On Sunday, the New York Mets pulled off a huge trade that should help them re-position themselves as a contending team in the National League. They traded away a longtime servant of the club, Brandon Nimmo, to bring in Marcus Semien. But they have other pressing issues to navigate, namely the free-agency situations of important players such as closer Edwin Diaz as well as first baseman Pete Alonso.
With the Mets have been showing less reliance on sentimentality moving forward with regards to their roster decisions, if their choice to trade Nimmo away in the Semien deal is any indication, there are no guarantees that Diaz and Alonso would both return to the team in 2026.
Negotiations aren't exactly what someone would describe as “fraught”, but according to Will Sammon of The Athletic, Diaz and the Mets are not yet on the same page with regards to the term of the contract they're discussing. As per Sammon, Diaz is looking for a contract that closely resembles the five-year, $102 million deal he signed three years ago, while the Mets are looking at striking an agreement on a deal that runs for only three years.
The Mets aren't exactly wedded to the idea of re-signing Diaz, if Sammons' report is something to go off by. New York will be looking into signing other relievers such as Devin Williams or Robert Suarez in the event that they don't ever land on the same page with Diaz in contract talks.
Mets look to put the memory of painful 2025 season in the past
The Mets entered the 2025 season to so much hype considering that they won the Juan Soto sweepstakes during the past offseason. And for a while, it looked like the Mets were going to be a shoo-in for the playoffs. Alas, they melted down towards the end of the year and proceeded to miss the postseason entirely.
Perhaps with a more stacked and well-rounded pitching corps as well as better defense across multiple positions, with Semien being a helpful presence, the Mets can fully put the sting of their 2025 choke job in the rearview mirror.
