NEW YORK (PIX11) -- This Friday at high noon, the New York Mets equipment truck will be leaving for Port St. Lucie, Florida, as spring training is less than two weeks away.
The 2024 expectations for the Mets as they get set to open up camp are starkly different from a year ago. Yes, the team payroll will be right around $300 million, but the vibe is quite different.
The Mets will still be paying some of the money for Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and even the great James McCann this season. As owner Steve Cohen is the richest singular owner in the sport, there is a price to pay for misspent money and disastrous results from last year, and the Mets will pay that price this season.
They are led by a new president of baseball operations in David Stearns, who we know grew up a Mets fan but built up his baseball reputation while running the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Mets enter this season with a mammoth question hanging over the organization: what is the future of first baseman Pete Alonso? We know he wants to be here, but how much are the Mets willing to spend long term on the slugger?
As Jon Heyman wrote about in the New York Post Wednesday, the Mets need to provide Alonso and the Mets fans with another bat for the lineup because as I speak to you now, their projected designated hitter is DJ Stewart. That is not good enough. There are two options out there that would significantly improve their lineup. You could get J.D. Martinez for a short commitment and Jorge Soler for a longer deal.
Mets fans are concerned about just how competitive the team will be come the regular season, with the thought the organization is playing the long game. You still have 81 home dates this season and a battle for the entertainment dollar.
For every baseball fan, hope springs eternal. For the Mets brain trust, there is still time to give Mets fans something to be hopeful about.