After a wildly disappointing 2025, David Stearns vowed to make significant changes to the team, and the players and coaches who show up to Port St. Lucie in a few weeks will look a lot different than last year.
As Stearns said this week, “There’s gonna be a lot of guys in our clubhouse who really have no affiliation at all with what happened to us in ’25. And I think that’s healthy and I think that’s good for us.”
Here’s a look at who’s here — and who’s not.
In
Bo Bichette
After losing Pete Alonso, the Mets waited to add another big right-handed bat. They got Bichette, one of the best ball-to-bat hitters in the game and considered an excellent clubhouse presence. Can the longtime shortstop play third base? We’re about to find out, but he only turns 28 in March and is an excellent athlete — although he’s had some injuries.
Freddy Peralta
Arrived in a trade from Stearns’ old Brewers team, along with right-hander Tobias Myers. Expected to pitch near or at the top of the rotation, the 29-year-old is due to be a free agent following this season, so the pressure will be on both Peralta and the Mets, who gave up a pair of top prospects in Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams for one year of the starter.
Luis Robert Jr.
The Mets took a chance the center fielder will be able to recapture what he showed in 2023, when he was among the best players in the game with the White Sox. He’s battled injuries and had too many strikeouts the past two years.
Jorge Polanco
This one had plenty of people scratching their heads when it first happened, since Polanco has primarily played in the middle of the diamond and the Mets are set there with Francisco Lindor at shortstop and newly arrived Marcus Semien at second. But the Mets think the 32-year-old switch-hitter, coming off perhaps his best season at the plate, can make the move to first base.
Devin Williams
When the Mets signed Williams, Edwin Díaz was still on the market and there was a chance Williams would be setting up for him. Instead, Díaz went to the Dodgers, leaving Williams to try to bounce back as a closer in New York after failing in the role with the Yankees last season.
Marcus Semien
Semien’s arrival to play second base gave the Mets a significant upgrade in their infield defense, which was one of Stearns’ stated goals. At 35 and coming off back-to-back subpar years at the plate, there are certainly questions about other parts of his game.
Luke Weaver
The right-hander has proven he can pitch in big spots in New York, having done so with the Yankees when they reached the World Series in 2024. The 32-year-old was inconsistent last season, but still effective.
Tobias Myers
Not just a throw-in as part of the Peralta deal, the right-hander has the ability to start and pitch out of the bullpen. He also blanked the Mets for five innings in a postseason start in 2024.
Luis García
The 38-year-old journeyman gives the Mets another right-hander in the bullpen.
Coaching staff
Justin Willard was hired as the new pitching coach after serving as the director of pitching with the Red Sox, and Troy Snitker, the former Houston hitting coach and son of former Braves manager Brian Snitker, was brought in as hitting coach. Kai Correa (bench coach), Gilbert Gomez (first base), Tim Leiper (third base) and J.P. Arencibia (catchers) are among the other new faces on the coaching staff.
Out
Pete Alonso
Just a few months after breaking Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record for home runs, Alonso (right) signed a five-year, $155 million contract to go to Baltimore. The Polar Bear will see how many homers he can hit in Camden Yards, as the Mets let him go without a fight.
Edwin Díaz
After seeing their closer return to elite form, the Mets tried to retain Díaz (left), but he took a slightly bigger deal to go to the Dodgers, leaving a hole in the bullpen.
Brandon Nimmo
The organization’s 2011 first-round pick is all over the top-10 lists in franchise history, from runs scored to plate appearances, but the Mets decided to move on from the 32-year-old with five years and just over $100 million remaining on his contract, trading him to Texas.
Jeff McNeil
Like Nimmo, McNeil spent his entire professional career with the Mets until they traded him to the A’s, as his production at the plate and defensive versatility dwindled.
Luisangel Acuña
The former top prospect likely didn’t have much of a role on this Mets team, with their infielder-heavy roster, and was sent to Chicago in exchange for Robert.
Coaching staff
Perhaps the biggest surprise surrounding the shake-up of Carlos Mendoza’s staff, highly respected pitching coach Jeremy Hefner was let go and quickly picked up in the same role by the Mets’ divisional rivals in Atlanta. Hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes were also fired and bench coach John Gibbons, third base coach Mike Sarbaugh and catching coordinator Glenn Sherlock also won’t be back.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
