The Mets figure to have a busy offseason over the next few months, with plenty of questions — some obvious and some not as obvious — that need to be answered prior to 2026.
President of baseball operations David Stearns addressed many of those topics at the General Managers Meetings on Tuesday in Las Vegas, while also reflecting on some of what went wrong during the club’s disappointing 2025 campaign.
“We came out of that with some very distinct and notable lessons,” Stearns said when asked about the organization’s self-assessment following the season. “I do think that’s going to help us all be better going forward and likely influence how we go through every stage of the player acquisition process.”
So what might that process involve? Will it include bringing back Pete Alonso and/or Edwin Díaz? Could one of the club’s top prospects earn an everyday role next season? What will the rotation and bullpen look like?
Let’s take a look at what Stearns had to say about all of that in the early stages of the offseason.
Who will be the Mets’ starting center fielder in 2026?
This may have been the most noteworthy item to come out of Stearns’ lengthy media session on Tuesday afternoon. When asked who the club’s center fielder is right now, Stearns floated out a couple of names — including 22-year-old Carson Benge, New York’s No. 2 prospect.
“I think we have a couple of options,” Stearns said. “I think Tyrone Taylor has proven he can play out there at a high level defensively. Carson Benge is going to come into Spring Training with a chance to make our team.
“And we’ll see where the offseason takes us beyond that.”
Benge, the 19th overall pick in the 2024 Draft, ended this past season at Triple-A Syracuse after beginning the year with High-A Brooklyn. He slashed .281/.385/.472 with 15 home runs, 22 steals and an .857 OPS across those three levels.
“We’ve got some really good young players coming,” Stearns said more broadly. “And we’re very optimistic about what our team is going to look like going forward. We need to give young players a chance to play.”
Will Alonso and/or Díaz return?
Opting out of their respective contracts was nothing more than a procedural move for both Alonso and Díaz, and both players have expressed their desire to remain with the Mets — but whether that happens remains to be seen.
“We love both Pete and Edwin,” Stearns said. “They’ve been great representatives of the organization. We’d love to have them both back.”
Of course, both Alonso and Díaz figure to have many suitors this offseason — and the Díaz situation is particularly intriguing given Stearns’ career-long tendency to avoid investing heavily in relievers.
“At this stage of the offseason, it’s really tough to predict any outcomes,” Stearns said. “But certainly we’d love to have both those guys back.”
If not Díaz, who will be the Mets’ closer?
Regardless of what happens with Díaz, the Mets will be busy when it comes to rebuilding a bullpen that also saw Ryne Stanek, Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto enter free agency.
“You never know exactly how the back end of your bullpen is going to take shape,” Stearns said. “We have plenty of vacancies there, and I think we’ll have the opportunity to improve that area.”
One pitcher who Stearns doesn’t see figuring into that picture as of right now is Kodai Senga. Asked if he could see Senga moving to the bullpen next season, Stearns pushed back — at least for the time being.
“Right now, we view Senga as part of our rotation,” Stearns said. “The talent is there, the desire is certainly there to have a bounce-back year. We’re going to give him every opportunity to do that.”
Will the Mets pursue a No. 1 starter?
Following a season in which New York leaned heavily on rookie arms down the stretch, the club will certainly be open to pursuing a frontline starter this offseason.
While that could come via free agency, the more likely scenario would be via trade. Though Stearns did not discuss any specific free agents or potential trade targets on Tuesday, among the pitchers rumored to be available are Tarik Skubal, Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan and Pablo López.
“You’d always love to find a No. 1-type starter,” Stearns said. “I don’t know how many true No. 1 starters are out there right now — I don’t know how many are actually going to be traded, I don’t know how many are truly available in free agency. … If one of those guys happens to be available, we’ll be right there with them.”
Stearns reiterated that the preferred way to find a staff ace is by developing them within the organization. He said he remains “very optimistic” about the club’s young pitching core — both the rookies who made their MLB debut in 2025 and those still waiting in the wings.
Still, the Mets will be active in their desire to add a proven arm atop their rotation.
“I think if a frontline pitcher, top-of-the-rotation pitcher is available, we’re going to be involved in those discussions,” Stearns said. ” … We do have the depth and quality of farm system at this point that we can both have those players impact our Major League team in a real way and, potentially, trade some of them to get some really near-term help, if that’s available.”
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand contributed to this story from Las Vegas.
