Jose Iglesias
We were not in the New York Mets clubhouse in 2025, so we can’t know just how bad things were. In fact, we don’t even know if it was bad.
However, there have been signs. The vibes were different from the OMG Mets. Juan Soto talked about how Starling Marte was the true leader.
The team was just different, but perhaps not. There was the famous story sparking the 2024 turnaround. J.D. Martinez said the Mets needed to recall Jose Iglesias to change the vibes and get the Mets to turn their season around.
Usually, that’s just talk. Chemistry is a talking point. It’s something to talk about to explain why teams aren’t performing to their expectations. However, with the 2024 Mets, the chemistry change actually worked.
Something was off, and it seems David Stearns traded Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil to change the clubhouse. In the announced sake for run prevention, the Mets added Marcus Semien, who is a great defensive second baseball and a renown clubhouse leader.
Again, we can question the decision to trade Nimmo and McNeil. We just can’t know how necessary it was. Let’s take Stearns word for it that trading them was absolutely necessary.
The real problem here is Stearns hasn’t fixed the outfield, and he’s running out of options.
For a moment, let’s overlook how he has been pushing run prevention while also having aggressively pursued Tucker. Nimmo was a -1 OAA in left, and he is getting slower.
Tucker was a -2 OAA, and he’s slower than Nimmo. While Nimmo played nearly everyday, Tucker is becoming increasingly injury prone. Tucker is a much better hitter, and he is younger.
Tucker was not the great fit for a team who is harping on run prevention. However, when you get rid of a left fielder to fix team chemistry with no real plan in place, you offer $60 million per year for an imperfect to bad philosophical fit.
That’s also the result of few options on the free agent market. There were few options on thf trade market. The deeper we get into the offseason we see the plan was to change the chemistry without a definitive plan to actually address left field.
Nimmo was the left fielder. He is gone. With Semien aboard, McNeil moves to left where he has been good. He was an All-Star left fielder. He’s gone.
Right now, for the Mets, it’s Cody Bellinger or bust. Bellinger is younger and better than Nimmo. He’s arguably better than Tucker. He’s the most versatile. He might’ve been the best fit overall.
However, he wants a seven year deal. Stearns doesn’t like going to five years, and with the Mets, he’s proven sheepish to go to three years. Bellinger has a five year $150 million offer from the Yankees, who also need him desperately.
The Mets are in a bad place trying to replace Nimmo in left field. Things are worse when you consider they also need to solve center. Maybe they get Bellinger. Maybe there’s a trade candidate we haven’t heard be linked to the Mets.
Whatever the case, the Mets have two massive holes in the outfield. The options are dwindling, and the closer we get to spring training, the more it seems the Mets can’t fill both holes.
Stearns might’ve been right about needing to fix the clubhouse chemistry. The hope is he didn’t sacrifice 2026 to do it.
New York Mets fans are devastated Pete Alonso has left the New York Mets for the Baltimore Orioles. It’s an especially tough hit after Edwin Díaz left to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There are some differences and similarities. In reality, who cares what they are when the end result is Alonso is a former Met.
With Alonso, he’s a forever fan favorite with some truly great moments. He was the Rookie of the Year breaking the rookie home run record. That would also be the first of back-to-back Home Run Derby titles.
He’s the Mets all-time single season and career home run leader. We can tick off all of our favorite memories, but we should all be able to agree his best moment as a Met was in Game Three of the 2024 Wild Card Series:
Imagine telling a Mets fan on October 3, 2024 that come 2026 Alonso would be gone, and Devin Williams would be a Met.
From a Mets perspective, it’s hard to argue with them not re-signing Alonso. There are plenty of slugging first basemen that fell apart at this point in their careers.
Fred McGriff had 262 homers through his age 30 season. He hung around for another 10 years and never got to 500 homers. For reference, Alonso is at 264.
Ryan Howard had 253 through his age 30 season. As we know, his career fell apart after that, and he’d only hit 129 homers over the next six years.
Yes, there are other examples for guys who were successful past 30. We don’t have to look far with the Mets bidding for Kyle Schwarber before Schwarber returned to the Phillies on a five year deal.
Whatever the case, we can look to last offseason as to the big reason Alonso likely left.
Alonso was looking for a massive payday, and no one was willing to give it to him. The negotiations irritated Steve Cohen with Cohen remarking, “I’m being brutally honest. I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us.”
Both sides were angry and hurt with the bitterness apparently still lingering. After all, Alonso didn’t even wait to get out of his full uniform before announcing he was opting out of his deal.
For their part, the Mets never made a formal offer. That was on the heels of their pursuit of Schwarber.
Let’s be honest. Both sides were ready to go separate ways. The Mets didn’t want to give him a massive deal that will likely age badly, and Alonso wanted to go somewhere that would pay him like a superstar.
Alonso wanted to go, and he found a home. Unlike Díaz, he didn’t go somewhere to win a World Series. He went and got paid. There is nothing wrong with that.
All this means is that LFGM is dead like OMG died when Jose Iglesias left. A future Hall of Famer left the door with the Mets searching for ways to replace him.
Pete Alonso is an Oriole, and the Mets are in transition. That’s for the best for everyone. Best of luck to him, thanks for the memories, and for one last time:
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LFGM
Go back to the 2024 season. We will forever tell tales of Francisco Lindor’s heroics, and the pitching feats of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and David Peterson. We will talk about the shrewd bullpen moves of Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton.
There was Grimace, and of course, Jose Iglesias and OMG.
All that is true, but we also need to discuss how the Mets allowed young players have an opportunity to prove themselves leading to the run the Mets had.
Mark Vientos became a slugging third baseman. The missing piece of the lineup. The Mets gave Jose Butto and Dedniel Nunez prove themselves, and they did. As much as anything, it was the youth that helped the Mets on their 2024 run.
Arguably, it was abandoning the youth that harmed the 2025 Mets chances.
Luisangel Acuna was the second baseman on Opening Day because Jeff McNeil was injured. Acuna was the National League Rookie of the Month for the first month of the season.
When he struggled, Acuna was put on the bench in favor of McNeil. Even if he struggled down the stretch, McNeil was good this year with a 2 OAA and 111 wRC+. He was a very good player, but that did not mean Acuna needed to be relegated to just a pinch runner and defensive replacement.
That is why players like Travis Jankowski, who had a brief stint with the Mets, exist. Acuna needed more playing time.
There was also the matter of Vientos. Vientos helped to save the 2024 Mets, and they nearly forgot all that he did for them. Yes, he struggled out of the gate (he’s always been a slow starter), and he had injuries which exacerbated his struggles.
That said, we know what he was capable of doing. This was the Mets best hitter in the postseason. When the DH spot opened up, he went on an absolute tear until they again decided to give him intermittent playing time.
Butto struggled part of this year, and he was shipped off as part of an overpay for Tyler Rogers. The Mets called up Dom Hamel multiple times and only used him once, and instead opted to continued burning out their bullpen when he could’ve eaten innings.
Ronny Mauricio was called up after a rash of injuries. Mauricio surprised by playing an excellent third base, which metrics best on the team. However, he struggled offensively with a 29.3 K% and 88 wRC+. Because of these struggles, he was placed on the bench, unused for much of the season instead of sending him back to Syracuse to develop.
Then, there’s the Mets waiting as long as they did to call-up Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat. McLean was an ace as soon as he was called up, and Sproat showed real flashes.
Sure, you could justify waiting on them because you never know when a pitcher is truly ready. Jonah Tong’s struggles are evidence of that. Still, when the Mets needed a starter, they waited forever before calling up a trio of pitchers that earned the opportunity.
To sum up, the Mets sidelined a promising young second baseman and a third baseman that helped lead them to the NLCS. They took a talented third baseman and gave him no playing time. They didn’t use their young pitching as the also-rans faltered.
The Mets made a lot of mistakes in 2025. The biggest of them all was abandoning their young players and not allowing them to be a driving force like they were in 2024. That’s partially why they are home in 2025 while they made a run to the NLCS in 2024.
Multiple things can be true at once. In no way should anyone expect Jose Iglesias to repeat his 2024 season or come even close.
That said, the Mets should bring him back for the 2025 season.
Iglesias was a shocking revelation in 2024. In 85 games, he hit .337/.381/.448. That was good for a career best 137 wRC+.
Most of his damage came against left-handed pitching. Over 101 plate appearances, he had an astounding 184 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
It’s a small sample size for sure, but Iglesias has always fared well against left-handed pitching with a 110 wRC+ over his career.
It’s an important consideration with Jeff McNeil struggling against left-handed pitching in his career. McNeil had a 78 wRC+ against lefties last year and a 104 over the past three years.
Iglesias has been better against left-handed pitching than McNeil. Having both allows Carlos Mendoza to have a platoon and/or late game flexibility. He can find the matchups he wants by having both players.
There’s also the Pete Alonso factor. Right now, Alonso is unsigned, and the way it looks now, he will not be a Met in 2025. As part of the planning for that potentially happening, Mark Vientos will likely move to first.
If the Mets cannot make another move, it would mean yet another chance for Brett Baty. If he fails, maybe Ronny Mauricio, who is returning from a torn ACL. Maybe not.
Whatever the case, Iglesias is a nice insurance policy. He can be a right-handed bat who shields the young players from the tough lefties. He could also take over at third if needed.
Iglesias has always been a very good fielder. He can absolutely handle third as a stop gap until the Mets add someone at the trade deadline. If Iglesias hits somewhere close to a 100 wRC+, he could hold the position all year.
There’s also his presence in the clubhouse. He was a very well liked player by teammates and fans alike. The OMG song and sign was a massive part of the 2024 success story.
It wouldn’t feel right seeing him taking that to another team. It’s forever part of Mets lore, and the good vibes there should carry forward for at least another season.
If Alonso returns or leaves, theres a role here for Iglesias. The Mets would benefit from his presence and more OMG. Iglesias was a significant part of the success story of the 2024 season and can be that again in 2025.
For a brief moment when Jeff McNeil singled home Tyron Taylor, you let yourself dream one last time. Francisco Álvarez was suddenly hitting great, and then it’s Francisco Lindor. Mark Vientos would represent the tying run . . . .
Look, if there was any team that could do it, it was this New York Mets team. If anything, a six run rally with two outs would perfectly encapsulate what this team had been.
Sadly, Álvarez grounded out to end the series.
They’ll tell us the Los Angeles Dodgers were just the better team. The Mets were lucky to get this far. Us Mets fans know better.
There was so much fun with this team with Grimace and OMG. Jose Iglesias was this year’s José Valentíne. Sean Manae became an ace. Carlos Mendoza looks like he may well soon be the best manager in baseball.
Lindor was an MVP in every sense of the word. Vientos finally got his chance and would show the world he’s a star in the making. Pete Alonso reminded us why we loved him so.
This is a Mets team we will remember and cherish forever.
The reasons to adore this team are far too many to count, but in the end, this team was quintessentially a Mets team. In some ways, this run was reminiscent of the 1999 run that just fell short. Fortunately, with Steve Cohen and David Stearns, we know this is just the beginning of what can be a long, dominant stretch.
As for now, time just caught up with this team.
Brandon Nimmo was just too injured. There were just too many innings on the arms of Manae and Luis Severino. There wasn’t enough time for Kodai Senga to get where he needed to be. José Buttó and Phil Maton couldn’t carry that regular season success into the postseason.
In the moment, you’re wringing your hands saying if only the Mets got just one hit (other than Vientos’ grand slam) with the bases loaded it would be a completely different series. There are moves like J.D. Martinez in Games 3 and 4 where you’re left wondering what if . . . .
Sitting there on my couch with an upset 10 year old, all you can say is this one hurt. It’s hurts that they lost. It hurts because we all completely fell in love with this team and reminded you why you love the New York Mets with every fiber of your being.
This was the first real postseason run for my kids. For me, I was way too young in 1986, and 1988 was fleeting. But to this day, I’ll forever cherish the 1999 team.
I can tell you everything about that team, and I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t say that wasn’t the greatest defensive infield of all time.
For my sons, Lindor is their Mike Piazza. Vientos is their Edgardo Alfonzo. Manea and Severino are their Al Leiter and Rick Reed. Fortunately, no one will be their Armando Benitez.
Ultimately, this is the team you point back to and say this is why I love baseball. I love the Mets.
When they’re raising their sons to be Mets fans, they will talk about Lindor against the Braves, Alonso against the Brewers, Vientos’ NLDS, and all this season entailed.
For now, it’s pain. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, it’ll be fondly remembered.
For my dad, I don’t know how many more of these we have left. The 1999 and 2000 runs we special. It’s only cruel we had Adam Wainwright doing color in the this year’s NLDS. We left Game 3 of the 2015 World Series thinking they were going to win. We were holding onto hope after Game 5.
There’s always a certain magic when the Mets make these runs. Maybe it’s because it’s just their 11th postseason appearance, but in reality it’s more.
Because it’s always so special and magical, it hurts more. I wanted this for Lindor and what we have the fans, for Alonso in what may be his last year with the Mets, and Nimmo for staying.
Mostly, I wanted it for my family. I don’t want to be the 1994 New York Rangers fan or 2004 Boston Red Sox fan visiting a grave telling dad we finally did it. I want to be there with my boys, dad, and brother having that one moment.
Just one.
Maybe this is the springboard for 2025. Maybe that will be the year the Mets won. For now, it’s just appreciating what was while thinking about what could have been.
So, to that, thank you to the 2024 Mets for this magical season. Your team will be forever loved by Mets fans and will always have a special place in my heart.