The New York Mets' ambitious offseason plans are falling perfectly into place. One can't help but credit the job Steve Cohen, David Stearns and the front office have done, not only landing Juan Soto but also re-signing Sean Manaea and rebuilding the rotation through smart, affordable gambles.
If the Mets can pull off the next leg of their grand plan, however, it could really shift the balance of power in the NL East. Right now, the Mets still trail the full-strength Phillies and Braves on paper. Throw Alex Bregman into the mix at third base, however, and all of a sudden the Mets stack up even better. Just imagine Francisco Lindor, Soto and Bregman leading off games for the next five years.
Bregman, for a long time, didn't feel like a particularly realistic target for New York. He was supposed to cash in after Willy Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million contract in San Francisco. The market for talented, two-way infielders was exploding, and Bregman brings two World Series rings to the table.
That said, the market has since quieted, with corner infielders becoming less and less sought-after. The New York Yankees are essentially out on Bregman, per YES Network's Jack Curry, and Gleyber Torres recently signed with the Detroit Tigers, taking another long-speculated Bregman landing spot off the board. There's no way Detroit will spend on Torres and Bregman.
So, for the first time maybe ever, Mets fans are saying a hearty "thank you" to Brian Cashman, who fumbled Soto and, perhaps, delivered Bregman right to their doorstep.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.
Yankees might gift-wrap Juan Soto and Alex Bregman for the upstart Mets
It has been a largely successful offseason for the Yankees under the circumstances, pivoting successfully from Juan Soto to a collection of high-level contributors in Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams and Paul Goldschmidt. The Yankees will be good next season.
Losing Soto stings, though, especially since he's just relocating across town to Queens. Moreover, the whole "we don't want Bregman" thing is rich coming from a team with a blatant need at third base. If the Yankees want to conquer the American League again and genuinely compete with the endlessly liquid Dodgers, it will require an open wallet. Bregman would bring valuable stability to the Yankees, not to mention extensive postseason experience. It seemed like a reunion with Torres could fit the bill, but Cashman decided early on this offseason that he wanted to move on, in the process handing another potential Bregman suitor an infielder.
Now, it sure feels like the Mets are leading the pack instead. The incumbent Houston Astros have already traded for Bregman's replacement. The Yankees and Tigers are out. The Dodgers don't need him. Nor do the Giants, the Phillies, or really any of the other traditional big spenders as of now. We could point to the Seattle Mariners as a team in need of bats, but Bregman probably resides outside of Seattle's price range.
The only real threat, on the surface, is Boston. The Red Sox have been linked to Bregman, but the Mets are far more ambitious in these parts. Steve Cohen has made it his personal goal to dominate free agency and wield his spending power over his MLB peers. Swiping Bregman from Boston's grasp would be the cherry on top of a landmark offseason.
It doesn't hurt that it would also upset a sizable portion of the Yankees fanbase.