The baseball season is over (boo!), but the hot stove season is starting to percolate (yay!), so there are plenty of diamond doings to keep us going until spring training starts.
As teams dive deep into their strategies for revamping rosters, let’s have some fun. That’s what our Bold Predictions for the MLB offseason are all about. We’ll touch on potential transactions, signings, awards. Some New York related, some New York adjacent.
Will these be 100 percent correct? Probably.
(Probably not!).
It’s all part of the Bold Predictions game, people. Read on to prep for hot stove magic, whether it’s based in reality or frivolity:
The Brothers Diaz reunite in Queens
Edwin Díaz’s brother, Alexis, started his MLB career with two very strong relief seasons with the Reds, but struggled mightily in 2025, notching an 8.15 ERA in 18 games with three teams. The 29-year-old righty is a free agent now and our crystal ball suggests the Mets take a chance on him as a setup man – after they run him through their pitching lab for a few fixes, of course. It fits David Stearns’ MO of seeking unexpected pitching production, and the Mets bullpen needs bodies. Oh, yeah – guess this means we are also predicting Edwin Díaz, who holds a contract opt-out, re-signs with the Mets.
Munetaka Murakami ships off to Boston
The 25-year-old Japanese slugger figures to be a big name this winter as he’s supposed to be posted and come to MLB. The Dodgers have been a comfy and successful landing spot for NPB stars recently – Hello? Did you watch the postseason? – but the Red Sox win out here, pitching their on-the-upswing roster. If (when?) Alex Bregman opts out and departs, Murakami could play third. Or he could man first. There’ll be plenty of competition, though – Stearns saw Murakami hit a walkoff homer on a visit to Japan, and other big-name hunters will lurk, too, perhaps even the Yankees.
Spending Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays have always been smart and competitive while operating at a lower budget than fellow AL East superpowers. Now they’re under new majority ownership. Maybe the new bigwigs add some zeroes to the payroll to start their stewardship with sizzle. That would create another landing place for big-name free agents. Heck, Pete Alonso’s from Tampa. Maybe he wants to go home.
Cal Raleigh reigns over Aaron Judge for AL MVP
We’re not saying we favor Raleigh outpacing Judge in the AL MVP voting, just that it will happen. To recap the debate: Raleigh, an excellent catcher, hit 60 home runs -- the 10th season ever with 60 homers -- and led the league with 125 RBI. Judge demolished just about everything else, including winning the batting title, notching an OPS of 1.144 (196 points higher than Raleigh) and whacking 53 homers. Judge had the better season, but Raleigh’s feats, all while appearing in 121 games behind the plate and 38 more as the DH, sway voters. Long live narrative!
Kyle Tucker joins the champs
Far from ruining baseball, the Dodgers are experts at amassing talent and they have a looming weakness that could stand in the way of their three-peat quest. The Dodgers won the World Series despite a minus-eight run differential, a .203 average, and a .658 OPS. Toronto topped them easily in those categories, though LA won the homer battle, 11-8. Los Angeles needs offense, particularly in the outfield. So they sign Kyle Tucker, the consensus top bat available. Boo hoo, Dodger haters.
No deal
You, like everyone else interested in baseball, have been trading Marlin players to your favorite teams for years. Oh, the Mets or Yankees need a pitcher? They’ll get Sandy Alcantara from Miami. Nah, they want someone younger, so it’ll be Eury Pérez. However, this winter, the Marlins thumb their noses at the idea they’re just your farm team, don’t deal their arms, and go for the playoffs. Hey, they had the second-best record in the NL East over the second half of last season.
Mets sign Bo Bichette to play second base
After a dud 2025, we think the Mets will look to make many splashes this winter. Here’s one with reverberations – they sign Bo Bichette, a tough, clutch player who gets oodles of hits, and move him off shortstop. Yeah, he had a bummer of a 2024. Yeah, he had a nifty 2025, including what, under a different result, would be a legendary World Series home run. Here comes the reverb – this means they seek to trade Jeff McNeil, which would address the changing-of-the-core theorem that some believe the Mets need. If Bichette profiles better at third, then shift Brett Baty to second.
Spencer for Steven, even up
Schooled by the Jays all year including in October, the Yanks nab something from Toronto’s playbook and add non-strikeout, plus-contact offense to their roster via trade by dangling top prospect Spencer Jones. Can they pry Steven Kwan from Cleveland? He’d be an ideal leadoff hitter who also happens to be the best defensive left fielder in baseball. And Yankee Stadium’s spacious left field needs proper tending. Kwan had an 8.7 percent strikeout rate this past season. The MLB average is 22.5 percent; Yanks had the sixth-highest rate in MLB (23.5 percent).
Pete Alonso’s real homecoming
OK, maybe this is about as bold as predicting Kyle Schwarber returns to the Phillies (he will), but Alonso re-signs with the Mets. Mets fans set a Citi Field attendance record last season and the team was a disappointment. Can they really let the disappointment linger through the winter by letting Alonso leave? What if he (gulp) goes to the Yankees? The Polar Bear returning is a special treat for Mets fans and a huge boost to a lineup that would be lacking without him.
Nice winter for a trade, eh, Skub?
After protracted negotiations and much shopping around, the Tigers finally trade ace Tarik Skubal to the Mets. Detroit insists on Nolan McLean’s inclusion, but Stearns and Co. balk. Instead, the Mets send some combination of four name prospects, including Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, to get one year of baseball’s best lefty. If that prospect package feels like a lot to give up for one guaranteed season, well, who the heck knows what baseball will look like after 2026, what with the looming labor talks? There’s more work to do after this move – the Mets must sign Skubal long term – but taking big swings this winter feels right for a team that has won the World Series exactly twice in its history.
