David Lennon: GM David Stearns gets first visit of Mets' past with Jeff McNeil in Flushing this weekend
Athletics' Jeff McNeil follows through on a double during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets on April 10, 2026, in New York. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
The Mets had their first visit by a ghost of Flushing past this weekend when Jeff McNeil showed up with the Athletics.
It’s not accurate to say the Mets will be haunted by McNeil (although he had five hits in his first eight at-bats against them this weekend, which lifted his batting average to .333). He’s in the final season of his four-year, $50 million extension — signed under the Billy Eppler administration — and plays in the AL West.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns needed him gone as part of his fresh-look winter makeover. Barring a highly unlikely World Series meeting between the Mets and A’s, this weekend was the last time anyone will think about McNeil for a while.
He did get a nice tribute video before Friday’s game, however, and a rather lengthy standing ovation by the Citi Field fans as he stepped to the plate in the second inning.
“I got a little choked up out there,” McNeil said.
No hard feelings. The McNeil trade didn’t generate the public vitriol among the Flushing faithful that Stearns’ other offseason machinations did, and the architect of that controversial overhaul can only hope the 2026 Mets outshine the performances of Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz.
That’s been a mixed bag, as the Mets’ early struggles have been balanced by Alonso’s sluggish start and Diaz’s velocity dip in the first month (Nimmo is rolling for the Rangers).
“I think when I look at the team as a whole, we set out to build a pretty well-rounded team that could win games in a variety of different ways,” Stearns said Friday. “I think in certain ways we’ve seen that over the first couple of weeks.
“I don’t know that we’ve hit our stride in any particular area of our team, but we’ve grinded out some wins. We’ve had moments when each segment of our team has performed at a pretty high level. But I wouldn’t look at any spot and say, ‘Yeah, we’re hitting on all cylinders there.’ ”
Once McNeil disappears in the rearview mirror, the Mets will run into another old friend in Los Angeles on Monday night, when they could be hearing “Narco” again — but Carlos Mendoza & Co. will be on the wrong end of a Diaz fastball for the first time.
Diaz, of course, was considered Stearns’ biggest failure. His bid to retain the star closer came up short when the Dodgers wooed him away from Queens with a three-year, $69 million deal.
Upon further reflection, it wasn’t all about the money — the Mets’ bid was the same length, just $3 million less, and they weren’t given a chance to extend a counter-offer — so that’s enough to certify the affable Diaz as an official Mets villain going forward.
He won’t be back at Citi Field until July 24, when the Dodgers arrive for a three-game series. In the meantime, the impact of Diaz’s departure can only be measured in relation to the Mets’ own bullpen performance.
On Friday night, Diaz had his first glitchy performance for the Dodgers, suffering his first blown save (in five chances) by spitting up a three-run lead to the Rangers before Max Muncy’s third home run of the game gave Diaz the win instead.
Stuff happens, even for Diaz. But when the conversation turns to his velocity — or lack thereof — that adds another layer to a blown save. His four-seam fastball has averaged 95.8 mph these first two weeks, down from 97.2 last year and 99.1 in 2022, before his WBC knee injury the following spring.
Maybe it’s just a matter of Diaz getting into gear, but he can’t really blame chilly Flushing now. Four of his six appearances have come in Southern California, one was under the Rogers Centre roof and the other was outside in D.C.
As for the Mets’ relief corps, Devin Williams — the offseason Diaz hedge — has bounced back from his Bronx woes with two saves in a pair of chances, a 0.00 ERA and seven strikeouts in five innings.
Ideally, the Mets would have kept Diaz and used Williams in a setup role, but closer — for now — isn’t on the Mets’ early list of concerns. Through Friday, the bullpen’s 2.85 ERA ranked sixth in the majors.
While Diaz was the Met who got away, homegrown veterans Alonso and Nimmo were more or less shown the door. Unlike Diaz, the Mets won’t be seeing either one for months, and only Alonso will be returning to Citi Field, when the Orioles swing by Sept. 14-16.
Alonso is sure to be feted with a tribute video — he’s the franchise home run leader, aside from being the lovable Polar Bear — and there are plenty of fans still bitter about the Mets letting him walk for that five-year, $155 million deal with Baltimore. The intensity of those feelings, however, will depend on the Mets’ success without Alonso and what he is doing for the Orioles.
That dynamic has been intriguing. Alonso was the centerpiece of the Orioles’ winter reload, which makes his slow start that much tougher to disguise. He entered Saturday hitting .176 (9-for-51) with one homer (off Jacob deGrom), three RBIs, 17 strikeouts and a .538 OPS through 13 games.
A year ago, with free agency looming, Alonso was batting .378 (17-for-45) with four homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.260 OPS in the same sample size.
“This is not my standard,” Alonso told MLB.com on Friday night. “Results-wise, it’s unacceptable for me, and I will be better. I know that. I feel bad. A lot of people believe in me, and I believe in myself, but I’m not delivering results. I will. I just haven’t. But I will.”
The Mets have been scrambling some at first base, with Jorge Polanco’s Achilles issue flipping the script on how they intended to make up for Alonso’s departure. Polanco was always going to see regular time at DH, but now he’s being kept off first base indefinitely. The Mets were concerned enough to send him for an MRI that revealed bursitis, but it evidently was not severe enough to put him on the injured list.
“The good news is that the tendon’s healthy,” Mendoza said. “There’s nothing wrong . . . We just got to limit the defensive side. How much pressure he puts [on the Achilles].”
Signing Polanco to a two-year, $40 million deal was the counter-move to Alonso bolting for Baltimore, but his injury history added an asterisk, and that now stands in stark contrast with the Polar Bear’s durability (he played 162 games in each of the last two seasons with the Mets). So with Polanco’s glove mostly on the shelf, first base instead has become a rotation of Mark Vientos, Jared Young and Brett Baty.
The biggest positive? The added opportunity has triggered a resurgence in Vientos, who was batting .323 (10-for-31) with an .837 OPS through his first 10 games. He also has shown a noticeable improvement with his glove despite the occasional glitches, which have been fewer than expected.
Stearns probably is fine with what the three have given him defensively, given that he considered Alonso a serious liability at first base. And for now, it’s not as if Alonso is crushing it for the Orioles.
The Mets are hitting a combined .289 from that position — ranked eighth in the majors — and their 13 RBIs were tied for the fourth-most in baseball. The .720 OPS was middle of the pack (18th overall). If you factor in Alonso’s former lineup spot, which was No. 3 behind Juan Soto, Bo Bichette — who took a much shorter contract commitment — was off to an uneven start, hitting .230 (14-for-61) with two doubles and six RBIs.
Of all the offseason rejects, Nimmo is the one the Mets probably miss the most, as he’s been a key reason why the Rangers (7-6) were sitting atop the AL West through Friday. He’s back in the leadoff spot and playing rightfield for Texas, and he entered Saturday hitting .333 (17-for-51) with a .414 on-base percentage and .884 OPS.
Nimmo was traded straight-up for Marcus Semien in a move that was sold as a defensive upgrade — both at second base and the outfield — but also designed for Stearns to escape the final five seasons of his eight-year, $162 million contract.
Regardless of how you chop things up, the only thing the Nimmo gambit has accomplished is saving the Mets a few bucks long-term (Nimmo will have to wait until 2027 for his video as the Mets do not play the Rangers at Citi Field this season).
Semien, at age 35, has been a shadow of the hitter who finished third in the MVP balloting after the 2021 and ’23 seasons. Through Friday, Semien was batting .196 (10-for-51) with 12 strikeouts and a .557 OPS.
As for Nimmo’s leftfield perch, where his declining arm became a problem defensively, the Mets moved Soto there, but he’s out until late April with a calf strain.
Because of Soto’s shift, top prospect Carson Benge won the rightfield job out of spring training. He’s looked, well, like a rookie since his Opening Day homer, hitting .125 (5-for-40) with 12 strikeouts and a .422 OPS through 12 games.
On Friday, one of the major topics for Stearns was whether Benge is in danger of a demotion.
“We’re going to be patient,” Stearns said. “Carson is part of this team. We believe he’s going to help us win games this year.”
Winning games. That’s the only way for Stearns to avoid being haunted by his winter decisions. And that hasn’t happened enough yet.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.