From the depths of December to the jolt of activity over the last five days here in January, David Stearns turned a disappointing offseason into one that offers reason for even the most disgruntled fans to believe 2026 could be a good year, after all.
With the trade for top starter Freddy Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, Stearns made what is likely to be his last high-impact acquisition of the winter, and in doing so obtained the top-of-the-rotation starter the Mets desperately need to be considered genuine contenders again.
On the heels of the signing of Bo Bichette and the trade for Luis Robert Jr., the Peralta deal completes a whirlwind week for Stearns that changes the perception of the offseason and presumably makes it safe for him to go out for dinner in the big city without being heckled by Mets fans.
Noticed I said presumably.
Hey, I get it, there are still going to be fans out there who aren’t happy with Stearns, and to some degree Steve Cohen, for essentially cleaning house and allowing Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz to walk away while also trading Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil.
In the case of Alonso, especially, it will be fascinating to see whether Stearns was right in choosing not to offer him more than a three-year deal, as well as how much the Mets will miss his power bat in trying to win a championship over the next few years.
But what’s more relevant at the moment is that, after a seemingly endless wait this offseason, at least Stearns made the big-splash moves that should ensure the Mets of being contenders next season. Actually, they should be talented enough to battle the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves for the NL East title if they get some key turnarounds from veteran pitchers to go with Peralta and Nolan McLean.
So why now? Why the sudden flurry of activity? Was it simply the market moving to an inevitable conclusion for the likes of Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger that led to the signing of Bichette and the trade of Robert Jr.?
Or, to put it another way, was this always the plan, waiting to mid-January to throw huge money at the likes of Tucker and Bichette, or did the outrage of Mets fans over losing Alonso and Diaz reach such a crescendo that Cohen, in particular, decided he needed to react and flex his financial muscle to stem the tide?
“Steve can certainly be reactive to situations like that,” said one person who knows Cohen on a personal level, more as the hedge-fund billionaire. “He’s very aware of public perception in everything he does.”
So it’s possible he ordered the Code Red, if you will, that finally jump-started the Mets’ offseason. Yet, to be fair, it’s also possible that the timing of the big moves coincided with Stearns’ plan to wait for the prices on both free agents and trades to fall enough to warrant sudden activity.
“The offseason has a life of its own,” was the way an executive from another team put it Wednesday night. “I’d lean toward believing the Mets waited until they felt the time was right, and then one move leads to another move and so forth.”
Whatever the impetus, the additions of Bichette, Robert Jr., and Peralta all filled important needs for the Mets and are impactful enough to make the case that the Mets now have a better team than they did before this offseason began.
For that matter, with Bichette being introduced at Citi Field on Wednesday, some 12 hours after Stearns swung the deal to gamble on Robert Jr.’s high ceiling in center field, Stearns decided to have a Michael Corleone kind of day and settle all family business of sorts by making the trade for Peralta on Wednesday night.
Again, why now? Was it because he decided Framber Valdez wasn’t going to settle for a high-AAV, three-year deal?
Were the Brewers running out of suitors and thus lowered their asking price on Peralta?
“The Mets weren’t giving up (Brett) Baty, I can tell you that,” one person close to the deal said. “That may have been a sticking point at least for a while.”
Whatever, in giving up Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams, the Mets still paid a high price, considering they’re only guaranteed one year of Peralta, who can be a free agent next winter -- though they also received Tobias Myers, who should be a useful bullpen arm.
And while it could give the Mets a chance to lock up Peralta to a long-term deal if he adapts to New York and is pitching well next season, he could also be something of an afterthought in that regard if the Mets decide they’re going all-in on Tarik Skubal.
Still, I think Stearns made the right move. Jonah Tong has a higher upside than Sproat and was likely more desired by the Brewers, and while Williams is a blue-chip prospect, he doesn’t have anywhere to play in the Mets’ infield, where he is considered best-suited. Especially since the Mets see Baty as a valuable utility man, having proven athletic enough to play second base last season, even while blossoming into a very good third baseman.
And finally, while Stearns surely was all business in making the trade, you couldn’t blame him if he has a soft spot for Peralta. In his first trade as Brewers GM, in December of 2015, Stearns dealt veteran first baseman Adam Lind to the Seattle Mariners for a package of young players, including Peralta, then a 19-year-old in rookie ball.
He was a lottery ticket then who paid big dividends for the Brewers, and now Stearns brings him to the Mets with high expectations. At age 29, turning 30 next June, Peralta is coming off the best season of his career, as he pitched to a 2.70 ERA and threw a career-high 176.2 innings over 33 starts.
That averages out to 5.1 innings a start, which is the only knock against him, according to one scout I spoke to.
“His fastball is electric and he can dominate any lineup when he’s commanding his off-speed stuff to go with it,” the scout said. “But he needs to go deeper into games to really be an ace. He tends to be a little too fine at times and because of that, his pitch count elevates. But he’s also a guy you feel good about putting out to start a postseason game.”
Playoffs? Did he say playoffs?
A week ago, many Mets fans were bracing for the worst next season, convinced Stearns’ value-driven approach would doom them to fourth place in the NL East.
And there are still plenty of questions about the ’26 Mets, to be sure. But I have to believe most fans are now willing to give Stearns -- and Cohen -- credit for turning the offseason of dismay into at least some level of success.
Begrudgingly or otherwise.
