3 Mets takeaways from the general managers' meetings
Mets free agent Pete Alonso watches his second-inning home run against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field on Sep. 16. Credit: Jim McIsaac
LAS VEGAS — The general managers' meetings concluded Thursday, marking the true beginning of the baseball offseason. Here are three Mets takeaways from the event:
1. Pete Alonso is at least open to occasionally slotting in as a designated hitter, and that might up his chances at a reunion with the Mets
Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, said front office executives have asked if Alonso would be amenable to DHing — important because 1. His defense has been called into question and 2. It will save his body over the course of a long-term contract — and his response has been that Alonso cares most about winning.
Though Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns remained typically noncommittal about Alonso, he did have positive things to say about that revelation.
“Pete’s clearly a really good offensive player,” Stearns said. “For any team, the ability to get his bat in the lineup in multiple ways is helpful, and it’s great to know that Pete is open to stuff like that.”
Still, a chasm remains: Stearns said he’d be happy with a reunification but needs to see how the market plays out. Boras said there’s been plenty of interest in Alonso, and he (unsurprisingly) expects him to get paid.
2. Defense still is at the forefront of the Mets’ concerns, but they might have to get creative about it
Stearns’ end-of-season news conference focused on “run prevention” — or, rather, how the Mets didn’t do much of it during the tail end of the season. On Tuesday, Stearns acknowledged that some of that will be addressed via personnel (i.e., acquiring more dependable pitching), but it seems as if it’ll have to be an internal process as well.
One of the reasons they hired Kai Correa as bench coach is because he’s “one of the best defensive minds in the game,” Stearns said. “We think he’s really going to help our organization.”
Other than that, “sure, we would expect some new players on our team somewhere around the diamond — that’s natural in the offseason,” Stearns said. “But we’re going to need our current group of players to play better.” This includes Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo and, if he re-signs, Alonso. Stearns believes they can improve during a spring training that will focus heavily on defense.
“Scoring runs is so much easier to see, in some ways, easier to measure, than preventing runs, especially defensively,” Stearns said. “We focus so much of our training time and our efforts and our energy on how can I get better offensively? How can I get the most out of myself on any given day on an offensive production standpoint, and at times, we forget about the other side of the ball.”
Soto, speaking at the MLB Awards show at the same hotel, said he intends to improve. "I always try to be better," he said. "I'm open to listen, to work, to do anything to help my team."
3. The kids will play
While the Mets’ centerfield situation remains in flux, Stearns said No. 2 prospect Carson Benge, who began last season with High-A Brooklyn, has a chance to make the Opening Day roster at the position. Brett Baty’s defense has made him a viable solution at third base. And though they intend to be active in the pitching market, the Mets have faith in their young pitching prospects.
“When you have good young players at the upper levels of the minor leagues, we have to find space for these players to play,” Stearns said. “We have to ensure that as we go forward, there’s room for our young players to get to the major leagues when they deserve to get there and have an opportunity to really contribute to our baseball team.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
