Have Ronald Acuña Jr.’s Braves closed the gap between them and the Mets — or Phillies? (Madeline Ressler/Phillies Nation)
The Phillies’ offseason has picked up in the last week or so, with the Kyle Schwarber re-signing starting a predictable flurry of activity now that Dave Dombrowski and co. have answered the biggest question they faced upon their postseason elimination.
It pales in comparison to the whirlwind that has been the Mets’ winter.
Here’s a quick snapshot of how things have played out in Queens over the last month: They traded a 10-year fixture in Brandon Nimmo to Texas for Marcus Semien, still MLB’s biggest stunner since Game 7 of the World Series. They signed Devin Williams to a three-year, $51 million deal. They watched their franchise home run leader in Pete Alonso sign with the Orioles, then the No. 3 on their all-time saves leaderboard in Edwin Díaz sign with the reigning back-to-back champion Dodgers. They gave Jorge Polanco what many in the industry perceived as a surprisingly high $40 million deal for two years. Tyler Rogers signed with the Blue Jays. And, just Tuesday, the Mets doled out $22 million for two years (the same deal Brad Keller got from the Phillies) to Luke Weaver, the second reliever they’ve lured across town from the Yankees this offseason.
Got all that? It could be just the beginning. In sum, those moves — essentially exchanging Nimmo, Díaz and Alonso for Semien, Williams, Polanco and Weaver — add up to just a slight uptick in 2026 money owed, and the Mets aren’t ones to cut corners on payroll anyway. Kyle Tucker is still out there, and if you had to pinpoint a landing spot now, it’s hard to argue the Mets are a crazy choice.
At the same time, as things stand, it’s hard to argue they’ve gotten better this offseason, judging on those main moves alone. Is the lineup better now with Semien and Polanco replacing Nimmo and Alonso? Do Williams and Weaver outweigh the departures of Díaz and Rogers? Unlikely and unlikely.
Seven games below the Mets in last year’s NL East, the Braves have been active themselves, if less flashy: trading for Mauricio Dubón, signing Mike Yastrzemski, re-signing Ha-Seong Kim (another surprising $20 million deal), re-signing Raisel Iglesias and, the headliner, adding Robert Suarez for three years, $45 million.
There’s still work to do on their part, but even though the moves themselves aren’t enough to vault the Braves back into the upper echelon they’ve typically occupied in the NL the last few years, arguably their biggest problem in 2025 was no fault of roster construction.
Ronald Acuña Jr. missed the first two months of the season as he worked his way back from his ACL tear. Austin Riley missed the last two months, Sean Murphy the last 20 games. Joe Jiménez missed the whole season. AJ Smith-Shawver made nine starts. Spencer Schwellenbach missed the last 80 games. The second game of the season was Reynaldo López’s last.
The Braves were plagued by the injury bug early and often. Acuña’s return in late May seemed like it would make for a turning point. They never got off the mat. May 20 was the last time they were over .500.
It was a 76-win, fourth-place team that won 89 games the year before with a similar roster, and at least 88 in every full season since 2019. You don’t have to stretch to imagine them getting back to that tier.
So far, it seems they’ve operated under that acknowledgement this winter — and general manager Alex Anthopoulos indicated this week that the Braves are still seeking to add an “impactful” starter via trade or free agency.
Is it enough to catch the Phillies, who were 20 games clear of them in the NL East last year and six the year before? Maybe the gap between them has tightened, but it’s hard, still, to argue the Phillies have gotten much worse this offseason either. Even if the outfield plan is dicey, additions of Keller and Adolis García have balanced out (or, in right field’s case, outweighed) the likely departures of Nick Castellanos and Matt Strahm, who has been traded to the Kansas City Royals.
This entire puzzle will look different if they do that, and if the Braves acquire a starter of the caliber Anthopoulos suggested, and especially if the Mets open up the pocketbook once again for Tucker or Cody Bellinger. But for the better part of a year, the Mets have been the Phillies’ biggest threat to continued supremacy in the NL East. Without a correction, that dynamic may be changing.
