The New York Mets will go into 2026 without their star first baseman and closer after both signed free agent deals with other teams.

Star slugger Pete Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles and star closer Edwin Diaz signed a three-year, $69 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers to become the highest annually paid relief pitcher in Major League Baseball history.

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Those are massive losses for a team that struggled mightily down the stretch in 2025 and ultimately missed playoffs. Losing Alonso hurts the offense tremendously, but New York has stressed run prevention as their offseason goal and Alonso’s defensive prowess is low. It made sense why the Mets didn’t throw the bag at Alonso like the Orioles did even if it’s going to hurt the team elsewhere.

One could argue that the offense will be fine without Alonso, but the pitching staff will really miss Diaz and his contributions as the team’s closer over the last five years.

Diaz spoke about why he chose to sign with Los Angeles, and he didn’t sugarcoat it.

“It wasn’t easy,” Diaz said of leaving the Mets at his introductory press conference. “I spent seven years in New York. They treated me really good. They treated me great. I chose the Dodgers because they are a winning organization. I’m looking to win, and I think they have everything to win. Picking the Dodgers was pretty easy.”

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That will leave a mark, for sure. But is Diaz wrong? The Dodgers are a winning organization and the Mets aren’t. Throw in the fact that the Dodgers were willing to make Diaz the highest annually paid reliever of all time, it’s no shock that Diaz signed with the back-to-back World Series champions.

“The 2025 Dodgers became the first team in a quarter century to repeat as champions despite fielding a problematic bullpen,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez wrote Friday. “Their relievers combined to post a 4.27 ERA and blow 27 saves, tied for 23rd most in the major leagues.”

Gonzalez noted that if it weren’t for a slew of starters transitioning to the bullpen, like Roki Sasaki, the team may not be the 2025 World Series champs. The addition of Diaz should improve LA’s bullpen tremendously.

“Diaz alone can help to alleviate that. His 235 saves since 2017 are the third most in the majors, even though he missed the entire 2023 season because of a knee injury sustained during the World Baseball Classic,” wrote Gonzalez. “This past season was one of his best. In 62 appearances, Diaz posted a 1.63 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP, striking out 98 batters and issuing 21 walks in 66⅓ innings. He made his third All-Star team, converted 28 of his 31 save chances, and now he’ll give the Dodgers their first star closer since Kenley Jansen departed after the 2021 season.”

The Mets signed Diaz’s replacement, Devin Williams, before he signed with the Dodgers. Expect the Mets to continue pursuing pitching this offseason to strengthen their staff moving forward.