Sports

No more Nimmo, Timmy Trumpet and their all-time HR king: Remaking the Mets after historic collapse

Published

9 hours ago

December 16, 2025

No more Nimmo, Timmy Trumpet and their all-time HR king: Remaking the Mets after historic collapse

Jorge CastilloDec 16, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close

The New York Mets arrived in Orlando, Florida, for the winter meetings last week with a chance to re-sign closer Edwin Diaz and first baseman Pete Alonso.

Díaz had already received two contract offers — one of three years from the Los Angeles Dodgers and another of five years from the Atlanta Braves. Díaz, though miffed by the Mets not alerting him before signing free agent reliever Devin Williams a few days before, still wanted to wait for an offer from his longtime team, sources told ESPN.

The offer came on Dec. 7: three years, $66 million with $21 million deferred over 10 years. Negotiations continued from there, and the Mets ultimately produced another offer, adding a $9 million signing bonus to match the Dodgers, with the $21 million deferred over 15 years.

But Díaz, who turns 32 in March, wanted an annual average value of at least $20 million and less deferred money spread over a shorter period. The Mets, according to a source, refused to meet those terms. The Braves, though offering more years, also declined to meet the criteria.

That left the Dodgers, the two-time defending World Series champions — with a nudge from Díaz’s Puerto Rican compatriot Kiké Hernández — to make an improved third offer: three years, $69 million with a $9 million bonus, $13.5 million in deferred money over 10 years, and a conditional $6.5 million option for 2029 that would trigger if he spends a certain number of days on the injured list. Díaz accepted, giving the Dodgers another All-Star for their loaded roster and another hole for the Mets to fill.

The next day, Alonso agreed to a five-year, $155 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles — terms so far beyond the Mets’ valuation of the 31-year-old slugger that they didn’t even make the franchise’s all-time home run leader a formal offer, according to sources, after showing real interest in fellow slugger Kyle Schwarber before he re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. On Friday, the day Díaz and Alonso were introduced by their new teams, the Toronto Blue Jays outbid the Mets for reliever Tyler Rogers, whom the Mets had acquired at the trade deadline for a doomed playoff push.

The losses, less than three weeks after Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns traded Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien in a swap of veterans with expensive contracts, were jarring to the fan base. In a vacuum, each decision can be explained with sound logic. But the departure of three mainstays — plus Rogers — produced an emotional firestorm. Nimmo, Alonso and Díaz were core players and fan favorites, with talent and personality that made them main characters at Citi Field for years. Now they are gone.

The Mets’ offseason, which began with most of manager Carlos Mendoza’s coaching staff shown the door, has thus far made one point clear: Stearns believes an overhaul is necessary after the team’s slow-motion collapse this year eradicated the previous season’s unforeseen run to the National League Championship Series. He determined the core wasn’t good enough not only after the Mets lost the final NL wild-card spot to the Cincinnati Reds on the last day of the 2025 campaign with a payroll of $340 million, but also because the team has now posted just two postseason series wins in seven seasons. Steve Cohen, the richest owner in baseball, has given Stearns the green light to operate as he sees fit — with calculated discipline — in his third offseason at the helm.

“I think we’re always weighing how certain transactions fit into the larger puzzle of the resources we have,” Stearns said at the winter meetings. “We have a lot of resources. No team has unending resources, and I’ve said that before. We’ve got all the resources we need, all of the payroll space. We need to put a really good team on the field. That doesn’t mean it’s infinite, nor should it be.”

Now the pressure is on Stearns to complement the Mets’ two remaining cornerstones — Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto — with the necessary personnel to rebound from 2025 and soothe the fan base.

The offseason is far from over. There are moves to make and they’ve already begun — the Mets initiated their pivot on Saturday, when they signed veteran infielder Jorge Polanco to a two-year, $40 million contract. With a projected payroll already pushing $300 million, what could be next for Stearns & Co.?

Here’s a unit-by-unit look.

The starting rotation

Starting pitching, the No. 1 reason for the Mets’ downfall in 2025, has so far been largely unaddressed. That will undoubtedly change. The Mets added depth by claiming Cooper Criswell off waivers from the Boston Red Sox, but they are determined to make more substantial modifications to a group that currently includes Nolan McLean, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat.

For one, New York has informed teams that Peterson and Senga are available in potential contract swap trades, rival executives told ESPN, similar to the Nimmo-for-Semien exchange. Why trade from the rotation when they’re looking to improve it? The goal is to add front-line talent alongside the promising McLean.

“I think the trade market, in general, agnostic of position, is pretty active,” Stearns said. “And I think there’s a lot of chatter, and has been throughout this offseason, among teams in the trade market. Seems like teams in general are maybe a little bit more open and willing to be creative, to talk about different types of structures, to talk about need-for-need-type trades at the major league level than maybe we’ve seen over the past couple of years at least.”

Stearns strongly prefers not to give long-term contracts to starting pitchers in their late 20s and into their 30s. So, left-handed ace Framber Valdez, at 32, is a potential option only if his market craters and he’s open to a short-term deal. Michael King, a high-upside right-hander coming off an injury-plagued age-30 season with the San Diego Padres, could qualify for the Mets’ short-term preference. The former New York Yankee has a 2.93 ERA since converting from reliever to starter in August 2023, good for seventh in the majors among starters with at least 250 innings pitched.

In the trade market, Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, who is owed just $8 million in 2026 before reaching free agency, is available for the right terms, sources told ESPN. The right-hander went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA in 33 starts last season and has a 3.40 ERA in 95 starts over the past three seasons. Stearns is also familiar with Peralta from his eight years leading Milwaukee’s front office.

The Padres, looking to offload payroll, are open to trading right-hander Nick Pivetta one year after giving him a four-year, $55 million contract, sources told ESPN. Pivetta, 32, had his best big league season in 2025, registering a 2.87 ERA in 181⅔ innings across 31 starts. The Washington Nationals are also exploring trading MacKenzie Gore, a 26-year-old left-hander with two years of team control remaining. Gore was an All-Star for the first time in 2025, finishing with a 4.17 ERA in 30 starts after a turbulent second half.

Then there’s Tarik Skubal, arguably the best pitcher in the world. Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris has not shut down speculation of trading the two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner — he instead recently reiterated there aren’t any “untouchables” in the organization — but it would take a huge haul for a player who is just one year from free agency. The Tigers also want to compete in a very winnable AL Central after consecutive playoff appearances, and they ultimately have until the trade deadline to move him.

Industry consensus is the Mets’ farm system has drastically improved in recent years, giving them the ammo to land established top-tier major leaguers in trades even if their top two prospects — McLean and outfielder Carson Benge — are off the table.

The bullpen

Díaz’s departure means no more of his signature Timmy Trumpet-infused entrances from the bullpen at Citi Field, and, more importantly, that Williams — signed to a three-year, $51 million deal — will assume the closer role.

“And we’re very comfortable with that,” Stearns said hours after news of Díaz’s decision broke last week. “I’ve certainly seen Devin perform at a very high level for a long time. I have full confidence that he can be one of the best relievers in baseball. I think he’s very motivated to do that, and I’m looking forward to watching.”

But the Mets’ front office has plenty of work left to do in the bullpen. As it stands, left-handers A.J. Minter, who will be coming off surgery for a lat tear, and Brooks Raley are the top established relievers outside of Williams.

The Mets also already missed out on Rogers, who agreed to a three-year, $37 million contract with a vesting option for a fourth year with Toronto, and Robert Suarez, who signed a three-year, $45 million contract with the Braves. Remaining options in free agency include Pete Fairbanks, Seranthony Dominguez, Luke Weaver, Brad Keller, Pierce Johnson, Kirby Yates and Shawn Armstrong.

The best possible replacement for Díaz could be Mason Miller if the Padres are willing to trade him. Miller, 27, has established himself as one of the top relievers in baseball with a fastball that averages over 100 mph. The right-hander compiled a 0.77 ERA in 22 appearances after the Padres acquired him at the trade deadline from the A’s for a four-player package that included shortstop Leodalis De Vries, one of the top prospects in the sport.

The infield

The 32-year-old Polanco, originally a shortstop before transitioning to second base, hasn’t logged an inning at first base in his 12-year major league career. Still, the Mets plan on using him there, as well as at designated hitter. Knee and hamstring injuries plagued the switch-hitter in 2023 and 2024 before he posted one of his best seasons in 2025, hitting 26 home runs with an .821 OPS in 138 games for the Seattle Mariners.

The other options for first base and designated hitter are Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos. The Mets, however, have informed teams that both players are available in trades, rival executives told ESPN. McNeil, a 33-year-old former batting champion who can play around the diamond, is owed $15.75 million in 2026 and has a club option for the same amount for 2027. Vientos, 26, grades out as a subpar defender but enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, hitting 27 home runs with an .837 OPS in 111 games, before regressing to a .233/.289/.413 slash line and 17 home runs in 121 games in 2025. He is under team control through 2029.

Otherwise, the Mets’ infield appears set with Semien at second base, Lindor at shortstop, Brett Baty at third base and Francisco Alvarez behind the plate.

The outfield

With Soto entrenched in right field — Mendoza recently said having Soto DH is off the table despite his substantial defensive regression last season because Soto doesn’t like the role — the Mets have a hole in left field after trading Nimmo and could use an upgrade in center.

“I think between what’s available in free agency and some of the names that are being talked about in the trade market, that there’s a pretty robust group out there,” Stearns said of available outfielders during the winter meetings. “There’s a pretty robust market, and we’re going to continue to explore that. And I also think we’ve got some really good internal candidates as well.”

If the season began tomorrow, McNeil would play left field with Tyrone Taylor or Benge in center. Stearns has said he expects Benge, a first-round pick in 2024, to contribute in 2026, and that could be in center or left.

External outfield options include free agents Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker or trading from the team’s starting pitching depth for a contractually cheaper alternative. Bellinger could play center, left and first base. Tucker hasn’t played left field since 2020.

Both players seek long-term contracts, which could give Stearns pause. He has remained firm in his approach during a transformative offseason. Time will tell if the approach is the right one.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Alden González contributed to this report.

Source link

Sports

Which NHL teams are most at risk of a shocking playoff miss?

Published

1 hour ago

December 16, 2025

cineplex360

Which NHL teams are most at risk of a shocking playoff miss?

Neil PaineDec 16, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close

Traditionally speaking, Thanksgiving in the U.S. and then the first few weeks of December tend to be seen as important markers in the NHL season — the moment at which early-season trends and struggles can no longer be completely waved away as “small-sample-size theater” but instead need to be taken at least a little bit seriously.

That truth goes especially for teams that went into the season with aspirations for a playoff berth but currently find themselves staring at longer odds to get in than they expected. And in a scrambled-up campaign such as this, the 2025-26 season offers plenty of teams who fit that description. So let’s zoom in on eight of them, examining what has gone wrong and what they might do about it.

Specifically, these are the teams who entered the season with relatively high playoff odds (per the Elo rating forecasts) but now find themselves most on the wrong side of the postseason bubble. Along the way, we’ll also identify the other team in the standings that is their “nemesis” from here on — the one whose playoff fate correlates most inversely with their own, meaning they’ll need to chase that team down or otherwise elbow it out of the way if they hope to overcome their slow start.

Note: All numbers are as of Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. Teams are sorted by highest preseason playoff chances.

Playoff chances: Preseason: 87% | Current: 53%

By now, it’s fair to say the two-time defending champs might actually be in a bit of trouble. Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov haven’t played a single game yet this season due to injuries — the former is skating again and might be back relatively soon, but the latter figures to be out until at least the playoffs — while holdover names like Sam Reinhart, Gustav Forsling, Carter Verhaeghe, Aaron Ekblad and, in net, Sergei Bobrovsky are on pace for diminished production this season vs. last.

There’s still time for the Panthers to turn things around, and they have a tendency to improve as the schedule progresses in recent years anyway. But for now, it’s truly a toss-up whether we’ll even see them back in the playoffs again, much less a third straight Final, or if they’ll become the first defending champ to miss out since the 2015 Los Angeles Kings.

Nemesis: Toronto Maple Leafs. When Toronto misses the playoffs, Florida makes it 60% of the time; when the Leafs get in, Florida’s chances fall to 47%. Interestingly, the majority of both teams’ playoff odds come from chasing down one of the higher-ranked teams in the Atlantic, not sneaking in as a wild-card team: Only 21% of the time does either team make it in as a wild card.

Playoff chances: Preseason: 84% | Current: 56%

The President’s Trophy Curse keeps on giving to Winnipeg. After bowing out vs. Dallas in Round 2 of last year’s playoffs, the Jets started out this year fine enough, but haven’t been the same since reigning league MVP Connor Hellebuyck was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury in the middle of November. In his absence, Winnipeg had just three wins in 12 games, and they’re tied with the Devils for the league’s worst record specifically in December.

That situation has their playoff odds leaking down from 86% on Nov. 15 to just 56% now, sending them tumbling squarely into the West’s wild-card blender. Hellebuyck made his return this weekend, so these chances could stabilize some, but he’ll do nothing to fix an offense that’s fallen from third in scoring last year to 16th this season.

Nemesis: Utah Mammoth. Utah is in every team’s crosshairs out of the Central, if not the whole West, being the team most likely to finish exactly one spot out of the playoffs. But the Winnipeg-Utah battle might end up being the most consequential nemesis matchup in the entire league from this point onward.

In simulations where Utah misses the playoffs, Winnipeg makes it 62% of the time — but in those where Utah makes it, the Jets’ chances fall to 41%, one of the biggest gaps in one team’s odds associated with another team making or missing the playoffs.

Playoff chances: Preseason: 74% | Current: 51%

All of the preseason speculation in Toronto was around how the Leafs would fare in their first season after the departure of Mitch Marner broke up their longtime Core Four — which also included John Tavares, Auston Matthews and William Nylander. And a cursory look at the standings or playoff projections might cause you to think the Leafs are badly missing their former star playmaker. But although Toronto has slid into a coin-flip to make or miss the playoffs, they’re scoring more now than they did last season (3.30 goals per game vs. 3.26).

Instead, the Leafs’ problems have come on the goal-prevention side, where they’ve slipped from eighth to 19th, while allowing more shots per game with a worse save percentage. Whether that’s a fixable problem or not might depend on how soon the Leafs can get healthy with many defenders and goalies currently on the shelf — though backup goalie Dennis Hildeby has acquitted himself mostly well after being pressed into duty, and the team’s play has ticked up recently.

Nemesis: Florida Panthers. There’s a certain logic to the fact that the Panthers, who knocked the Leafs out of the playoffs in both 2023 and 2025, are Toronto’s biggest impediment to making the postseason this time around. With both teams next to each other in the wild-card mix, the Leafs make it only 45% of the time when the Panthers also get in, but that figure rises to 59% in the simulations where Florida fails to get in.

Dennis Hildeby makes big-time save vs. Sharks

Dennis Hildeby robs Sharks with save

Playoff chances: Preseason: 66% | Current: 15%

St. Louis headed up our list of not-so-pleasant surprises about a month ago, and things haven’t really improved since. While the Blues did technically piece together two separate winning streaks in late November and early December — their first since early October — those lasted only a couple of games apiece before new losing streaks unfolded.

The game remains a huge struggle for this team at both ends of the ice, with St. Louis ranking dead last in goals per game (2.27) over the past month and next-to-last in goals per game differential (-1.13) as well. The Blues ran back basically the same group that powered last season’s remarkable late-season surge, but they’ve recaptured exactly none of that magic again. Recent injuries like the one that sent Jordan Kyrou to IR add to the misery.

Nemesis: Winnipeg Jets. The Blues face a massively uphill battle to make the top three in the Central — whose top two slots will almost certainly be occupied by the dominant Avalanche and Stars — which means duking it out for one of the wild-card spots in the West. And who happens to be tied with them in that race? None other than the Jets, last year’s President’s Trophy winners who have hit their own snag (as detailed above).

In simulations where Winnipeg makes it, St. Louis’ playoff chances fall to 10%; in those where the Jets miss out, the Blues make it 21% of the time.

Playoff chances: Preseason: 62% | Current: 42%

The Rangers are another team who probably can’t be too shocked about borderline playoff chances, given that they missed the field entirely last season. But it was just the fifth time the franchise had been on the outs since the 2005 lockout — and there was the hope that, with a new coach (Mike Sullivan replacing Peter Laviolette) and some distance from the drama of last season, the Broadway Blueshirts would reload and make a postseason return.

So far, that’s still a work in progress: While the uncharacteristically poor goaltending and defense of last season is improved, thanks mainly to Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick playing like their old selves again, the Rangers still rank just 29th in scoring with subdued production from the likes of Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck and elite puck-moving defenseman Adam Fox on IR. This is the lowest the Rangers have ever ranked in goals per game in their history.

Nemesis: New Jersey Devils. Who else could it be here but the Rangers’ familiar rivals from the Battle of the Hudson? Neither team is in great shape — we’ll get to New Jersey soon enough — but both are right on the cusp of either the top three in the Metro or the final wild-card spot, the very definition of the playoff bubble. New York makes it only 33% of the time when New Jersey does as well, but 48% of the time when the Devils don’t.

Playoff chances: Preseason: 54% | Current: 36%

After making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2017, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to think 2025 marked the start of a string of postseason berths for the Sens’ young core with Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto. A mediocre start to 2025-26, however, is threatening to turn that breakthrough into a mere one-off.

In addition to key injuries like the one that kept Tkachuk sidelined for more than a month after hand surgery, Ottawa has gotten the league’s worst goaltending from its tandem of Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen, with an abysmal .871 save percentage between the pair. The Sens were always going to be in for a playoff fight like last season, but they’ve got a lot of work to do to overcome their deficit this time around.

Nemesis: Detroit Red Wings. In a lot of ways, Detroit is trying to do what Ottawa did last season — ending their own long playoff drought behind a good young core of up-and-coming talent. Now the two Atlantic teams have to tangle over a playoff spot (whether in the division or as a wild card) that probably can only belong to one of them.

Ottawa’s playoff chances are 42% in the subset of simulations where Detroit can’t hang onto its postseason position, but 27% in the sims where the Red Wings hold on and make it.

Tim Stutzle capitalizes on the power play

Playoff chances: Preseason: 48% | Current: 7%

Maybe it’s debatable exactly how “shocking” Vancouver missing the playoffs would be, since they didn’t actually make it last year, either — although that was truly surprising at the time, given the magnitude of their young talent (led by Quinn Hughes). Still, the models and oddsmakers thought there was a decent chance Vancouver would bounce back from a down 2024-25 by tapping back into their rising stars’ potential and maybe getting a better performance (and better health) from Thatcher Demko between the pipes.

But that has decidedly not been what happened, with the Canucks’ season spiraling since early November. Over the past month, no team has a worse win-loss record, and only two are worse on GPG differential. With their playoff hopes all but extinguished, attention in Vancouver has turned to the trade rumor mill — a prelude to Friday’s trade that sent Hughes to the Minnesota Wild — showing just how far they’ve fallen in a short time.

Nemesis: Utah Mammoth. It’s not a very high-leverage rivalry from Vancouver’s perspective: Utah making the playoffs versus missing drops the Canucks’ odds from 8.4% to 3.7%, because the Canucks are in bad shape either way (even more so after the Hughes swap).

But they do have the surprising potential to play spoiler for the Mammoth: Utah’s playoff odds in those few simulations where Vancouver does sneak in are about half what they are in the ones where the Canucks miss out (32.2% vs. 16.5%).

Playoff chances: Preseason: 45% | Current: 40%

New Jersey gets an honorary spot here because the betting markets were higher on them going into the season than Elo was — mainly because it didn’t know how much the Devils’ late slide was due to Jack Hughes‘ season-ending shoulder surgery in early March.

The hope was that a healthy Hughes would re-elevate an offense that slipped to 20th in goals per game by the end of last season. Of course, the irony is that Hughes would get off to a great start this season (10 goals and 20 points in 17 games) before hurting himself again — this time a “freak” finger injury that has kept him out since Nov. 12, over which time the Devils are bottom-six in goal differential and have seen their playoff odds fall from 74% to 40%.

Hughes won’t be back until January at the earliest, and New Jersey has to go into battle with an offense and defense that both rank 20th or worse until then.

Nemesis: New York Rangers. By definition, these nemeses come in pairs — so the Devils’ gains are the Rangers’ losses and vice versa.

In this case, New Jersey makes the playoffs 46% of the time when New York misses out, versus 31% when the Blueshirts get in. And for the Devils, roughly half of their 40% playoff chances come from getting in as a top-three squad from the Metro (like they did last season), with the other half coming from snagging a wild card. It’s nice to have options!

Source link