After letting Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz walk in free agency, what do the Mets do now?

The Mets have lost two key players from their 2024 NLCS run. Now what?

In a little more than 24 hours, the Mets have seen first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Díaz, two key pieces from their run to the 2024 NLCS, sign elsewhere. Díaz went to the Dodgers while Alonso chose the Orioles. The Mets reportedly made a competitive offer for Díaz, but seemingly weren't even in on the bidding for Alonso by the end; the two camps were apart on years dating back to last winter, Alonso's first run at free agency. 

Díaz departs after six roller coaster seasons as the Mets' closer with three seasons -- including 2025 -- being good enough to call him elite. Alonso leaves as arguably the greatest power hitter in franchise history. He holds the single-season Mets home run record in addition to the career record. Since Alonso debuted in 2019, only Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber have hit more than Alonso's 264 home runs. He averages 42 for every 162 games he plays. 

Díaz was reportedly bothered that the Mets signed Devin Williams after he opted out of his contract. And, again, it seems that the Mets had no interest in keeping Alonso on a five-year deal, so they let him walk.

Pete Alonso signing with Orioles: Mets slugger bolts for Baltimore on five-year, $155 million contract

R.J. Anderson

Mileage varies on opinions of both players, but no one should pretend they weren't major needle-movers for the Mets these last two years in contention. 

So where do they go from here? 

Well, the easy answer is that since the Mets choked away a playoff berth last season, good riddance. But we're talking about two good players being removed from what resembled a playoff-caliber roster for most of the last two seasons. They need to pick up value elsewhere.

The hope in the bullpen will be that Williams returns to top-notch closer form. He was one of the best in baseball with the Brewers before a Yankees stint that was littered with high-profile meltdowns. Right now, the setup men appear to be A.J. Minter and Adbert Alzolay. They could use some more help there for sure and we've seen them connected in trade rumors to Brewers All-Star reliever Trevor Megill. That shows that club president David Stearns is not content with what they have. It's also Dec. 10. There's a lot of offseason left. 

As far as the lineup, right now Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto are the marquee players while Marcus Semien was added via trade earlier this offseason. It's possible Semien hit his decline last season, as it was a big fall from previous years, but it could always have been a temporary setback.

Edwin Díaz signing with Dodgers: World Series champions land top closer on three-year, $69 million contract

Mike Axisa

As things stand, Mark Vientos looks like the man at first base, leaving third base for Brett Baty with Ronny Mauricio at designated hitter. Vientos was bad last season and there's no way around that, but keep in mind that in 2024 he was great. He's only 25 years old. He could very easily play in 2026 like he did in 2024. Baty showed flashes of being good last season. Mauricio is only 24 and has shown some talent. 

Also, again, it's Dec. 10. Only two of CBS Sports' top 10 free agents are off the table. Almost no trades have been made. There are plenty of options outside of the organization. Alex Bregman could be an option at third base. Center field looks like a weak spot right now if they don't want to hand the Opening Day job to top prospect Carson Benge, but Cody Bellinger is sitting there in free agency. So is Kyle Tucker. The Mets have been connected to all of them, as well as NPB import Munetaka Murakami.

This is all to say that, while it might look like a bad two days for the Mets on the surface level, there's still plenty of time to salvage this offseason. All is not lost, even if Alonso and Díaz are legitimately big losses.