There’s a world where the New York Mets won’t have perhaps the two most important players to their franchise’s success over the past six seasons when Opening Day 2026 arrives.
These two players are Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso, both of whom made their respective debuts with the Mets in 2019 and have since cemented themselves as among the premier players at their positions. Diaz has been a lockdown closer for New York, and Alonso has become the team’s franchise leader in home runs since his rookie 2019 campaign.
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Alonso has already announced that he will opt out of the second year of his current contract and become a free agent, while most believe Diaz will also opt out of the final two years and $37 million of the five-year, $102 million deal he signed with the club in 2022.
Both of these guys have clearly enjoyed their time in Queens, and all indications are that both would be open to returning to the team this offseason. However, there’s a chance neither Diaz nor Alonso is back with the Mets next season if another team gives them a better offer.
In an October 25 article, MLB.com Mets insider Anthony DiComo shared an interesting stance when asked whether he thinks Alonso or Diaz has a better chance at being on the Mets next season.
“I’ve long believed Alonso has a better chance of staying,” DiComo wrote. “While Alonso may find a friendlier free-agent market awaiting him this winter without a qualifying offer attached to his services, he arguably fits better with the Mets than with any other realistic suitor… Alonso’s skill set, the Mets’ roster hole and Alonso’s importance to the franchise are all factors here. For those reasons, I have a bit of a hard time envisioning the two sides not coming to a mutually beneficial agreement.”
When it came to Diaz, DiComo added, “Compare that to Díaz, who’s in a similar situation — sort of. While it’s true that replacing Díaz with literally anyone would make the Mets worse, many more options exist on both the free-agent and trade markets. Díaz is also likely to have at least as many suitors as Alonso, considering just about everyone needs relief pitching.
In today’s newsletter, our first offseason Mets mailbag:https://t.co/0RwAaO3h09
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 25, 2025
“Finally, there are the realities that Stearns has never spent big on relievers… It would very much be out of character for Stearns [to] give a reliever — any reliever — something in the ballpark of $80 million guaranteed, when he could spread that money over multiple assets,” he continued.
Then again, Díaz isn’t just any reliever. I don’t want to make it seem like a Díaz reunion is impossible; it’s very, very plausible given his importance to the roster. But I do think Alonso has a better chance to return,” DiComo concluded.
This sentiment regarding Diaz is not what Mets fans want to hear. But DiComo does make several solid points.
