Tuesday, February 11

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 15 seasons full-time on the beat.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Spring Training has arrived for a Mets team once again facing gaudy expectations. It’s a talented club -- maybe the best in the National League East. But it’s hardly one that figures to roll over its competition. Although the Mets solved many problems during another active offseason, they also left quite a few questions unanswered.

Such as:

How will Pete Alonso respond to another platform year?

Last year, heading into free agency for the first time, Alonso submitted the worst statistical season of his career: 34 home runs and a .459 slugging percentage, both full-season career lows. That’s still a relatively solid campaign, and Alonso enhanced it with a strong October -- highlighted by one of the most impactful hits in Mets postseason history. But it was only enough to land him $54 million in guaranteed money, when he was surely hoping for three or four times that amount. 

Alonso’s new contract contains an opt-out, meaning he can become a free agent again next offseason. It could be his last chance to truly cash in on a nine-figure deal (in this league, life comes at you fast), but that won’t happen unless he improves upon last year’s numbers. In other words, whatever pressure he felt in 2024 is going to be even greater this summer. How he copes will be instrumental in determining both his next contract and the Mets’ overall success.

How will Juan Soto integrate with the club?

In another market, on another team, Soto’s arrival would dominate every second of Spring Training. That won’t happen in Port St. Lucie, with Francisco Lindor coming off an MVP-caliber season, Alonso facing the questions noted above and many other high-profile players featuring compelling storylines. Still, switching teams always requires some level of adjustment. On the one hand, this will be Soto’s fourth club in four years. On the other, for the first time since his early days as a big leaguer, he knows where he’s going to be for a long, long time.

The Mets already have some noted clubhouse leaders in Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, reducing the immediate pressure on Soto. The 26-year-old doesn’t need to be everything to all people. He just needs to remain one of the game’s foremost sluggers while settling into his new home.

Is the rotation good enough?

Although the February storylines coming out of Port St. Lucie will mostly revolve around Soto and Alonso, some real intrigue surrounds the pitching staff. Questions abound in this (likely six-man) rotation: Is Kodai Senga finally, truly healthy? What about Frankie Montas? Can Clay Holmes successfully transition from the bullpen and, if so, how durable might he be? Is Sean Manaea really an ace, or was last year an aberration? Are the depth pieces good enough to make up for a lack of proven frontline talent? Mets officials won’t be able to answer all these questions over six weeks of Spring Training, but they’ll know much more about their rotation by the end of it.

Who led the Mets in Grapefruit League home runs last year?

A) Francisco Alvarez 

B) Brett Baty 

C) Trayce Thompson 

D) Mark Vientos 

Once the Mets make Alonso’s signing official, they will have 67 players in camp. That’s a massive number that speaks mostly to the team’s willingness to sign large numbers of veterans to Minor League contracts -- especially relievers such as Chris Devenski, Anthony Gose, Génesis Cabrera and many others who will compete for jobs.

Among those 67 players are also about a dozen younger prospects, including nine in the organization’s Pipeline Top 30: 

• RHP Brandon Sproat (No. 1) 

• SS/OF Jett Williams (No. 2) 

• OF Drew Gilbert (No. 3) 

• 1B/OF Ryan Clifford (No. 4) 

• INF Ronny Mauricio (No. 6) 

• RHP Blade Tidwell (No. 8) 

• INF Luisangel Acuña (No. 12) 

• RHP Dom Hamel (No. 15) 

• C Kevin Parada (No. 25) 

Of that group, only Acuña has a realistic chance to make the Opening Day roster. But keep an eye on Sproat and Tidwell, who should see significant Grapefruit League time and could challenge for roster spots in the first half of the season. Williams and Gilbert, as well, are looking for successful rebounds after missing much of 2024 due to injury.

• Wednesday marks the first of 10 consecutive workout days for the Mets, who won’t begin their Grapefruit League schedule until Feb. 22. That slate begins with back-to-back weekend home games in Port St. Lucie: one on Feb. 22 against an Astros split squad, and one on Feb. 23 vs. the Marlins.

• Tickets for all spring games are available here. In the meantime, daily workouts are free and open to the public beginning Wednesday.

• It’s a spring tradition like any other: Guessing wrong on the Mets’ Opening Day roster. OK, that’s a bit of sportswriter humor. This year’s projection was actually relatively easy, considering all the veterans on New York’s roster, but it’s impossible to foresee the injuries and other circumstances that will change things between now and March 27. All we can do is take educated stabs at the makeup of what appears to be a formidable roster.

• If you’re looking to stretch out football season just a bit longer, Bill Ladson has a fun story on Mike Hampton’s recollections of a young Patrick Mahomes -- the son of former Mets reliever Pat Mahomes. Read it, enjoy it, then figuratively turn the page. It’s baseball season now.

D) Vientos

Vientos paced the Mets with five Grapefruit League homers in 2024, but even that wasn’t enough to secure himself an Opening Day roster spot. Instead, he mostly stayed confined to the Minors until May 15, when his callup helped spark the Mets’ midseason reversal of fortune.

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