The Mets have spent two straight years watching October from home, and that reality has put David Stearns on the clock. If New York is going to climb back into the postseason picture in 2027, some familiar names can’t keep occupying starting roles.
Three players in particular stand out as spots the Mets need to upgrade, and the case is pretty straightforward: the production hasn’t matched the cost, the age curve is working against them, or both.
Marcus Semien is the clearest example of a move that never really made sense. Stearns dealt Brandon Nimmo for him in a trade with the Texas Rangers last offseason, and while that eventually opened the door for rookie center fielder A.J.
Ewing, that wasn’t the original idea. Semien’s offensive decline had already been going on for years, and 2026 didn’t change the picture.
He hit .215/.280/.340 with a .620 OPS, 74 OPS+, 15 home runs, 49 RBI and 0.5 bWAR. At 36, and with about $50 million still due over the next two seasons combined, he can’t be the Mets’ starting second baseman in 2027.
New York would be better off finding another answer through free agency or a trade, or using a stopgap until Mitch Voit or Jefferson Rojas is ready.
Sean Manaea is another player the Mets can’t pencil into the 2027 rotation. New York re-signed him to a three-year, $75 million deal after the 2024 season, and that contract has already turned into another costly Stearns misfire.
Manaea has posted back-to-back rough seasons, and the numbers are hard to ignore: a combined -0.5 bWAR over the last two years, along with a drop in velocity. He’ll be 35 in February and is owed $25 million next season, which leaves the Mets with an awkward choice - keep an expensive arm buried on the depth chart or swallow the money.
Either way, his place in the rotation should be gone by 2027.
Then there’s Mark Vientos, whose path back to a starting job looks even murkier. The Mets tried him at first base this season, and the defensive results were ugly.
The bat didn’t help matters either. After breaking out in 2024, Vientos has put together two straight poor seasons offensively, and that makes it tough to justify giving him the everyday DH role, too.
He turns 27 in December and is a candidate to be non-tendered this offseason. At the same time, he still has several years of control left and brings real power potential, which creates the one real wrinkle in his case.
Even so, the Mets may have already seen enough. At the very least, Vientos shouldn’t be in a starting spot next season.
In Other News...
Mets Fans Had Every Reason To Hate This Cheap Yankees Comparison
MLB insider Jon Heyman managed to poke at a sore spot for Mets fans with a comparison nobody in Queens asked for, linking the Yankees early-game mistakes to the Mets defensive struggles from earlier in the 2026 season. It was the kind of casual cross-town shot that lands differently when the subject has already spent months dealing with its own mess, from shaky defense to coaching changes and the broader frustrations that followed.
The sting was less about the Yankees than the reminder of how quickly the Mets became an easy target when things were going wrong. Their defense did tighten up later in the season, and as the errors eased, so did the drumbeat of criticism around the club, which is part of why Heymans tweet felt so unnecessary to plenty of fans. In a season full of challenges, the Mets had already been through the hard part without needing the comparison dragged back up. [Read more 🡒]
Mets History Debate Brings A New 1969 Postseason Honor Into Focus
The 1969 National League Championship Series never handed out an official MVP, but the conversation around that Mets run keeps circling back to Tommie Agee. In a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves, Agee supplied the kind of impact that usually defines a postseason award, giving the Mets timely power and run production at a moment when every swing seemed to matter.
Cleon Jones and Wayne Garrett also played important roles in that series, but Agees bat loomed largest when the Mets needed it most. More than half a century later, the debate over a belated honor is less about rewriting history than finally putting a name on one of the franchises earliest and most important October performances. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Offensive Struggles Just Put More Of Andy Greens Staff In Focus
The Mets coaching room is already headed for a reset, with the team announcing that Jeff Albert, Danny Barnes and Kevin Mahoney will not return to the major league staff for the 2027 season. All three could still remain in the organization in some other capacity, but for now they are free to look around elsewhere, a sign that the club is sorting through more than just roster questions as it tries to steady the offense.
What makes the move more notable is what is not changing. Andy Green is expected to keep the rest of his staff intact, including Troy Snitker, Justin Willard and Kai Correa, giving the Mets a clearer picture of who will be in place as they try to solve their offensive issues. For a team that has spent much of the season searching for answers at the plate, the composition of Greens staff is quickly becoming part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]