Borscht Belt Boras Strikes Again

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Around this time every year, superagent Scott Boras makes elaborate puns and word play to hype up his many clients at the GM Meetings. Your smile mileage may vary, as is the case with anyone who makes dad jokes. Yesterday was no different. This is what he said about Pete Alonso:

 “There’s no doubt Pete’s pursuers are primed to pay the power piper. Pete picked a perfect period to play preeminently at a primary position. A playoff parched plethora will pounce to participate in the Polar Plunge."

I know, I know. But here’s the thing: it’s tradition. And the guy is 73 years old and he doesn’t read off a teleprompter. It’s groan worthy and impressive. Besides, he also said some things of actual substance. His p-poppin’ good time melody was the latter part of his answer to Mike Puma’s question of whether or not Alonso is amicable to more designated hitting. Boras replied, “Pete at this point in his career is about winning. No doubt. Have that question a lot.” Yeah I bet he does. 

This revelation is fairly big. While we still don’t know how flexible Pete wants to be, him conceding that he needs to play more games without his glove is going to make him more valuable, and sure enough, Jon Heyman reported last night that the Mets and Alonso have already begun talking, and seem to be in better communication than they were last offseason when negotiations dragged out until February. The DH revelation might have something to do with this. Another is the fact that there will be more teams besides just the Blue Jays who will compete with the Mets for Alonso’s services this time around. Going into the GM Meetings, I thought there was a less than 50 percent chance the Polar Bear will come back to Queens. Now, I think it’s more than likely, albeit not above, say, 60 percent. I’m still convinced one team is going to offer him more years than the Met would be able to stomach. 

Boras was also asked about Alonso’s defense, and he gave an unintentionally funny answer.  "When you look at the first basemen that can play 100 games, “ Boras said, “you would have to rank Pete right up there in the top seven or eight.” He knew he couldn’t even say top five with a straight face. He went with top “seven or eight.” For what it’s worth, Pete ranked 39th out of 40 first baseman in outs above average (OAA), with a -7 when it comes to run prevention.

As far as Edwin Díaz is concerned, according to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon at The Athetlc, Sugar is looking for a similar deal to the one he got in 2022 - five years, $102 million. Díaz is currently 31 years old, so that would put him at 36 when another five year contract would expire. Maybe he’ll lose something on his fastball, but I still think 5/102 is very fair. While typically you wouldn’t want to go long-term with a closer who relies on velocity, Edwin Díaz is an outlier. And he’s clearly the top closer in the free agent market this year. Rosenthal and Sammon also wrote that Steve and Alex Cohen are “big fans” of Sugar, so I think the Mets would be willing to give him 5/102. 

And they might not even have to worry about the Dodgers in trying to get Díaz’s services. Reportedly LA and Devin Williams have mutual interest in one another for Williams to be their new closer. Apparently the Dodgers are hesitant to go after Díaz because he has the dreaded qualifying offer attached to him (that wouldn’t be the case if the Mets bring him back.) 

But wait, there’s more scuttlebutt. Heyman claimed that the Mets are “looking at” 30-year-old free agent 1B/OF Cody Bellinger. While it seemed like Bellinger was pretty content with the Yankees last season, and the Yankees’ top priority might be getting him back, it doesn’t hurt to, as they say, kick the tires on a guy who you can plug in at first base or center field without a care in the world. 

Back in July, the Mets called the Twins asking about center fielder Byron Buxton. Buxton though refused to waive his no-trade clause. That apparently might change, now that Minnesota is practically a ghost town. If the Twins continue their sell off, Buxton might change his mind. He reportedly wants to play for a “winner.” The Mets are winners! Kinda! Technically they had a winning record last year…

Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns spoke again yesterday in Las Vegas. This time around the most interesting thing he said had to do with Mark Vientos - he badmouthed his defense. "Mark's playing time is and always will be driven by his bat,” Stearns told reporters. “He's a bat-first player. He works very hard on his defense, but he's a bat-first player.” Ouch. Perhaps counterintuitively, this makes Swaggy V all the more likely to be a Met next season - what team is going to want to trade for a guy whose own boss says publicly is one-dimensional? Adding to the confusion is the fact that right before Stearns said that about Vientos, he claimed nobody on the current Met roster is a full-time DH. 

Stearns however talked up Luisangel Acuña as if he is going to be trade bait. "Acuña is such a unique player because the floor is so high of what he can provide. The offensive contribution doesn't need to be elite to solidify an everyday role on a Major League team.” Again, kind of insulting, but he isn’t going to insult the intelligence of other front offices bhy claiming Acuña is a secret hitting savant. 

The Met POBO said what I suspected yesterday - Jeff McNeil will see less time at center field next year. 

And as we suspected late last year when Ronny Mauricio languished on the bench, Stearns admitted Mauricio wasn’t sent down to get at-bats because they wanted to preserve his final option for 2026. Speaking of Mauricio - along with Acuña and possibly Huascar Brazobán, Ronny will play winter ball. That’s news because Mauricio tore his ACL playing winter ball in 2023 - that’s why he missed all of 2024. Stearns said it was an unfortunate incident but the team can’t let that deter Mauricio from getting some reps in. I guess this means they won’t quibble if Edwin Díaz wants to play in the World Baseball Classic next March!

Stearns figured that toe and elbow injuries negatively impacted Francisco Lindor’s defense last year. He said RHP relief prospect Dylan Ross is expected to contribute throughout next season.And it sounds like CF Tyrone Taylor will be tendered a contract next week. 

Japanese RHP Tatsuya Imai will be posted on November 19th.

Met legend Travis Jankowski has apparently retired. He's the new first base coach for the Texas Rangers.

The Rays returned LHP Nate Lavender to the Mets organization. Tampa Bay selected him in the Rule 5 Draft, but then Lavender missed all of 2025 and the Rays didn’t want to make room for him on their 40-man roster anymore. 

On a Meet at the Apple taped in September but uploaded yesterday, Vito Calese and Jonathan Baron (who just left to work for the New York Rangers) interviewed SS prospect Elian Peña and pitching prospect Osiris Calvo.