Mets agree to deal with Devin Williams, more action to come at Winter Meetings

Mets agree to deal with Devin Williams, more action to come at Winter Meetings

Welcome to the Mets Pod. Well, we recorded a great episode for you guys. We went over everything in the clubhouse, everything going on around the league, answered your mailbag questions, and don’t worry, we even go down on the farm. But then shortly after recording, the Mets signed Devin Williams to a three-year deal. So, you’ll hear Joe and I’s reaction to all of that on a separate reaction right at the top of the show. And don’t worry, stick around right after that for our normal show. So, subscribe to the Mets Pod at Apple Podcast, Spotify. You could always watch us on SNY’s YouTube channel or wherever you get your shows. What’s up, everybody? Welcome to the Mets Pod. The Mets have made a big move. They signed Devin Williams to a three-year deal uh totaling over $50 million. Joe and I will get into the specifics of this exact contract because the Mets have pulled a playbook uh a page out of the Dodgers playbook and included some deferred money in here as well. But Joe, let’s stick with the player right off the top here. Phenomenal career in Milwaukee. David Sterns knows a thing or two about him. A down then up year with the Yankees where he started to figure some things out after a rocky start. Now a New York Met for what we expect to be a three-year deal. Joe, what’s your reaction? I mean, man, this is it. It’s very interesting when you see because the initial reaction is going to be, well, there goes Edwin Diaz. And we’ll we’ll talk about that in a minute. But Devin Williams, this is a guy that David Sterns is familiar with in his time with Milwaukee. Devin Williams has been a setup man before in Milwaukee. He ended up kind of not by choice but becoming a setup man with the Yankees to some degree in 2025. And later on in the show, you will hear us talk about Dylan CE and how modern front offices don’t really care much about erra. So yeah, Devin Williams posted an erra of 4.79. You read that, you’re not too excited, but you look under the hood. Expected ERA 3.09. expected batting average against under 200. And ultimately, this is a guy that still gets strikeouts and whiffs and generates chase at some of the highest levels in baseball, a strikeout rate of almost 35%. The air bender is still disgusting. The fast ball is still a plus pitch. The Mets are setting themselves up, as you said, not unlike the Dodgers, to sign a guy like Devin Williams. And we’ll we’ll like I said, we’ll talk about Diaz, but this is a significant move in building a bullpen that is geared towards winning a World Series. Yeah, this is someone that I mean, it sounds crazy to say because he’s still getting high-end reliever money, but there is a discount here because it was not the perfect dream season that he was hoping to have with the Yankees. But as you pointed out, Joe, the reason the baseball world is still really high on Devin Williams is the stuff is still really good. You know, some of his, you know, obviously, uh, swing and miss stuff, especially that change up is really, really high-end. And it’s interesting, Devin Williams, after once again that rocky season in New York, chose to stay in New York. He just comes cross town to Queens. And I I think it’s always tough to evaluate a move like this, much like we said with the Brandon NMO trade, just in a vacuum, because I look at this move in a way of, man, if Edwin Diaz is also back and you got a onetwo punch of Devin Williams and Edwin Diaz, I I think this is a phenomenal move, especially with the deferments getting it down to closer to 14 million per year. I mean, you’re essentially looking at kind of the Ryan Hley number just with another year added on, which sounds insane to say, but if Edwin Diaz is not back, and I truthfully think the Mets don’t know right now. Edwin Diaz might have an offer out there when the winter meetings start or whatever it may be that the Mets just aren’t comfortable going to, or they might be letting him kind of sit through his market right now because they think this will all work out for him to come right back into uh City Field, you know, entering the field of Timmy Trumpet. So, I I’m not going to give this some A+ right now, Joe, because I think it’s it’s far from complete, but I I like the way the contract is laid out, and I’m a big believer in a Devin Williams bounceback season. I want to make it very clear that this should not be the Edwin Diaz replacement. This should be the guy the Mets are signing to set up for Edwin Diaz. And this is something that’s been talked about for a while. When Jeff Pass put out that mega piece whatever two or three weeks ago, he wrote in there, “The Mets would like to get have Edwin Diaz and Devin Williams.” Andy Martino was on SNY Mets Hot Stove last week talking about the Mets interest in Devin Williams and said that is very real that they can have Diaz and um Devin Williams. So now the deferrals, as you mentioned, bring the money down um to just under 15 million, like 14 and change. There is nothing stopping the Mets from giving Edwin Diaz the contract that they want to give him. My perspective here is I don’t think this drastically changes how the Mets are going to look at Edwin Diaz if Edwin Diaz is going to go get five years and $110 million from somebody. I don’t think the Mets probably would have done that even if they didn’t have Devin Williams. So, I don’t think that alters necessarily their pursuit here, but it just adds a level of protection. And when it comes to the reliever market, Ryel Glaciius off the boards, Ryan Helley off the board, granted. Yeah, it moved. If Devin Williams signed with somebody else, you’re down to Robert Suarez, Pete Fairbanks, and Edwin Diaz. And if you don’t land one of those guys, meaning Suarez or Fairbanks, and Diaz gets that mega deal somewhere, then you’re left with nothing. So, the Mets have, I think, properly protected themselves. But that should in no way, shape, or form affect how aggressive they should be. And I want to see and do an emergency pod with you, Connor, where we’re talking about a Mets bullpen based around Edwin Diaz. Now Devin Williams, which is incredibly exciting, and then AJ Mter and Brooksley, and then they could build from there. That is the makings of a bullpen that’s going to take the Mets from a 2025 that worked out quite poorly to a 2026 that you could go in much more optimistically. Yeah, I’m with you all the way. This is definitely one where you want to see the full uh picture painted here. but another step in the right direction during the Mets off season in terms of being proactive, getting ahead of um the market and we’ll kind of see if they finish the job in terms of building this bullpen. So now you’ll get to hear the rest of Joe and I’s show uh where we discuss everything from the Mets clubhouse to a lot of those deals that have already happened and of course answering plenty of your mailbag questions. So here you go. What’s up everybody? Welcome to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac performance range style. Three different ways to make every driving 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 one little note here, don’t worry everybody, we’re both in casual sweatshirts. No battles over fashion on this show tonight. Just a little warning at the top. Joe, how are you? No friction here on the Mets pod. No chilly vibes. Connor, it could be couldn’t be further from chilly vibes. I recognize just in the general sense, you have more fashion than I do, but I have not once yet held against you. Not yet. And that is why you are my co-host. The offseason is quiet. We do need to find a little noise. is I mean Joe I think people are going to want our our thoughts on it no matter how much they buy into it or don’t buy into it. Francisco Lindor vers Jeff McNeel this wouldn’t be the first time things aren’t all warm and fuzzy between those two. Lindor vers stood a little bit which is more of just different kind of guys rather than it seems like actual friction here. But Joe, what do you make of this kind of stuff? Because no matter what people believe or don’t believe, right, they might think, “Oh, this is overblown or oh yes, there was a problem.” The bottom line is the Mets greatly underachieved last year and there was plenty of stretches where something just felt off with the team considering all the talent they had and David Sterns has already struck big. I’m not in any way saying Brandon NMO is responsible for any of this. But the bottom line is Brandon Nmo was a part of this core. And it did feel like a big shakeup in a sense of a guy that’s been here for a while and moving him might have surprised some people. And most importantly, Joe, it doesn’t feel like the last notable name that’ll be moved out of this team. I agree, Conor. I I don’t think NMO is the last. And when it comes to the Jeff McNeel and Francisco Lindor of it all, because I think this is two separate stories just kind of jammed into one, right? I mean, let’s be honest. I don’t think Lindor and McNeel are sending Christmas cards or holiday greeting cards to each other during uh this time of year. They had a reported supposed physical altercation a couple years ago. So, color me not surprised that if it got to the point that these guys would potentially get physical that they’re going to have more issues in the future. Uh, so that being a thing is not surprising at all. And I don’t think related to this necessarily, but just related to the way the roster is constructed. I don’t think Jeff McNeel has a high likelihood of being on the 2026 Mets. And um this whole relationship with him and Lindor, I’m sure it’s impacted the clubhouse to some degree. I’m reality is you don’t want to see your teammates arguing, fighting, whatever the case may be. And I think the time for McNeel here is probably over with the acquisition of Marcus Simeon. Sure, you could talk yourself into Jeff McNeel as the opening day left fielder until Carson Bench is ready or uh there’s people that will mention first base. To me, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. So, yeah, the whole McNeel just kind of like, okay, they don’t like each other. We know. Nothing new. Okay, it’s technically new that we didn’t know this situation happened, but Lindor and McNeel’s relationship is no secret. Yeah, that’s nothing is shocking there. And McNeel is uh he doesn’t you know he wears his emotions on his sleeve obviously at times and Lindor for the great competitor that he is you know times where hey maybe he’s the future captain of the team. There’s also been I I thought it was you know notable when Sodto was saying how loudly Marte is kind of the real leader of the team. It just feels like with Lindor and McNeel, this is not surprising to the point because we’ve already known about it. And more importantly, Joe, like this is kind of what it all comes down to. Teams are generally happy when they’re winning, right? And Wanoto did his part during last year. Nobody can Google for the rest of their lives 2025 Juan Sto and be like, “Oh man, that’s why the Mets didn’t make the playoffs.” Yeah, Jeff McNeel for a couple years now, Joe. It always feels like whether it’s a tale of two halves or one month, oh, it’s old Jeff McNeel, another month, God, Jeff McNeel can’t be starting for this team. Lindor is a notoriously streaky guy. I think at the end of the day, there’ll be so much chatter this off season about David Sterns brought this guy into the clubhouse. Marcus Simeon, there’s no denying. Everybody that’s ever been around him says nothing but great things about him and I think he will be a positive for the clubhouse. But what will be the most positive outcome for this clubhouse, Joe, is if they build a winning baseball team. And moving on from McNeel, to me, and I think you agree with this as well, is more likely than not a step to building a better baseball team than what was the 2025 Mets. You and I share the belief as much as we applaud what Brandon NMO did for this franchise, great guy, had plenty of good seasons, it felt like the best version, a couple steps towards the best version of next year’s Mets, was probably opening the spot that Brandon NMO occupied, whether that’s the long-term of Carson Bench or whether that’s a splashier move in the offseason. So, I’m not denying that any of these clubhouse problems or things aren’t warm and fuzzy between everyone. But to me, Joe, the bigger picture is just build a winning team and this is never a conversation. If the Mets made the playoffs last year, we’re probably not even having this conversation. Connor couldn’t have said it any better. I summed it up in a tweet because I didn’t want to get into the whole discourse over the weekend. I put out one thing and one thing only. I just said, “Get the good players and win. That solves everything.” That’s really what this comes down to, right? The two the 2024 Mets had potentially, if you listen to people, the best clubhouse ever basically. And part of that was that they won. The roster was not drastically different in 2025 than it was in 2024. Yes, you take out José Eglacius. And there’s no denying the impact that Eglacius had on the 2024 Mets, but what the impact he really had, it wasn’t him having an OMG concert after an Apple game on Friday night. It was he hit 340 and played every day at second base. That was the real impact. A Glacius goes to the Padres’s, hits 100 points lower. He didn’t OMG didn’t come and make the Padres’s into a deep playoff contender. They did the same thing as they always did. Um, and when you think about the Juan Sodto part, because we have to at least touch on that. Look, these are just two different guys. Lindor is more boisterous, more outgoing. He’s the one that wants to hug everybody and that’s his kind of personality. And Sodo is a little more recluse. And despite being a superstar that he is in his own right, and obviously that netted him three quarters of a billion dollars, Sodto legitimately wants to come to the park when he has to be there, do his work, get on base three or four times, maybe pop a homer, go home to his family, go to sleep, and do it all over again. He doesn’t he’s not into the whole pompson circumstance. I don’t think Juan Stoodto is even there to make great friends and that is just his personality and some people are that way and some aren’t. Let us not forget when he was signing with the Mets. Hey uh Juan, did you did you talk to any of your Yankee teammates? Oh no, no, they they they didn’t even have his phone number. Like and at the time us Met fans were like, haha, Juan Sodto didn’t actually like anybody on the Yankees. He didn’t even give his dog number. What do you mean? Yeah. And he just picked the Mets. He wanted nothing to do with the Yankees. Maybe that’s just who Juan Sto is. He’s not there to make friends. He’s there to win baseball games. And when you’re building a clubhouse of 26 individuals, you kind of need those differing personalities where this person does this, this person does this. In an ideal world, Juan Sto and Francisco Lindor, your two highest paid players, your two best players. Like, ideally, they’re the best of friends, but I I don’t get the vibe that there’s like Wanoto dislikes Lindor. I just think they’re different and they kind of respect each other’s point of view. And hey, they’re going to be together for a long time. So, there’s also the very real chance that the relationship will get better over time. Well, Joe, you just you just summed up the differences perfectly between these two uh you know, riffs or whatever we want to call it. Jeff McNeel isn’t a good enough player anymore where it is worth keeping him and Francisco Lindor on the infield together anymore. That’s the reality. And they do technically work together with the way they play or they need to work together. Wanoto besides throwing the ball in from the outfield is not standing and communicating non-stop with Francisco Lindor on the dirt and Wanoto is one of the best players in the sport and Francisco Lindor is still a damn good shortstop and if once again if the team wins you’ll never even notice anything between those two. But McNeel not contributing enough to winning anymore. And you compare obviously look at Lindor who’s the more productive player. But also look at the contract situation like there’s a button you could press, right? I always say this especially in football a lot of times it happens with coaches and quarterbacks. With quarterback contracts, the coach is the button you could usually press to fire someone. Unfortunately for Jeff McNeel right now, or maybe fortunately, maybe he wants a fresh start somewhere with how manageable his money is and the fact that he’s just not a good enough player that you feel like you need to keep around anymore. Joe, he’s the button that they could press on this team just even to a lesser degree than NMO because while NMO wasn’t a good enough offensive and defensive threat anymore that you felt like you had to keep him, NMO had the crazier contract to move and they found a way to get that one done. So, what makes you think that they won’t do that with Jeff McNeel? It’s not going to be crazy difficult to move McNeel. I don’t think I don’t think you’re g I don’t think you’re gonna get a ton for him, but it’s one year one year and 15 million bucks. And you know what? Maybe David Sterns is creative. I just want to bring up John Haymon wrote I think it was over the weekend, but you know, Thanksgiving and this time of year just all the days bungled together. He mentioned the Mariners and the Pirates as a couple teams that could be interested in McNeel. That just got my brain a churning. Like maybe the Mets trade Jeff McNeel and a couple prospects to the Pirates and they bring in Mitch Keller, a guy to come and pitch and stabilize like the middle of the rotation. Um Mariners, like I don’t think they’re going to trade any of their starters for a deal based around McNeel. But I don’t think the Mets are going to struggle to move McNeel. To your point, moving Brandon NMO was a much taller task and and he found a way to do it. Granted, that that might have been the only deal in which he was going to be able to move NMO, and that’s why it got done as early as it did because it it was that or nothing. McNeel, I think there’ll at least be a couple suitors out there that have interest. The reality is some of these teams, like I know we talk about McNeel not necessarily being good enough, and I think he’s not good enough for where the Mets want to be, but he’s an everyday Major League Baseball player. So there are teams that are in a different position than the Mets that probably are like, “All right, we’ll we’ll take on McNeel. He had a over 800 ops for most of the year until he started to deal, I guess, with everything that came with the thoracic outlet syndrome that uh he he had to deal with. That’s seemingly not going to impact him for next year. But yeah, McNeel, there’s going to be a little bit of a market and and we’ll see kind of how that transpires. And the fun part, Connor, is we’re less than a week till the winter meetings. Uh this is when these next week, two weeks into three weeks, like right before Christmas is really going to be the hot bed of the winter where I think you’re going to see a ton of activity. Well, let’s go around the league, not just to kind of recap what’s happened, but there’s a trickle effect here, Joe, probably with the Mets business workings as well. Dylan CE is the big move so far. or the Blue Jays gave him a 7-year, $210 million deal to really fortify their rotation. One, Joe, were you surprised by this number? Um, and two, I mean, I’ll just say it. I I think it’s it’s great to see Toronto aggressive after they were so close to winning the World Series that they’re going out there and saying, we look at Cece as a guy that makes his starts. We believe in some positive progression going forward because of all the underlying numbers and getting out in front of free agency in a way that not many teams do. I was surprised it went to seven years. The length is more surprising. Yeah, surprising that he got that term, but he’s not an old guy. He’s shown to be reliable with innings and strikeouts. The $30 million a year, okay, like I could see it. He’s either the first or second best starting pitcher on the market. And starting pitching on the free agent market gets paid. That’s just how it works. And as you said, Toronto putting the pedal to the floor. Good for them. They make the World Series kind of unexpectedly. That’s not the time to sit back and say, “H, okay, that was a good run. We overachieved.” Like, no, no, now you now you go for it. And so, good for them. Would I have wanted the Mets necessarily to give a seven-year $210 million contract to Dylan CE? No, probably not. Uh, but look, this is the test here of just the way pitching is evaluated now versus a few years ago even. You don’t have to go all that far back. The guy that posted an RA over four and a half got seven years and 210 million because they look and they go reliable for innings, check. Mrs. Bats, check. Under the hood, everything seems good. I don’t care what his ERA was. We’re gonna make him better. That’s what these modern-day pitching coaches and pitching apparatuses for organizations think that they can do. And CE is going to a really good organization in Toronto. And it puts pressure on other teams in the American League East because this isn’t the first move that Toronto is going to make. Uh, and then on the Mets side takes a top free agent off the board. if the Mets want to play in free agency because there is some question at least who’s actually available in the trade market. It’s sounding less and less likely that trick school is going to be available. Freddy Peralta might not be available. And as these names trickle off, at what point, Connor, as the Mets, are you like, the best move might be to look at from Bervaldez or the best move might be to look at Michael King or somebody in free agency where it’s we need to get a real upgrade in this rotation one way or another. And if it’s not there in the trade market, you can’t just say, well, there wasn’t an ace, so we did nothing. We did nothing, right? Yeah. They still have to make a significant ad. And uh Valdez, I think, is a very interesting case that uh maybe we could have an extended talk about at at some point, but I think he’s somebody that the Mets do have interest in. And with the most recent acquisition of Marcus Semian, I think that makes Valdez even more of a fit as the extreme ground ball pitcher that he is. All right, we have plenty of pitching news and this one actually has to do with somebody currently on the Mets roster, Kodi Sanga. Uh this is per Will Sammon, friend of the show, does a great job covering the team for the athletic. Kodieno recently informed the Mets that he preferred to stay with the team as opposed to being traded somewhere else. Will also said after experiencing injury, poor performance, and a demotion last season. Sanga is said to want to reestablish himself as a top starter in the Mets rotation. Sanga, who made just one start last year because of injuries, feels an obligation to the organization and its fans. Nevertheless, he also understands the business. So, a lot to break down here and we’ll got into more of it. Sena has a a limited trade clause, Joe. He could block a trade to 10 teams, which trust me, that means the Mets can find a team willing to take on Kodi Sena because there’s just not enough to diminish his market and he’s very affordable. I think Joe, it’s nice to hear. It’s nice that SA feels that way. I think the reality is with the Mets here with David Sterns, if he ran this back and it went how it went this year, it would feel a little bit of like fool me once, you know, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. that and I think Mets fans have been really harsh on David Sterns because how the pitching failed them this year, but I think there’d be even less sympathy if you went into this year and say Sanga makes eight starts or makes 10 starts. And I I just think Joe that the Mets are going to value not only a higher ceiling in their rotation, but something that gives you a higher ceiling is availability. And I think that makes Singa the obvious guy out. I really think Connor that the Mets actually want to target a higher floor because and when you’re talking higher ceiling. That’s a really good point. Yeah, it’s hard it’s hard to get a higher ceiling than Kodi Sena. We need to not forget before he went down with that hamstring injury. His erra was like one and a half in that and it wasn’t one and a half for a couple weeks. It was one and a half for a couple months. No, you’re absolutely right. So, so Sanga has sky-high upside which I think adds a layer of complication to this. It’s two years and$28 million. Dylan Cece just signed for seven and 210. You’re talking about $30 million a year for someone like Framber Valdez or Michael King is going to get 25 plus. You’re talking about the these pitchers that are going to be available in free agency. They’re going to double what Kodi Sena’s entire commitment is over the next two years. That to me says if you’re David Sterns, this isn’t a Kodai Sena’s gotta go move. This is a this should be a valuable trade commodity. When we talk about when we talk about the Mets trading for guys, we talk about Sandy Alcantra and the Mets, oh, they take the risk and so what? Give up Brandon Sprrod and Jet Williams and and so on, but Kodi Sena, the expectation is that the Mets are just ridding themselves of him. That can’t be the outcome. So, I know David Sterns knows that and they need to extract some value here. And to your point, I think big picture, there was just so much that goes into Kodi Sanga that I wonder if the Mets just they’re just I I wonder if they’re done. The extra days, the meticulous with the mechanics, like he just he’ll just shut everything down. There’s a whole lot that goes into it. But I I I appreciate that Kodai wants to stay a Met. I love watching Kodi Sena pitch when he’s good and and healthy, but the Mets might be in a situation where the best move for the organization. This is not a Kodi Sena is bad conversation. It’s a we need to change the outlook of this rotation and we will get upside somewhere else and we will maybe replace Kodiena with a higher floor guy. The Mets need reliable innings. And if there’s one thing you cannot rely on Kodi Sena for, it is innings. And David Stern said as such in his postseason presser, he basically said, “Yeah, we’d be foolish if we thought we were getting 30 starts out of Sanga.” So, right. Yeah, this this feels like a tough outcome, but I want to I want to just make it abundantly clear that this should not be looked at as a he’s just got to go get what you can for him situation. No, I think you nailed it. And I’ll correct myself. I said last year, obviously in 2024 that he made one start. He made 22 starts last year was just the fashion that he did it in where you’re right, Joe. It’s And when you’re watch like keeping up when Mets fans are obsessed, so I know most of them are like this. When you’re keeping up with the day by day of this team, everything feels like extra labor with Sena. Oh, we have to schedule the rotation like this. Ah, he doesn’t feel right right now, but we don’t know why he doesn’t feel right right now. And he’s not effective right now, but we know when he’s at his best. I mean, this guy has one of the best pitches in baseball. He could be untouchable. But yes, I I agree with you, Joe, that it just feels like one that he is actually a valuable movable asset, and two, it’s another one where it’s like a lot of teams around baseball think Brandon NMO will help them, think Jeff McNeel will help them, think Kodi Sango will help them. and they might be right, but the Mets have tried with all of those guys. And there’s been a lot of moments where it was working, but they’ve come up short for a various reasons. And with Sena, it is absolutely health and availability and durability um related. And it’s, correct me if I’m wrong here, Joe, but because I think the argument from some people might be, well, if you feel that way, why don’t you go into the year with him more as a back-end guy than relying on him as a front-end guy? But isn’t it kind of hard to build the rotation a certain way with or without him? Like you need to know, we either have Sanga in it and we’re setting up the rest days like this until he gets inevitably hurt and now we need to fill the rotation differently. It just feels like a lot to make work. And yes, the ceiling might be worth it in some ways, but it’s probably something that they talked themselves into last year and once again it kind of blew up in their face a little bit. It’s difficult to manage a rotation when you have someone that requires that extra day and it’s nonnegotiable really like a guy like Yosha Yamamoto prefers to pitch on the extra day of rest but get to the playoffs and he’ll pitch tomorrow after pitching today. It’s just different personalities and different ways of going about it. It’s not a a diss at Sanga. And also, if you’re the Mets, if you want to make two additions, and Will Salmon has reported this as well, if the Mets want to make two additions to the rotation, somebody needs to exit the rotation. They aren’t getting rid of Klay Holmes. They aren’t getting rid of Shawn Maniah. Uh NLAN is a part of this rotation. Maybe you talk yourself into trading David Peterson instead of Sanga if if you really don’t get anything any good for Sanga. But I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a team out there that’s going to see he pitched to a one and a half erra for the first couple months of the season, got hurt, came back, and it wasn’t great. That I can’t make that work. That’s that’s what these teams think. So, yeah, I think it it’s it’s a lot to deal with from the Mets standpoint as far as maneuvering a rotation and maneuvering a pitching schedule with Sanga. and it might just be time to let that be somebody else’s problem. All right, another uh actual move much like Cease, although in a different light. We got some news on the reliever market. Goodbye to Ryan Helley. He signed a two-year deal that did include a player opt out with the Orioles. Um this was a two-year $28 million deal. So Helley Joe, who just never found it with the Mets after having such a great year with the Cardinals, ends up getting not a ton of term, but still big money on the market early. Good for him. I mean, Ryan Helley, I don’t have any ill will towards him. I know it worked out poorly, but you know, this is a guy that showed up and worked and tried to figure out the issues with the pitch tipping and everything that was going on. And the sad part is we forget about it because just the end of the season went so poorly. It seemed like he was finally starting to come out of it. His last like three, four, five outings, he started to string together and look a little more like Ryan Hley. The unfortunate reality was it was too little too late. Too late. And frankly, he personally blew too many games that didn’t, you know, help help the Mets cause. And that’s one of those things that when you go to the trade deadline and you want your general manager or president of baseball operations to make a big swing, trading for Ryan Helley was a big swing. And I know that it didn’t work out. And a lot of people think that David Sterns was trying to like outsmart the world. That was him just being a standard guy trying to get the best possible reliever that he could and it didn’t pan out. And now Helsley gets to go to Baltimore, which is a young team with potential. And uh it sounds like he’s going to get the opportunity to close there. So maybe it maybe it’s a more maybe it’s a more comfortable spot for him. And maybe New York just wasn’t the right fit. And sometimes you don’t know if New York is the right fit until somebody comes and gives it a shot. So good for Ryan Hellley. Wish him the best. Wish it worked out better in the second half for the Mets, but but here we are. And good for him. Yeah, I’m with you as well. It just kind of shows though the reliever market always strong for guys that have closed games with a high level of success before, even if they’re coming off a little bit of a slump. Uh, our last bit of actual MLB news, and this feels a little old by now, but there’s a trickle effect that’s that’s current. Trent Gisham accepted the qualifying offer. I personally think the Yankees were surprised by this, Joe. Um, I think they were hoping for the draft picks and instead they get Trent Gisham for about $22 million a year. instead coming off of a career year, especially in the power department. Do you think this means anything for Cody Bellinger? We know the Yankees are going to do what they can to bring him back, especially with how important Bellinger is to that team, defensive versatility. He’s got pop. He hit well in that ballpark. But it is fascinating. The Yankees, as we’ve seen before, Joe, are not this unlimited kind of spending team. They do have limits. And that’s a pretty fat number for Gisham to take up in part of their outfield. Again, almost the opposite of a team without limits. Their owner talks about wanting to lower payroll has it’s unfair to other teams competing. Mentioning quote mentioning a salary cap just I don’t know blows my mind. But this isn’t the Yankees pod. That’s for that’s for somebody else to talk about. Have fun with that combo. What this means, Connor, for the Cody Bellinger is it’s no guarantee that he’s back with the Yankees. And they have Aaron Judge obviously in a corner and Trent Gisham at $22 million. Like it or not, he’s probably the Yankees opening day center fielder. That leaves one outfield spot. And they have young players like Jason Dominguez. They have young players like Spencer Jones that ideally you’d like to give opportunities to. And maybe they just have to wait another year. and the Mets, uh, not the Mets, the Yankees signed Bellinger. But I think this opens it up for the Mets if they have interest. And I personally am not on the Cody Bellinger train. It to me, the the splits are scary. The home road splits. I agree with the splits, man. It’s very eye opening. And for those listen, you know, that aren’t aware, Joe, it’s just been, you know, he he’s not a product of Yankee Stadium. That’s not fair to Bellinger, but he’s a starish player with the Yankees. Yeah, he’s a star at Yankee Stadium and he’s just like pretty good as as a player away from there. And I’m sure if you just took him out of Yankee Stadium full-time, his full-time numbers wouldn’t equate to just what the road splits are. It would probably be a little bit better. But I also look at it too, Connor, you just found your way out of five years of Brandon NMO. is the is the prudent move just to go jump in and say here’s six years of Cody Bellinger or seven what whatever it takes to me that feels like not the right way necessarily to go about it. Uh but I think Bellinger is now an open case to anybody and maybe the Mets are more interested than I am and they see the value of his versatility and maybe he’s a backup option for first base for them if Pete Alonzo is not to work out. Maybe they look at Bellinger more as a first baseman that can play the outfield rather than a straight up, hey, Brandon Nmo’s gone. We need a left fielder. Cody Bellinger’s a left fielder. Boom, done. Like, I don’t think that’s how they’re going to look at it. But it opens up Bellinger’s market to the Mets to uh maybe even going back to the Dodgers. Like, it’s it opens it up and the Yankees now have some pressure on them to to make decisions. All right, let’s hit the mailbag for our Down on the Farm as we always do. This week, Down on the Farm is presented by Bingmpington University, the best public university in the Northeast. All right, this one is from Kimble the Nimble on YouTube. Who is in the miners that can be regular relief contributors to the pen? Connor, there’s currently not a ton of serious relief prospects. I would say we talked about Dylan Ross, I believe, a couple weeks ago on this show, but he he he’s a guy that got called up to the Mets last couple days of the season. Didn’t pitch, collected dust on the bench, hung out, got a good paycheck for a couple days, too. So, good for Dylan Ross. And he’s certainly going to be in competition for a spot in the opening day bullpen. And it’s a splitter in the low 90s. It’s a fast ball that’ll touch triple digits. Got to iron out some control and command, but he has a chance to be impactful. Uh, you want to look at Ryan Lambert who pitched with DoubleA Bingmpington and we told the story during the spring breakout game about how he just used to just eat like 30 raw eggs and or drink 30 raw eggs and that would just help him bulk up and that’s how he learned to throw 100 miles an hour and he is your prototypical power right-hander. throws a fast ball 97 to 99 touch 100 wipe out hard gyro slider and that’s it. Another guy got to work on the control a little bit. Got to work on the command but another option and the last one to throw in for fun. Nate Lavender returned to the Mets organization after the whole rule five uh fiasco with with the Rays where he was gone. But now Nate Lavender is back. He’ll be in TripleA Syracuse, not on the 40man roster. Uh but as you go through 162 games and use somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 pitchers a year, I think there’s a very real chance that you will see Nate Lavender uh throw a pitch for the Mets this year. You’re listening to the Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac. Subscribe to the Metspod at Apple Podcast, Spotify, SMY’s YouTube channel, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, Joe, let’s get into the full mailbag here. How about a little Tatsuya Emi double header? Brian Midi asked on Twitter, “Will the Mets be in on Emi?” And does the fact that he wants to be the only Japanese player on the team make things harder since Sanga is still here? Well, I think you got the answer to the second part already because Joe and I don’t think Sango will be here. Uh Calidor though also asked on Twitter, “Are the Mets serious in pursuing EI or is it more of only if the price is right or the offseason unfolds in a certain way? Does he have legitimate upside in the MLB with the proper developmental help? Well, Joe, let’s start with the even though I kind of said like we don’t think Sang Sang will be here. I know he spoke out about kind of wanting to take on the Dodgers, which was really cool. This guy has, as the kids would say, some aura. He’s got some sick long hair. He’s very confident. He’s coming over to the States with with, you know, his eyes set on taking down the Dodgers. I I hadn’t seen that he it’s because he wants to be the only Japanese player on the team. That could be out there. Um to be fair, what did you think about that? I didn’t see like him clearly stating that, but he said he wanted to be able to like tackle learning America on his own. So, I don’t know if that means lone wolf like you know what and I look at Tatsuya and I watched the way he pitches. I watched the way he looks. I suspect this guy has great fashion. So, he’s gonna Here’s my prediction. him and him and Wanoto are going to be best friends on the Mets. Best friends. Yeah, there’s something there’s something lining up here. They’re gonna they’re gonna be like peanut butter and jelly or something like that. There you go. But what I will say uh is I’m not so concerned about the uh having another Japanese player. And the reality here too, Connor, is Jeff Passen from ESPN did a thing on Threads, which I didn’t know people actually used Threads, but he went on Threads and put 10 updates. I think a threads exclusive, like a Threads exclusive, just 10 different updates. Like had to pay for this. There’s no way. Here’s the people in the mix for Kyle Schwarber. And here’s the Who was it? Nobody saw this except you. Literally the Mets the Mets were on the list. The Phillies are considered a favorite, but the Mets are on the list. Uh the Mets were mentioned with Kyle Tucker as well, though it was just like one of the New York teams is how he mentioned classic Steve Cohen Mets. You’re in on every free agent. Every single one. But what stuck out about what he said about Emi is he said executives believe while his posting deadline is January 2nd, Emi might sign during the winter meetings next week. So, if Emi is gonna because the whole posting system, you have 45 days to decide if you’re who you’re signing with. You’re by no means required to take 45 days. So, if Emma’s signing next week, Kodi Sena might still be a Met next week. Doesn’t mean he’s a Met in 2026, but he might be one next week. So, good point. That could be a part of the conversation. And then um to the second question, I think the Mets are seriously interested in EI. Do I think they are going to be the team that is the highest bidder? I’m not so sure about that. You’re talking about upwards of a seven to eight year commitment. Granted, he’s 27, so maybe there’s a little more openness there, right? And far as legitimate upside, he’s got the raw stuff that if you are a modernday pitching factory like the Mets are building themselves to be, there’s no reason why you can’t help him turn into something more than what I have been told and others have mentioned. Projects kind of like a number three starter, but he has a fast ball that’ll touch 99. He’s got like the backwards slider like just goes arm side kind of like Trey Yavage has. He’s tinkered with a a splitter and a Vulcan change. So there’s some things to to work with with Emi. And does he have potential to be a frontline guy? Sure. I I He’s 27. There’s room to grow. Uh maybe not physically. He’s not not the most physically daunting individual, but from a stuff standpoint, uh you can really refine some things and and maybe get even more out of him than you would expect coming over from Japan. How about this one? Thank you for the five star review. Oliver Perez was underrated is the username. We like that. Thank you for the five star review. Yeah. Yeah. Keep keep fighting. Good fight. Someone’s got to Yeah, that’s right. And it’s it’s you. But now the bet spot has your back. had a bit of a wild idea, but did want to litigate it with you guys. Know you’ve discussed signing and moving Pete to more games at DH. What are the chances of the Mets making Juan Sodto more of a permanent DH? His defensive metrics are equally as bad as Pete and we could pursue a more defensive-minded first base, Hoskins, O’Harn, and Santana, and pair that person with a bonafide corner outfielder. Dare I say Kyle Tucker, or more realistically, Cody Bellinger. So, Joe, number one, this isn’t wild. Although I’m not calling this egregious or anything at all. I just think the Mets want to squeeze maybe at least five of the 15 years out of Sodto in right field and they already got one down. And I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t think it was that bad. Honestly, I I really didn’t I didn’t find myself like there goes Sodto in right field again. Like can’t believe how much this is costing us. I think if the Mets were a more buttoned up team defensively at the other positions, you would be like, “Hey, you got to live with it somewhere.” And it’s just good to have it’s good to not have DH clogged yet. It just feels early. Yeah. Yeah. I think I think Sodto from a defensive standpoint like range lack leave some to be desired. you would like to see more range in right field and there are times where and maybe it’s him preserving himself a little bit. If he doesn’t think he’s going to get to something, he ain’t running as hard as he can after it. He’s just letting it go and he’ll take it off the wall and and that’ll be that. But as far as being a full-time DH right now, David Sterns has made it more than clear he is going to be the right fielder. And when you have a player that performs offensively the way that he does, you can sacrifice one spot from run prevention as long as you tailor it with a good center fielder next to him and hopefully a good left fielder next to that individual that the center fielder could shade a little bit towards right and that’ll help negate some of the range issues with Sodto because otherwise he’s got a great arm like Wanoto great arm will throw out runners. So, it’s not that he’s like defensively incompetent. It’s just doesn’t have the most range and he’s not going to necessarily sprint after every single ball. I do think eventually DH is probably in Janu’s future or heck, maybe even first base like he likes to play around there. But in the year 2026, which is I think where we really need to hone in our focus, Juan Sto is going to be the Mets right fielder. David Stern said it point blank. So, I don’t expect anything to change there. As far as the names like Kyle Tucker and Bellinger who we just talked about, if the Mets want to pursue those guys, there’s no reason that they can’t just be the left fielder and Juan Sto is the right fielder. So that they’ll be able to make those pieces work if that’s what they choose to do. And Sodto is just so just going to be standing right in front of that Coca-Cola corner for like you said at least a couple more years. All right, this one from William J. Maza. Do you think Sterns would be willing to go four years for 88 million for Diaz, which is one year less than what has been reported he’s looking for, but at a higher AAV? I don’t think the Mets are going to let Diaz walk. I think they’ve just played more hard ball than we expected where, you know, the Mets last time got this done with Diaz before free agency even began. And this time it didn’t happen because I think Sterns is a little bit of a tougher negotiator with markets that he’s careful with, which relief pitching is absolutely one of those markets, Joe, where maybe they don’t believe five years is out there for Diaz like Diaz wants. And it might not make you feel good as a fan because you’re you’re you don’t want to imagine a Mets life without Edwin Diaz closing games for you right now. But if the if this results in the Mets having Diaz on a four-year deal instead of having to give into the five-year deal, it’s pretty shrewd, Joe. As much as we love Edwin Diaz, and you know, we don’t want to see him go anywhere, that’s kind of the power the Mets have, and we say this almost on every show, but when you have Steve Cohen, if a player wants to be with your organization, and Edwin Diaz wants to be with the Mets, we know that you kind of hold that last move in your pocket in negotiations like these where, oh man, we got to the winter meetings and the Blue Jays, although they just gave Dylan CE a ton of money, decided to go to the five years, we got to go to five years, but you found out. You didn’t just go here’s the five years. Like you you’re it’s called negotiating against yourself. And no, it doesn’t feel good with a player that’s beloved, right? Like Edwin Diaz. But it might not feel good now. Four years from now, you might be like, “Ah, you know what? Kind of glad we don’t have a fifth year of Edwin Diaz in his late 30s at 24 million or whatever it is.” The thing about David Sterns and what he’s showing and the evidence was just the way he shipped Brandon NMO out of town, right? He is he is not going to be sentimental towards anyone. I I know that everyone’s there’s a lot of people that say, “Oh, David Sterns will never pay a reliever a long-term big money deal.” I think he realizes the value of Edwin Diaz. Does that mean to your to your point maybe he’s not going to give him the 5year and $12 million deal that he wants and guess what there might be a chance that no one else does. So you have yeah he has to be able to survey the market and to be honest with you the question from William here that sounds like a perfect contract to me. I think that’s something that would work for both parties where Edwin Diaz becomes clearly the highest paid reliever in baseball on an AAV standpoint. The Mets save a year and you know what, maybe you throw like a vesting option or something like that for a fifth year that kind of helps bridge that gap and I’m hopeful that this is going to work out. I I personally would be surprised if we got a Andy Martino tweet or a Jeff passen bomb that said breaking news. Edwin Diaz signed with blank team that’s not the Mets. And uh I’m hopeful it it resolves itself sooner than later because I’m antsy like a lot of fans are. But it’s David Sterns’s job to just survey the market, know what to do, and as long as the Mets bring Edwin Diaz back, I’m not going to be the one coming on this show complaining about the contract that he gets. That’s it for me as well. I want Edwin Diaz back. I’ll be the first one on this podcast if they lose him to be like, “Wow, I this is one of the first moments that I I question David Sterns and even lose a little bit of trust in David Sterns because I don’t think the Mets should get too cute here. But I also have no problem with them letting Diaz go see what his market is and then revisiting what his next contract will look like.” All right, our last question is from Cliff atrealenytams on Twitter. Is Luis Anel Akunia a viable centerfield option if Benj doesn’t start the season with the Mets? Or are the Mets playing Akunia in center field in winter ball just to build his trade value? So I mean it feels like more of not even just trade value, Joe, but the fact that we could sit here on this podcast and feel like it’s hard to project Luis Han Helakuna as an everyday major league player. It is. And when teams aren’t projecting you that way, you need to do everything you can to warrant a roster spot. And you know how you do that? More often than not, you either are a your best bat off the bench, and we know he’s not that, or you are a plus glove at multiple spots with high-end athleticism. And he’s definitely a plus glove on the dirt. He’s definitely got high-end athleticism. So, if he can add viable center fielder to his resume, Joe, it only helps his major league career. But I don’t think it’s in the vein of the mold of this is somebody that they think is the long-term answer or even a stop gap at center field on opening day. No, I I don’t think the Mets are looking at Luis Anelkun as a starting player anywhere. I think this just increases his overall value and if that helps in the right trade, it helps in the right trade. If not, we’re talking about trading Jeff McNeel, who theoretically would be a utility player on this Mets roster as currently constructed. Luis Anon Helakunia could fill that role for significantly less dollars and we know he could play all over the infield as you mentioned. And center field is not foreign to him. He got in a couple games in center field in major leagues this past year and he’s played it in the minor leagues. So go ahead and get more center field reps, get more comfortable, and maybe that transitions where, oh, he could handle center field. Okay, let’s see if he can handle a little bit of left field, and then he becomes that super sub that you can put anywhere on any given day for any given need, whether that’s in-game, starting a game. Um, so I I I just look at this as Akunia is trending in the direction of being a reserve utility player and the Mets are working to increase his value and you know we’ll see how it how it shakes out whether that is with the Mets or with another team but it only it only helps as you said Luis on Helakunia for his major league career and uh I I think that’s overall a good thing. Yeah, that’s that’s the best way to look at it right now. And I mean, listen, the reality is though, if you are him and you know, athletes operate a different way than us just on podcast projecting players and even how their own teams project them. Like, Akuna’s got to be going into the spring and being like, I need to do give myself every competitive advantage I can to stick on an MLB roster right now. And that would be, as we sit here before any moves have been made, center field is absolutely one of those avenues for the Mets right now. So, all right, Joe. I feel like I do this every offseason podcast, but do you think next week we will be reacting to any Mets moves? I think so, Connor. I think so. I actually It’s in the air right now. I think so, too. Maybe nothing crazy, but something major league rosterish. The week before the winter meetings actually tends to have some activity. Maybe not, as you said, on the top level of the market. Like, I don’t think Kyle Tucker is signing somewhere this week, but I think there can be some movement before the meetings. And one week from today, we’re going to be smack dab in the middle of the winter meetings. And that is that’s the time where uh you better keep your phone on not silent, Connor, because the the emergency signal might could go off at quite literally any time. And we have to be ready for it. So I do predict the next time that you hear our voices, it is because the Mets may have just made a move. I hope so. Those are always the best podcast. 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. Remember to subscribe to the show at Apple Podcast, Spotify, 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 the show on SMY’s YouTube channel. Become a subscriber over there as well. We’ll talk to all of you next week.

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo react to the news that the Mets agreed to a deal with reliever Devin Williams, while delivering a full preview of next week’s MLB Winter Meetings. First up, the guys look at the deal for Devin, including what it means for the Mets and the future of Edwin Diaz. Later, Connor and Joe dive into stories of friction in the Mets clubhouse, explore trade scenarios surrounding Kodai Senga, break down deals for Dylan Cease and Ryan Helsley, and go Down on the Farm in search of more relief help. The show wraps up with a Mailbag featuring questions about Tatsuya Imai, Juan Soto as DH, Luisangel Acuna, and more. 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!
00:45 Initial reaction to the Devin Williams signing, and what’s next for Edwin Diaz?
08:15 Francisco Lindor vs Jeff McNeil and vs Juan Soto
20:25 The Dylan Cease deal and the starers market
23:40 Will Kodai Senga stay or go?
31:40 The Ryan Helsley deal and the reliever market
33:55 Trent Grisham takes QO, what now for Cody Bellinger?
37:20 Down on the Farm presented by Binghamton University
37:30 Down on the Farm/Mailbag – relievers up from the farm?
39:30 Mailbag; Tatsuya Imai doubleheader of questions
44:10 Mailbag: Juan Soto at DH?
47:10 Mailbag: Offers for Edwin Diaz
51:10 Mailbag: Luisangel Acuna an option in CF?

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!

About The Mets Pod: Subscribe below to The Mets Pod to hear Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo talk New York Mets all year long!

Apple: https://on.sny.tv/Fjog278
Spotify: https://on.sny.tv/mox84ql

Watch More: https://on.sny.tv/ATEbSKX
Subscribe to get the latest from SNY here: https://on.sny.tv/S5RYeWN

About SNY:
SNY is the official television home of the New York Mets, Jets and all things New York sports. SNY features unparalleled, exclusive access to the New York Mets with more than 130 live telecasts each season as well as other Emmy Award winning Mets entertainment programming. As the official TV home of the New York Jets, SNY delivers more than 300 hours of exclusive year-round content devoted to Gang Green.

SNY is an award winning, multiplatform regional sports network serving millions across the country through unparalleled coverage of all things New York sports.

SNY delivers the most comprehensive access to all of the Tri-State area’s professional and collegiate sports teams through nightly sports and entertainment programs.

SNY.tv is the “go-to” digital communal home for New York sports fans to get succinct, easy-to-read updates, video highlights and features, recaps, news, opinion, rumors, insight and fan reaction on their favorite New York sports teams.

As New York’s leader in local sports TV coverage, SNY delivers the most comprehensive access to all of the Tri-State area’s professional and collegiate sports teams through five nightly sports and entertainment programs from SNY’s studios at 4 World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. SNY’s programming roster also includes classic sports programming, critically acclaimed original entertainment shows, and exclusive interview and magazine programs.

Check out more from SNY at https://sny.tv
Like SNY on Facebook: https://on.sny.tv/rBYAHLi
Follow SNY on Twitter: https://on.sny.tv/nOn1uq1
Follow SNY on Instagram: https://on.sny.tv/lEArPVp

SNY.tv: The Online Home of All Things New York Sports.

#SNY