he was really mad. >> Yeah. I think for me the I mean I'm I'm not going to walk back anything about the Diaz situation. I think the Mets screwed it up and I think the Mets know internally that they screwed it up. They got too cute with the negotiation and and they kind of have egg on their face and now they have to make a responding move which is fine. You have the opportunity to do that. The Petalonzo one is more of just you know we like the player a lot. There's a world where maybe it does end up best for both sides that the Mets didn't sign Petonzo at his age to a 5-year deal. Maybe it's best for Pete that he got his money and a new opportunity elsewhere. That's the one where I'm, you know, somewhere in the middle on, but as a fan of the team and also we cover this team on the podcast. You have to be logical and at least give them the two months here to see what they do in the offseason. You can't. It's >> unacceptable, Connor. Not I need the I need the answers right now. >> Christmas is next week, >> right? That's exactly what it feels like we've seen so much of the response to be. I I'm very allowed to be furious on what February 15th where I'm like, "Wow, the Mets really only signed Jorge Palano and Devin Williams. I I am a fool for thinking things would change over the next two months." But you can't sit here and just kind of clap your hands and be like, "Wow, this is the worst off season of all time." So, this is why you go get David Sterns, to see how he responds from a creative aspect, to see how he operates on the trade market, and to see if he can navigate the free agency market the way it needs to be navigated. I'm not going to sit here and give him flowers for anything right now, but you do have to kind of give them the opportunity. So, we'll see where it goes. Um, and we're going to be covering all of it, which is a lot of fun. And I have a feeling we'll be pretty busy. Last question. This is a fun one from David Ramos. Joe, I think you'll really like this. Imagine you guys are a GM and can choose one job, the Cowboys, the Jets, or the Mets. You take the role where you believe you're best positioned to succeed. Which do job do you choose and why? And obviously David's been listening to us long enough to know. Um, you know, I grew up a Jets fan. Joe has grown up a Cowboys fan. We're obviously both Mets fans. But there's a twist on this question, Joe, because it's not just, you know, what job would you like the most or what's the dream scenario. It is where you believe you're best positioned to succeed. So, what we know, Joe, if you're the GM of the Mets, you're working under David Sterns because David Sterns is not the GM of the Mets. So, that's an important thing to factor in. If you're the Jets, well, you technically have full autonomy, but you are now charged with finding a franchise quarterback for the first time in a billion years. And if you don't, you'll be fired. And if you're the Cowboys, Joe, do I really have to tell you you are now reporting to your actual GM, Jerry Jones? >> Yeah, reporting to Jerry Jones. The only thing that I will put the feather in the cap on the Cowboys side of things is Jerry Jones doesn't fire anybody really. So, like, >> that's a great point. So, so like you get a job, Will Mccclelay, for example, and this isn't the Cowboys pod, so I'm not I'm not going to get into it, but Will will Will Mccclelay's been with the Cowboys for like a hundred years as the director of personnel or whatever. So, the only positive is the Cowboys bring job security. The Jets, but you're you're not the you're not the decision maker. The Jets, you're the decision maker, right? I think is that is that a fair say or >> most of the time the problem is there is owner influence there at maybe times you aren't ready for it. >> Yeah. And if it doesn't work out we've seen they've run through general managers on almost a a bianual basis it so seems. Uh so that one that one feels last to me of the three. Like I feel like the Jets one is last. I'm gonna go Cowboys second just because I like job security and that that's probably about it. The Mets to me is the winner and the reason is part partially I'm a Mets fan and I want to I want to help the Mets get to where they need to and you know maybe this is an opportunity where Connor you or I get into David Sterns's ear and yes we aren't the ultimate decision maker. He's the final say, >> right? >> But maybe I talk David Sterns into signing Nick Paveta last year and the Mets have a frontline starter in the rotation. Yeah, they didn't have an extra draft pick in the in the middle of the draft, but they had Nick Paveta at the at the forefront of their rotation. Uh, so I think I'm going to go Mets. And there's such an investment from ownership. And what is evident as clear as day is ownership is willing to let the front office build their roster because boy if if Steve Cohen if the most important thing was fan happiness in the winter we wouldn't have had the last three weeks that we've had right so uh I think the combination of autonomy and financial support >> and maybe just not getting all the blame if things go wrong >> uh make makes me lean Mets, >> I I agree with you. And once again, the framing of this question is what? Like, you take the role where you believe you're best positioned to succeed. Not, you know, dream job or most emotionally impactful job or I mean, obviously I know a lot more about football scouting than I do baseball scouting, but just in terms of what I'd be walking into the Mets financial, like you'll have the best budget for free agency with the Mets. you'll have the best I would imagine data resources with the Mets. I would I would this is an assumption but I feel pretty good about it that the Mets spend more money on technology than both the Cowboys and the Jets. >> The Mets obviously, man, it's I mean the facilities although the Cowboys and Jets have good facilities to be fair to them. They really they have great facilities. Obviously, the Cowboys stadium is out of this world, but I'm talking about where the where the teams actually train and do training camp and everything like that. >> Yeah. >> So, no, I I I do think though it's the Mets and I think the the reality is it's ownership comes into play here a lot and when you have an owner that's just willing to greenlight anything that makes the organization better. And once again, Steve Cohen, I think, this is a good kind of way to end this podcast, Joe. I've seen a lot of people, and I get it. They're like, "Why didn't Steve Cohen step in with Edwin Diaz? Why didn't Steve Cohen step in with Pete Alonzo again for the second year in a row?" And I think Steve Cohen is a smart enough guy, obviously that doesn't need to be said considering where he stands in life, that when you hire somebody and you pay a guy a lot of money to do a job, you at some point need to take the training wheels off and let them do the job. And if Steve Cohen needs to step in and save every negotiation, then that can create bad habits as well and a bad precedent with agents because once agents learn that they operate a little differently with David Sterns or for us the GM in the spot >> and say, "Well, I know the owner who's emotionally driven is going to step in and come with a huge paycheck and and figure it out." So, I get it why people felt that way, but they can't make a habit of that. And I think it was one of those times where, yeah, we would have loved if he saved the day with Edwin Diaz, but then at some point, you need to ask yourself, well, if Steve Cohen is just here to emotionally save David Sterns all the time, then why is he paying David Sterns all this money to do a job? And that's an important aspect when you talk about where you're positioned to succeed when you're working for an owner in sports. He could just be the owner, general manager like Jerry Jones is in the Cowboys. Just just do the do the whole thing himself. So I I agree, Connor. I think that's something that's kind of like undertalked about because it's it that's been the whole precedent like Steve Cohen got this done, Steve Cohen got that done, why didn't he he step up now? I think he understands what David Stern's vision is and what he wants to do and he's allowing him to do it. And if it doesn't work out, there's no one to blame but David Sterns. >> Exactly. >> And and that and that's how that's how a functioning organization is. You don't want ownership just stepping in situationally and when they kind of feel like it or if there's enough noise and they see something on ra on TV or they hear something on radio and that just spurs some kind of like action for the sake of having action. I don't think that's I don't think that's making a sound organization and the Mets are moving in the direction of becoming more organizationally sound and they've made significant strides frankly since David Sterns got here and no one wants to hear that. Like the way player development is set up, the draft process is clean right now. The Mets have made just significant growth in just those couple years. The reality is though that David Sterns's ultimate job is winning baseball games at the major league level. It worked in 24. It didn't work in 25. And he needs to now make it come back together in 26 and 27. >> That's exactly right, Joe. That is exactly right. This is the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. Performance range style. Three different ways to make every drive 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. Escalate IQ Vistic Optic and Lyric. Visit your tri-state Cadillac dealer today. Remember to subscribe to the show at Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Leave us a review with a question. We'll look for it for a future mailback like you heard today. Thank you especially to everybody that left us a fivestar review. We really appreciate that, especially during the offseason. It helps us drive the show. And of course, you can watch every episode on SMY's YouTube channel where you heard it there. You could have heard me pull every hair out of my head if I had to hear one more time, Steve Cohen got his casino. He doesn't care about the Mets anymore. Thanks so much everybody. We'll catch you next week or Bird Emergency Podcast if something happens. [music]

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo react to the deal between the Mets and Jorge Polanco, and look for more moves ahead. The guys break down the Polanco signing, and what his role will be with the team, then dig through the noise surrounding potential trade action between the Mets and Padres. Connor and Joe also go Down on the Farm to pick an “untouchable” prospect, and answer Mailbag questions about Devin Williams, Jett Williams, David Stearns’ style of negotiation, and how long of a leash the Mets president of baseball operations actually has with owner Steve Cohen. Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today’s Show:
00:00 Welcome to the show
00:55 Mets agree to deal with Jorge Polanco
10:05 Trade noise around the Mets matching up with the Padres
19:30 Down on the Farm presented by Binghamton University
19:50 Down on the Farm/Mailbag: A prospect not to trade?
24:05 Mailbag: Devin Williams as closer all along? Jett Williams future SS?
29:10 Mailbag: Is the style of David Stearns having a negative impact on players?
34:55 Mailbag: Are future MLB labor issues factoring into Mets strategies?
37:40 Mailbag: How long is David Stearns’ leash with Steve Cohen?
44:20 Mailbag: Pick one GM job yourself: Mets, Jets, or Cowboys?

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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