Five questions facing the Mets this offseason

The MLB playoffs kicked off Tuesday with a very noticeable absence, a team some predicted would win the World Series. Now, with a sprawling offseason ahead of them, the Mets have the unenviable task of dissecting exactly what led to one of the biggest collapses in franchise history, and fixing it. 

Here are five questions facing the team:

1. What went wrong?

It’s an obvious start, but it’s the one that seemed to puzzle the Mets most down the stretch. Repeatedly, manager Carlos Mendoza and various team leaders said the roster had the talent to succeed, but their 38-55 record over the final 93 games of the season said otherwise. An hour after failing to secure a playoff berth, Brandon Nimmo noted that they “had a lot of talent. I said at one point in the year, I felt like it was the most talented team that I ever played on.”

But in his postmortem Monday, David Stearns acknowledged that the team had holes they failed to patch, specifically in terms of “run prevention” – i.e., pitching and defense. From the start of their collapse on June 13, the team’s 4.95 ERA was fifth-worst in baseball; and in the final two months of the season, their defense amassed -4 runs prevented and -5 outs above average. The offense was notoriously streaky, and Pete Alonso noted Sunday that they failed to make up for each other’s deficiencies.

All the moving parts – pitching, defense and offense – didn’t meld together in a sustainably successful way, and the rash of injuries didn’t help. Now, it’s up to Stearns to rectify it.

2. Is Alonso done with the Mets? Is Edwin Diaz?

Alonso and the Mets spent last offseason in a protracted stare down, with the first baseman relenting and taking a two-year, $54 million deal with a second-year player option that he's elected to exercise. But are his days in Flushing over?

Alonso, entering his age 31 season, may have regressed defensively, but he was one of the Mets’ best clutch hitters, slashing .272/.347/.524 this year and hitting 38 homers with a team-leading 126 RBIs. He also eclipsed Darryl Strawberry as the franchise leader in home runs, and now holds the record at 264. Stearns said he would love to have Alonso back, but that’s also what the Mets said last year when they almost let him walk out the door. The first baseman’s comments were more pointed, saying he “loved being a Met, so hopefully they appreciated me.”

Diaz, meanwhile, has yet to announce whether he’ll opt out of the final three years of his contract, but that’s definitely a good bet, considering he regained his 2022 form, pitching to a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves. Despite being the highest paid closer in baseball, he could certainly make more money.

3. Who’s staying and who’s going?

Stearns already has said that Mendoza’s job is safe, but the rest of the staff may not be quite so secure, as the Mets intend to do “an evaluation of our entire coaching staff.” Though players have repeatedly defended the staff, a collapse like this generally has some casualties – fair or not. The inconsistent offense, despite its immense talent, could put the spotlight on hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner has mostly been considered above reproach in recent years, but Stearns noted that one of the team’s biggest failures was not putting their trade deadline acquisitions in a greater position to succeed, and that includes relievers Ryan Helsley and Gregory Soto.

4. What are they going to do with the kids?

Necessity dictated that the Mets promote a ton of prospects, some before they were necessarily ready, and others before they could secure consistent playing time. Ronny Mauricio, who missed a year of his development due to an injury sustained in 2023, hadn’t started a game in over a month before getting conscripted into duty when Brett Baty injured his oblique in the final series. Luisangel Acuna, too, was mostly used as a defensive replacement or late-game pinch running option.

Then there are the pitchers. Nolan McLean looks every bit the MLB-caliber starter. Brandon Sproat showed promise, but labored in later innings, and Jonah Tong was simply put in an untenable position. Tong, 22, had only two Triple-A appearances before getting fast-tracked to the majors, and struggled in three of his five starts, finishing with a 7.71 ERA.

Asked if any of it could actually hinder development, Stearns said no. Specifically of Mauricio and Tong he said, “I think both those players saw meaningful playing time – Ronny a little bit earlier when he first came up. Jonah started a number of games for us, so I think their time in the big leagues should benefit their overall development.”

He added of the rookie starters: “I expect all three to have a role in the major leagues at some point next year.”

5. What are they going to do about their pitching?

Stearns was blunt about Kodai Senga: “We know there’s potential. We’re going to do everything we can to help him get it out of him, but can we put him in ink as making 30 starts next year? I think that would be foolish.”

Senga himself said he has to “rebuild from step one” after injuring his hamstring midseason.

So, what now? McLean impressed and, despite a few bumps, converting Clay Holmes back into a starter was a success. Sean Manaea and David Peterson are bigger question marks. Manaea’s oblique injury meant he “never got into a routine [and] had some, frankly, poor luck early on when he came back,” Stearns said. Peterson, an All Star who fell off a cliff, probably declined due to fatigue, he added. But counting on both is a risk, particularly since short starts had a trickle down effect that helped doom the Mets - the bullpen was taxed early, and the offense struggled when trying to punch its way out of early deficits.

Still, Stearns' philosophy hasn’t really changed: Other than a failed bid at Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2023, the Mets haven’t really pursued expensive front-line pitching options. This offseason, they’re “open to everything,” Stearns said.

But: “My continued emphasis is doing everything we can to support our development infrastructure and developing starting pitchers. Ultimately, that is where we’re going to have sustained success.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.