Brandon Nimmo’s calling cards were hustle, on base percentage, and, co course, hustle. Nimmo was an odd choice by the New York Mets when he was made the first round selection in 2011 (13th overall) out of high school in Wyoming that had no baseball team.
Nimmo became a fan favorite as he was always on base, willing to get hit by a pitch, posting an annual OBP of .400. But then, that all changed. He started hitting home runs. He started striking out more and getting on base less. And he could no longer cover any ground in centerfield, and then was not even a confident choice in left field. Worst of all, he is getting older…he will be 33 years old during the 2026 season.
Edwin Diaz became a folk hero. Trumpets blaring and Citifield rocking. Diaz made that happen with an unbelievable 2022 season. It made the fans and media forget how much they were frustrated by him, much like they were frustrated by guys like Armando Benitez and Doug Sisk generations earlier. One remarkable season.
Then he got hurt and after sitting out the entire 2023 season he was not the same. He struggled. He wasn’t lockdown. But, then, he wasn’t lockdown prior to that 2022 season. Diaz was not the same. And that happens a lot with pitchers anyway…their arms are always one pitch away from the end of a career. It only gets more tenuous as a pitcher gets older…he will be 32 years old during the 2026 season.
Pete Alonso broke the New York Mets career home run record, a record owned for a long time by one Darryl Strawberry. Fans love home runs. And home runs are the name of the game in today’s MLB. Alonso hit a lot of them.
Alonso with all of his power would frustrate fans because it appeared that he sometimes failed in key situations. However, he came through a LOT in key situations. Alonso played hard, loved being a Met, and showed the kind of exuberance you always want to see from a player that plays for your team. He was truly a fan favorite. Alonso hit a rookie record 53 home runs in 2019. After hitting 16 in the 2020 shortened season, he hit 40 homers twice – in 2022 and 2023. He has pretty much been a 30+ homer guy since with over 150 k’s a season. And unless you are Barry Bonds, you start losing power on the other side of 30 years old, and Alonso will be 31 during the 2026 season.
Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz, and Pete Alonso were all fan favorites and could have easily finished out their careers with the New York Mets. But if the goal is to get better, to get younger, and to get more athletic (as David Stearns has stated), it was time to abandon the older core and work toward that goal…even if it means moving on without what was the face of the organization.
Some years ago, Frank Cashen came in as the new general manager and did the unthinkable…he traded the face that was on every billboard and every subway sign in the city – Lee Mazzilli. Mazzilli was the one true star that the Mets had on a team that was going nowhere. Cashen traded his most valuable piece for two pitchers named Ron Darling and Walt Terrell, later flipping Terrell for a third baseman named Howard Johnson.
Trading Mazzilli was the beginning of the building of a World Championship team and, ironically, he would be brought back to put the stamp on that team.
Steve Cohen said from the beginning that if the New York Mets didn’t win a World Championship within five years, it would be a huge disappointment. Well, it didn’t happen, not with Nimmo, Diaz, and Alonso. And as they get older, and the skills deteriorate, the roster is clogged with less athleticism and limited flexibility. It wasn’t going to get any better, as least that must be what management is thinking.
Cashen built a winner by making some unpopular decisions. Let’s see if David Stearns is able to do the same.
