David Stearns heard the message loud and clear the night Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run at the ballpark he used to call home. Mets fans weren’t just watching a milestone for an old favorite. They were chanting “FIRE STEARNS” all evening, letting the president of baseball operations know exactly how they feel about the way the polar bear’s situation was handled before he ended up in Baltimore last offseason.
Steve Cohen has already made his stance obvious: Stearns isn’t going anywhere. So if the goal is repairing a frayed relationship with the fan base, the work has to start somewhere else. The cleanest move on the board may be a long-term extension for rookie Carson Benge.
Benge hasn’t quite put himself in the NL Rookie of the Year spotlight the way Reds infielder Sal Stewart has, but he’s still put together a strong first season. His defense has improved sharply in the second half, and his offense is closing in on a rare rookie benchmark. He’s two homers and a double away from a 20-homer, 20-double, 20-stolen base season, and his OPS after the All-Star break is nearly 50 points better than it was before it.
That kind of growth is exactly why the Mets should at least explore locking him up early. Early-career extensions have become common around the league, though the Mets have mostly sat out that trend so far. If Stearns wants to show fans he’s serious about building with the right young players, this is the place to start.
The price tag is the next question, and there are plenty of recent deals to use as a guide. The first name that jumps out is Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony, who signed for $130M over eight years last year.
But Benge shouldn’t be in that neighborhood. Anthony’s rookie numbers were stronger, led by an .859 OPS, and he entered the league as the consensus top prospect in baseball.
Benge had a solid prospect profile, but not that kind of resume.
A more realistic range might come from what the Athletics have done with their own young outfielders. Right fielder Lawrence Butler signed for seven years and $65.5M, while left fielder Tyler Soderstrom got seven years and $86MM.
Butler’s deal is tempting as a baseline, but he didn’t bring top-100 prospect status before breaking out, and he also didn’t offer the ability to handle center field the way Benge can. Soderstrom may be the better middle ground, even if his bat was much louder.
Before his extension, he posted 25 homers, 34 doubles and a .346 on-base percentage, and that deal covered his age 24-through-30 seasons with a club option for age 31.
If Benge landed something similar, he’d be in a Mets uniform through 2033, with a club option for 2034.
That kind of commitment is what Mets fans want to see after the Alonso situation. The damage there can’t be undone. The best response now is to avoid repeating it with the next wave of young talent, including Benge and right-hander Nolan McLean, and show more loyalty to the homegrown core before it gets away.
In Other News...
Steve Cohen Just Escalated The Mets Accountability Debate
As the Mets have worked through another stretch of frustration, the question of accountability around the front office has become part of the conversation around Citi Field. David Lennon of Newsday added fuel to that discussion by saying David Stearns had not been seen at the ballpark recently, a point that quickly drew attention from fans already looking for signs of how the club is handling its struggles.
Steve Cohen then stepped in to push back, saying Stearns was with him in the dugout before a game. It was a small detail, but the kind that tends to land with extra weight when the team is under a microscope, because for Mets fans the bigger issue is not just whether Stearns was physically around, but how visible and accountable the baseball operation feels while the results remain uneven. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Loss Took A Back Seat To A Frightening Jared Young Scare
The Mets 3-0 loss to the Phillies ended up feeling like a footnote after a scary collision between Nolan McLean and Jared Young turned the afternoon into one of concern rather than frustration. New York never found much offense against Philadelphia, but the bigger issue was the health of Young, who was taken to the hospital after the play.
The good news from the clubhouse was encouraging enough to quiet the worst fears, with the Mets confirming that Young had feeling in and full use of his extremities. Even so, the scene left the game with an uneasy tone, and it is the kind of moment that can linger well after the final out, especially when a routine summer matchup suddenly turns into a medical concern. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Replacement Plan For Jeff McNeil Looks More Uncomfortable Now
The Mets moved on from Jeff McNeil with a clear idea in mind, sending him to the Athletics and lining up Brett Baty to take on the kind of super utility role they had been hoping to stabilize. On paper, the fit made sense for a club trying to balance production and payroll, especially with McNeils recent decline and Batys cheaper 2026 season giving the front office some flexibility.
Batys path, though, has made the transition feel less straightforward than the Mets likely wanted. The organization had envisioned him growing into a dependable everyday utility piece, but his current offensive output has not come close to matching the level McNeil once reached as an All-Star. The cost savings are real, but so is the risk that the Mets are asking a player still searching for consistency to fill a much bigger role than he has yet fully claimed. [Read more 🡒]