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00:00With MLB Winter Meetings officially underway, all eyes are on the New York Mets and what David
00:08Stearns and this front office plan to do next. From Pete Alonzo and Edward Diaz, to the rotation,
00:14to the bullpen, to potential surprise moves. This is a critical stretch for the direction
00:19of this Mets franchise. And joining me now to break it all down is one of the top insiders
00:23in the game. It's the New York Post baseball columnist, my guy John Heyman, joins me now
00:28from Florida, where I was going to say the weather is really good, but John just told
00:32me the weather's not good. It is rainy there. John, how are you doing, man? I'm good. How
00:37are you, Dexter? I'm doing okay. I'm doing okay. Hopefully the weather gets better for
00:40you there in Orlando, Florida. But John, let's start talking about the Winter Meetings because
00:44they're now underway. So let me ask you this. How active do you expect the Mets to be compared
00:49to other teams that are looking to contend for a World Series title in 2026? Yeah, I
00:55expect the Mets to be among the most active team, if not the most active team. Obviously,
01:00Toronto's made some waves already. We know Philly's got a lot to do. But I mean, the Mets are a big
01:05market team with a big payroll with great free agents, Diaz and Alonso. They've got to improve
01:12the rotation. They've got to fill out a bullpen that is, I won't say empty, but it's about a half
01:18full right now. So there's a lot of work to do. They obviously have a deep pocketed owner. They did
01:25not have a good year. Very disappointing season with 83 wins, missing the playoffs, being beaten out by
01:31Cincinnati. So they've got the wherewithal to do a lot and they have the incentive to do a lot and I
01:37expect them to do a lot. All right. They do have the means to do a lot. And one of the things at the top
01:42of the list, you and I talked about this before, bringing back Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz, that's
01:47going to be the center of this Mets offseason. Of those two players, which do you believe a
01:52decision on either of those two players is more urgent for David Stearns? Would you rank Alonso
01:56over Diaz or Diaz over Alonso? Which one do you think is more urgent? I mean, to me, they're both
02:01pretty urgent. You know, you might say Alonso slightly more at this moment because they did bring
02:06in Devin Williams, who has been a very effective closer, at least in Milwaukee, he was a very
02:11effective closer, was not that with the Yankees, was pretty good in the setup role. I mean, to me,
02:17this doesn't give them tremendous cover, but right now they have no cover at first base. So I guess
02:22if I'm pressed at the moment, I guess we'll say they need Alonso back more, being the right-handed
02:28bat and big slugger, all-time all-run hitter for the Mets. But I do believe they need Diaz back as
02:36well. He is the best closer out there. There's no real debate over that. Robert Suarez is very
02:42good, but a few years older, doesn't really have the out pitch, quite the stuff that Diaz has. And
02:49you know, I would say both are imperative, but if I'm pressed today, I have to pick one,
02:53I'm going to say Alonso by hair. All right. So going with Alonso there, let's keep it with Alonso
02:58real quick here, John, because how real is the market for Pete Alonso and what kind of contract range
03:04do you believe that he'll ultimately command? Because there's a lot that's been floating
03:07out there since the offseason started. What's the market for Alonso?
03:11Well, we know he struggled a bit last year and ended up coming back to the Mets and that worked
03:16out, obviously, for both sides. He had a big year, much better year this year, does not have the
03:21qualifying offer to weigh him down. I get that he's a year older, but I mean, the difference in the
03:25years is enormous. He had over 270 this year, right? That's a pretty good batting average in today's
03:30day and age. The Toronto Blue Jays were the top team at 265. So 270, pretty good. I think he was
03:36the best clutch hitter with the Mets as well. So I think he should have a very, very good market.
03:41The market's been kind of slow to develop, I think, for a lot of things. I do think that Boston is in
03:48on Alonso. They do have other alternatives and good ones, but to me, he really fits them as the
03:55right-handed slugger, which is exactly what they're looking for. Baltimore, another possibility.
04:00Right now, those look like the two best outside possibilities, but I'm sure that he will have
04:04other possibilities. All right, we will see how that market shapes up for Pete Alonso. Now,
04:09when you go to Diaz, when you look at the history of big money closers and some GMs may be reluctant
04:14to invest in them, how do you think the Mets are viewing Edwin Diaz's future, especially with someone
04:19who's going to want a long-term contract, John, and maybe that contract doesn't look as great on the
04:23back end of it? How do you think the Mets are viewing Diaz's future and what they might plan to offer him?
04:30Yeah, I mean, that's the issue right now. It is the years. No surprise that's the issue in most
04:34of these big deals. He has said, we know this, that he would like a five-year deal that's been
04:40out there publicly. We've even written that post. They do not want to give a five-year deal. The Mets
04:47are seemingly fairly adamant about that at this moment, not at the salary that he's been getting,
04:53around $20 million a year. Right now, I do believe the Mets would be willing to do a three-year deal,
05:00give him one extra year. That probably does not suffice for Edwin Diaz, and that's why we don't
05:05have a deal at this point, right? So he's going to be out there hitting the market, and certainly
05:10Toronto is a team that's got money. They're a team that is looking at the closer situation.
05:16You know, there are other teams looking at closer. Detroit, although I'm not sure they're going to
05:20spend that kind of money. The Dodgers, potentially. I'm not even sure the Dodgers are going to spend
05:26that kind of money. So I think Toronto is probably the main, I would say, competition for the Mets at
05:33the moment, but there certainly could be others, because Diaz has been one of the best closers in
05:37baseball over the last several years. It's really Diaz and Robert Suarez, who I said a couple years
05:43older than Diaz. The two main guys out there, it wouldn't be a shock if one ends up with the Mets and
05:48one ends up with Toronto. We've got to think that the marriage with Diaz has been so good that
05:54the Mets should be able to figure this out, and Diaz, too. I don't want to put us all on the team.
05:59They should be able to figure it out, and then Suarez would then end up potentially with Toronto,
06:04but there's certainly two big market possibilities for these two great closers. There are other closers
06:10on the market. They certainly could look at those as well. Certainly, Kenley Jansen, Brett Keller,
06:17good back-end guys, but they're not in the category of Diaz or even Suarez.
06:22I would agree with you on that. Let me just ask you this as a follow-up really quick, John.
06:26If the Mets can't come to a deal with Diaz, and they go into next season with Devin Williams as
06:31a closer, do you view that as a failure in your eyes? Well, that's certainly not good. I would not
06:39think that's not a success to move from Diaz, who I think is one of the best New York closers we've
06:46seen. Obviously, he's not Mario Rivera, but he's one of the best closers in the game. Devin Williams
06:51was outstanding in Milwaukee. He was not very good with the Yankees overall. Certainly not good in
06:56that closer role. So to me, I don't want to say failure, but that certainly would not be a success,
07:01and they would have to make up for it with many other things. They'd have to really bulk up that
07:07bullpen with other excellent pitchers. They'd have to bulk up the offense. Look, this is a team that won
07:1383 games. This is a team that didn't make the playoffs when there were really only five really
07:18good teams in the league. There was room for them to make the playoffs. They could have gotten that
07:2284th win. They were shut out by the Marlins. That is beyond disappointing. That's a disaster of a
07:28season for a team with a $340 million payroll. So they can't really be moving backwards in several
07:34areas, and certainly not at closer, not in my mind. If they bring in Suarez, too, I mean, we can live
07:40with that. Suarez and Williams, maybe that works for them. Maybe that's the $100 million that they're
07:46not going to spend on Diaz potentially, but it still would be a disappointment if they don't bring
07:52back Diaz. I think that's more than fair for sure. You and I talked about this the last time we got a
07:58chance to chat. We talked, and I'm going to be very careful about my term here. I'm not going to use
08:02the word ace, but do you believe the Mets are more likely, John, to trade for a front-end starter or
08:08sign one in free agency? Which of the two do you think is more likely for this team?
08:13I'm going to say trade. At this point, they don't seem to be at the forefront of any mind. They are
08:18in. They're in on everything. So, you know, to judge exactly how far in they are, it's a little
08:23difficult at this point. You know, there have been reports out there about Frambois Valdez. I'm not
08:27sure how invested they are in that one as well. So, I mean, those are the two aces that are out there,
08:33right? I would say Ranger Suarez is a very good pitcher, a free agent pitcher. Is he a number
08:39one? Probably not, but he's been outstanding in October. It certainly would be a good pickup for
08:44the Mets. I don't think they're leading that one either. So, that's why I'm going at trade more
08:50likely. You know, obviously, there have been some big names that are kind of floated out there.
08:56Is Skubal getting traded? Now, that would be obviously an ace. Probably the best pitcher in
09:00baseball. Certainly the best pitcher in the American League. A one-year thing. So, you know,
09:04to me, it's hard for me to see the Mets really mortgage their future for a one-year pitcher,
09:10even somebody as good as Skubal. So, I wouldn't say that one's particularly likely. But there are
09:15several trade candidates out there. They're familiar with Freddy Peralta. Certainly, Stearns
09:20had him in Milwaukee. There is a decent chance, I think, that he will be dealt. Better chance for him
09:26to be dealt than Skubal. So, that's a possibility. I think Gore from Washington will be dealt
09:31somewhere. I heard that Cabrera's name is out there from the Marlins. And I understand these are
09:37division rivals. But, you know, I'm not ruling it out. I do think that there is a potential for a trade
09:44for a very good starting pitcher. I would say even more so than through free agency.
09:51We have had a lot of Mets fans bring up to me, and you just mentioned him, Frambois Valdez.
09:56You said you don't really think that's likely. Do you think it's a realistic fit for the Mets at all?
10:00And do you have any concern when it comes to Valdez, which some people have brought up,
10:05about his injury history? Is that part of the concern for you, with maybe him being a good fit
10:09for the Mets? No, I think Frambois Valdez has got a reasonable history on durability. He's won as
10:16many games as anybody over this decade. So, you have to be fairly durable to do that. He's second
10:22in quality starts to Zach Wheeler, former Met, unfortunately, for the Mets. You know, I think
10:29Frambois Valdez is in the equation. It's a possibility. But I think the reports early on were a little bit
10:35premature, overblown on Valdez and the Mets. I do think, you know, there are other teams that are
10:42going to be out there right now. I'm not sure that any of the big starters are going to be signing
10:46that quickly because, you know, they're going to want to shoot at that $210 million that Dylan
10:52C. Scott, and I'm not sure it's out there at this moment for Valdez. And we'll see on Imai.
10:58Imai's a little bit more of a wild card coming from Japan with big stuff. But it doesn't,
11:04it doesn't feel at this moment that the Mets are at the forefront of these
11:08free agent pitchers. I could be proven wrong. I know that there were reports out there earlier
11:13about Frambois. My issue, my question on Frambois would be the second half was not great. He had a
11:18five-year in the second half. And he certainly logged a lot of innings. So, the question would
11:24be going forward, is he going to be able to maintain the success that he's had? But he has,
11:28does have a terrific track record and certainly would be a big plus if they did sign him overall.
11:33All right. Interesting stuff there on Frambois Valdez. I want to talk to you about Kodai
11:37Senga, John, because, you know, his name has come up in trade talks, although he has stated
11:41that he wants to remain in Flushing. How serious is that discussion around the league about Senga
11:47and possibly moving him? And if the Mets do move Senga, what does that tell you about how
11:51they view their rotation, both short and long-term?
11:54Yeah. Yeah, there definitely are talks going on about Senga and, you know, they're definitely
12:02talking to teams and I'm not going to be surprised that they trade him. The fact that he says that
12:06he'd like to stay, that's not going to weigh, I don't think, in any of this. You know, it's a
12:10business. You know, they're going to, if they feel like they have a good trade for Senga,
12:15they will trade him. I do think there probably is a market for him, although last year he was great
12:21at the beginning of the year and then after he came back following the injury, he was poor. I
12:27mean, they sent him to minors and never called him back. So, you know, it's a little bit of a
12:32tricky situation to trade for him. You know, he was an ace his first year with the Mets, second year
12:38he was injured, and then last year he was up and down. Literally, he was up at the beginning and
12:43clearly way down at the end. So it's going to be difficult to find the right value on him.
12:50That's really the issue, not what he wants to do, because that doesn't really weigh into it in
12:55terms of a trade. Yeah. Unless someone's got a no trade, then it weighs in. Right. Big question is
13:01what is the value for Kodai Senga? A couple more for you, John. I want to ask you about centerfield.
13:05How big of a priority is centerfield for the Mets this offseason, and what do you make of their
13:09internal centerfield options versus going out and actually acquiring an established defender there
13:15in centerfield that can also hit a little bit? Well, they obviously do need a centerfielder,
13:19so I would say that is a priority. Is it number one? Maybe not. And the reason I don't think it's
13:24the number one priority is because they really love this Carson Binge, who had a terrific year
13:29in the minor leagues for them, and they really have high hopes for him, perhaps even for this
13:33coming season. And I think they've been out there saying that they'd like to give this guy a chance
13:37to win the centerfield job. So that being said, I think we're looking at priorities being
13:44starting pitcher, relief pitcher, first base, and left field over centerfield. You know,
13:49you've got so many other priorities and really requirements to get done. It does feel like
13:55centerfield would be on, I don't say the back burner, but if it's a priority number five,
14:01you know, they better get this other stuff done, which includes obviously the bullpen and first,
14:07and we talked about Diaz and Alonzo. And if you don't get Diaz or Alonzo, you've got to improve
14:13the bullpen and first base. You need a first baseman, right? It wouldn't look too good if you
14:20don't have a first baseman. And I'm just not sure how they replace Alonzo. So to me, centerfield
14:25is probably number five on the hit list. So is that a priority? You can call it that, but
14:31I think they feel pretty good about Carson Bench, the kid that they got out of Oklahoma.
14:36Yeah. They've been very, very high on him. You just talked about the bullpen there, John.
14:40Do you think it's possible the Mets could rebuild their bullpen this winter and try to build like
14:44a super bullpen with multiple high-end relievers? Or do you think David Stearns is going to go
14:49bargain basement shopping with the relievers? How do you see them going about that?
14:54Well, I don't think they've given up on Diaz. And if you have Diaz and Williams,
14:57that's a pretty, pretty super bullpen. I mean, it's not Diaz, Suarez and Williams, but
15:01Diaz and Williams is a pretty good start. So I'm not giving up on, on Diaz. And I'd still call that
15:07a pretty super bullpen if they bring Diaz back. If they don't bring Diaz back, you know, and they
15:12sign Suarez, I mean, it's still a pretty solid backhand there, but it's certainly a disappointment
15:17not bringing Diaz back because Diaz is beloved by the fans and frankly, a better all around than
15:24Suarez. Suarez doesn't really have that out pitch. He does throw strikes. He
15:27does throw hard. We saw that in the playoffs against the Mets a couple of years ago.
15:31Very, very good pitcher, but he isn't quite Diaz. So, you know, let's get a bullpen put
15:37together before we really start talking about super bullpen though, because right now you've
15:41got one right-hander in that bullpen and that's Devin Williams. Potentially, I guess Brazabon
15:45could be another guy that they're looking at, but it's a pretty thin bullpen at the moment.
15:50So we got to build up to average first, and then we go to super.
15:54That's fair. The bullpen is bare. Got to build it up before you can even get to super. More
15:58than fair though. A couple more for you. If you had to predict one, I would say, surprise
16:03move, John, what type of move do you think the Mets could make that might surprise the
16:08fan base?
16:09Well, this has been out there a little bit, so I don't know how much of a surprise
16:12is, but if they don't sign Alonzo, could Schwarber be a possibility? I know they've checked in.
16:18I wouldn't say it's a likelihood. Does he really leave Philly to go to the rival Mets? Does
16:22he eschew the hometown Cincinnati Reds to go to the Mets? I mean, I'm not going to rule
16:27it out. That's why it'd be a surprise, right? But certainly a consideration. If you don't
16:32have Alonzo, Schwarber could potentially be the guy, but to me, Alonzo makes more sense
16:38because you need to fill first base, right? So even if they don't see Alonzo as a full-time
16:43first baseman at this moment, more of an everyday player, obviously, one of the better sluggers
16:49in the game, everyday player who's a DH a lot of the time, he's still going to be playing
16:55some first base, whereas Schwarber, you know, he's played a little first base, not that much.
17:01You know, it seems like to me, the fit is better with Alonzo, but that's why you said
17:06surprise. So I'm going to say Schwarber as a potential surprise move. I think Philly's
17:10more likely. I think probably the Red Sox are more likely. Other teams have checked in
17:16as well. Could the Cubs do it? Maybe. You know, it's probably a surprise if he goes anywhere
17:21but Philly, including the Mets. That would be a surprise. He'd be getting some power in there,
17:26but he still would have to worry about first base, right about that. Last thing for me here,
17:30John. All right, let's put it like this. When the Mets leave the winter meetings,
17:34what would success actually look like for this front office when they leave the winter meetings?
17:39What's a successful winter meetings? Now, we know how baseball free agency can go. Things can be
17:43very, very drawn out, but if you had to say, hey, this is successful winter meetings for the Mets
17:48when they leave this week, what does that look like? Okay. You know, I'm going to give them more
17:52time than the winter. I know we're starting the winter meetings and last year they signed Soto
17:57and a lot of great stuff happened at the winter meetings, not just with the Mets, but with
18:01many teams. It doesn't feel like there's going to be a, I mean, we'll see. We don't, it's hard to
18:07predict how much action is going to be, but 90% of the free agents are still available and we have a
18:12lot of time to go. It's not basketball where there's a deadline and everything gets done
18:16right away. Now there is a little bit more interest at this moment and there's more contact and it's
18:23face-to-face. It's not just texting. So I do expect a fair amount to happen here at the winter meetings,
18:29but I'm hesitant to give them a grade and say, well, they got to do this and that and the other
18:33thing within the next five days. I think that's a little tough. Certainly by the end of this winter,
18:38though, you got to have a good first baseman, preferably Alonzo. You've got to have a better
18:44back end of the bullpen, preferably Diaz. They need to get an outfielder. Could that be Bellinger?
18:49Maybe. I do feel like the Mets are going to do a lot. I think they're going to really improve this
18:55team. I don't feel like they can come back with the same team. I think they feel the same and I do
19:00believe they're going to have a big winter and it's going to be an exciting winter, but I'm not
19:04going to hold them to doing it in the next four to five days. That's a little tough, even for me.
19:08It is tough. Let me ask you this, Reds Insider, one last thing. Do you wish there was more activity
19:14at the winter meetings? Do you wish it was a little bit more like basketball and there was
19:17sort of a deadline? It would make all of our lives easier. I'm sure. Not just mine. It would make
19:24their lives a lot easier, right? If it all gets done and then they can rest. But, you know,
19:29what did Alonzo, when did he sign? You know, Bryce Harper signed on February 28th, memorably,
19:33with the Phillies. There have been a lot of big stars who've signed into spring training. You know,
19:40that's a long time from now. You know, we're just at the beginning of December at this point. So
19:44that's the way it goes in baseball. I'm sure there's a lot of executives would like to do it
19:48with a deadline and just have a lot of frenzied activity. We do have a deadline in the summer at the
19:54trade deadline. And, you know, it certainly creates a lot of excitement at that moment. But,
20:00you know, this way, I guess there's anticipation and excitement throughout the offseason. Last year,
20:06I think, was a, you know, that was helpful. And we got, Soto got signed and Crochet was traded.
20:13Freed was signed. A lot got done. And Estelle had already been done by that point, I believe,
20:18last year, right? And so there wasn't, I think there's going to be a lot to do after this one. I
20:24I don't know the reason. Is it because there's a concern about the collective bargaining agreement?
20:29Is it a concern over the fact that Dylan Cease, a guy with a 4-5-6 ERA, got $210 million and nobody
20:35wants to repeat that? I mean, if someone with a 4-5 ERA is worth $210 million, you know,
20:41what does everybody else get? We're talking about Framber. You know, I mean, he's got a
20:45quite a good track record. Is he worth more than $210 million? You know, I think it's going to take a
20:51while for everybody to figure it out, for them to come together, to compromise. So I do think
20:56there will be activity. There's going to be trades. There's going to be free agent signings. We're not
21:02going to see something like Soto, impossibly, of course, because we don't have Soto on the board.
21:06But, you know, I think we'll see some good stuff happen here, but things will go on for months,
21:12unfortunately for me, but for them more because it's a lot of work. Yeah, it's a lot of work. A lot of
21:18waiting for you. But, you know, John Heyman's always on top of it, the great baseball insider
21:22and columnist for us here at the New York Post. John, I appreciate you taking some time to help
21:27us get started with these winter meetings around the New York Mets here on Straight Outta Flushing,
21:30and I will talk to you soon, my friend. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you, Dexter. See you later.
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