Life Without Alonso & Diaz

·1 hr 34 min·5 clips

Can the Mets realistically bring back both Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz while also adding a top starter this offseason?

Start with the basic worry. Sal asks whether a real Mets offseason can include Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, and a top starter without sliding into wishcasting. Andy does not flinch, but he does not turn it into fan-service math either. The Mets need to get back to the playoffs and bring back the upward feeling of the Steve Cohen era. Money matters, but it is not treated like the thing that ends the conversation. If David Stearns and Cohen's trusted people decide Diaz, Alonso, and a starter like Tarek Skubal or Freddie Peralta are the right plays, the Mets have the resources and appetite to chase them. The catch is that each move has to stand on its own. This is not one emotional bundle that fans can order all at once. Diaz gets the strongest defense. His old contract already carried major money, so the market is not some strange new category. The math still matters. Four years in the range of 70 to 80 million is treated as a number that fits his value. The fallback options are not bargains. Robert Suarez comes up as another closer who could land in the same three- or four-year, high-salary area. So why aim lower? If the Mets are already shopping in that range, the baseball argument is to go after the best version of the job. The risk is still there. Diaz could lose fastball life or slider bite, and the velocity has shown small dips. The answer is not nostalgia. It is comfort in New York, better pitching feel when the top-end stuff is not perfect, and the Mets' ugly history with late-inning answers. Then the board opens up. The dream is not only Diaz back, but Diaz with another late-inning arm such as Kyle Finnegan, a breakout reliever, Raisel Iglesias, or Kenley Jansen if the fit is right.

As heard by us

A front-office-minded Mets discussion that makes the Diaz question feel practical as well as emotional.

Talking Mets frames the offseason as a clear test of the Mets' intent: whether they can bring back Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz while still chasing a top starter.

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Why you'd press play

You want to know whether keeping Diaz can fit inside a Mets offseason aimed at getting back to the playoffs.

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