Mets' issues raise concerns for present and future: David Stearns weighs in (2024)

NEW YORK — Some of the issues that have made the New York Mets a losing team through the first third of the season also cast doubt on how quickly the club can turn into a consistent winner.

That’s problematic for a franchise with the stated goal of sustainable success.

Before the Mets (22-32) lost both games of a doubleheader Tuesday to the Los Angeles Dodgers — coincidentally the model franchise for spending, developing and winning —New York president of baseball operations David Stearns was peppered with the kind of questions reserved for a club in a bad way.

Is the core good enough? When will ace Kodai Senga make his season debut? When will the top position-player prospect return from an injury? What’s up with the defense? What’s up with third base? What’s up with the struggles of one of the best closers in baseball? What will you do at the trade deadline? What can you do at the trade deadline?

Given the range and depth of those questions, it’s appropriate to wonder, compared to the start of spring training, how much further away are the Mets from their goal of year-over-year competitiveness?

“I think we continue to take steps toward that goal,” Stearns said. “We’ve seen players like Christian Scott really take steps forward in their development. And we’re going to need to have those types of development success stories to get there.”

That’s not all it will take, though. Not with this organization.

"Our goal is to create an organization that is competing at a championship-caliber level for a long time. We continue to take steps towards that goal."

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David Stearns evaluates where the Mets are in the grand scheme of their big picture goals: pic.twitter.com/PZu5jsfpqL

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 28, 2024

The Mets don’t have many players locked up for the long term and the few they have come with questions. The Mets have Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Kodai Senga and Edwin Díaz under contract beyond next season. Lindor, Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso represent a core group of position players that has largely underachieved.

Stearns said he still believes the Mets can make a run for the playoffs in 2024. He cited the “talent in the clubhouse” and the “belief that that group has in itself.” The Mets’ nucleus, though, hasn’t succeeded as a unit since before it stumbled down the stretch in 2022 — the only time they’ve made the playoffs together. Why does Stearns have confidence in it?

“I think it’s difficult to judge entire eras of baseball, or entire seasons by one relatively small grouping of players,” Stearns said. “So I’m more focused on how can we put together an entirety of a team and really an entirety of an organization that allows us to compete for championships on an annual basis.”

That’s true; a few players alone aren’t responsible for the Mets’ failures. However, those are some of the team’s highest-paid and most talented players. They are more responsible than others, especially when a sizable portion of the role players have performed fine, including several who are on one-year deals, anyway.

In a rotation featuring at least a couple of pitchers on expiring deals, Senga was supposed to be the stalwart in 2024 and beyond. Instead, he has yet to pitch this season because of a shoulder injury. He played catch on Tuesday for the first time since being shut down last week because of inflammation in his triceps area. He has no timetable for a return.

“I don’t have a definitive timeframe there,” Stearns said. “I wish I did. Clearly, any timeframe I’ve given you guys earlier on this one we’ve blown past. And so I’m not going to speculate going forward. I do know he’s working really hard, and our medical staff is working really hard to get him back out there as soon as possible. I can’t tell you when that’s going to be.”

Then there’s Díaz. In a bullpen similar to the rotation — filled with players who are supposed to be short-term solutions — Díaz was expected to be a lights-out reliever for years to come. Instead, he has blown four saves with a 5.40 ERA.

“Edwin’s a really good pitcher, an elite-level pitcher who’s going through a rough patch,” Stearns said, “and I expect him to come out of it and bounce back just fine.”

The Mets need more pitching development wins, so Stearns’ point regarding Scott — who debuted earlier this month and has looked the part of a top prospect — makes sense. There are more pitchers in the farm system worth getting excited about such as Jonah Tong (High A), Brandon Sproat (Double A) and Blade Tidwell (Triple A), among others. But the Mets also lost minor-league reliever Nate Lavender for the season and pitching prospect Calvin Ziegler to Tommy John surgery.

While the Mets wait on their future, they need more information on some unaccomplished players with experience like Tylor Megill and David Peterson. But both pitchers have missed time with injury. Megill returned last week and made his third start on Tuesday. Peterson, coming back from hip surgery, will make his season debut on Wednesday. It’s hard for the Mets to know what they have in them without a sustained runway.

The Mets have one of the oldest rosters in baseball. They have missed catcher Francisco Alvarez’s energy and talent while he’s been out with a thumb injury. Alvarez, 22, will start a rehab assignment on Thursday. He will continue to wear a splint while catching and hitting, however, Stearns said, which will call into question his availability for everyday playing time as a catcher once he rejoins the Mets.

Elsewhere, the only youth found on the Mets roster is at third base, where they are splitting time between Mark Vientos and Brett Baty, two 24-year-olds. Soon, though, the Mets will have to choose one for the position, Stearns acknowledged. He said at some point the Mets need to add a middle infielder to their bench (they do not have one). The way Stearns sees it, having both Baty and Vientos face major-league pitching is best for their development — even if it comes at the expense of not playing every day, apparently.

“There’s no easy solution here,” Stearns said. “I do think we have two players who deserve to be in the big leagues, and that’s why they’re both here right now.”

Third base is where the Mets are caught in the middle of wanting to compete in 2024 but also wanting to develop players for the future. They’d have more opportunities to play both Vientos and Baty if they hadn’t signed designated hitter J.D. Martinez. Now, they are trying to learn about both players through one position.

Another young presence doesn’t appear to be imminent. Beyond Ronny Mauricio, who was lost for the year because of an ACL injury during winter ball, the Mets entered the season with three position-player prospects closely ranked by minor-league pundits: Jett Williams, Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuña. While Acuña has started to show signs of heating up, his OPS remains .654 at Triple A.

Gilbert (hamstring) and Williams (wrist), the team’s top prospect, have been out with injuries for the last several weeks. The Mets expect Gilbert back in the second half of June. Stearns said Williams required a second cortisone shot because of continued soreness, and if that doesn’t help, the team could explore other options like surgery.

Thus, neither the present nor the near future appears invariably bright. It’s entirely possible all of that changes for the Mets; there’s still time. Which is why Stearns pointed to July as a more reasonable time for trade deadline chatter, despite the Mets’ struggles. However, until the Mets show they are worth believing in with better performance, questions about their present and future will continue to follow them into the upcoming months.

(Photo of David Stearns from Oct. 2, 2023: Gordon Donovan / NurPhoto via Associated Press)

Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon