Rising Apple

It now seems apparent that the New York Mets have gotten all they can out of Mark Vientos. He has never come close to repeating the success he had in 2024 and 2026 has been his worst year yet. Despite moving him from third to first base, his offensive and defensive numbers have remained below league average and his -1.0 fWAR is the third-lowest of any player this year with more than 250 plate appearances.

David Stearns speaks MLB Executive as well as anyone. He has a way with words that keeps him more neutral than honest. He spoke before the New York Mets played the San Francisco Giants on Friday about a variety of different offseason themes. He remained steadfast on Andy Green returning to the front office, no update on a conversation with Bo Bichette, and made an important commitment for next year.

It remains to be seen whether Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are still a part of the New York Mets' plans moving forward, but neither player has helped their case in 2026. The Mets were counting on both former top prospects this season. However, they have each been duds in what has been a nightmare campaign for the Mets. With the second-highest payroll in baseball, the Mets have gone an abysmal 63-77 in a season that saw manager Carlos Mendoza get fired in June.

SNY’s Chelsea Janes grabbed a virtual letter opener this week and answered some questions from fans about the future of the New York Mets. The future is all fans have right now. The present, as improved as it has been in recent weeks, still has too many fresh wounds. The bulk of the questions that came in had to do with who stays, who goes, and some ideas on what the Mets can do to rectify some of their issues.

With 22 games remaining in the 2026 regular season, the New York Mets have a decision to make on top prospect starting pitcher Jonah Tong. The right-hander has been on fire in Triple-A lately and could see a call-up to the major leagues in the near future. As one source close to the situation told FanSided, while there is no firm timetable on Tong getting called up, the Mets are considering it. But we should see him soon based off the latest rumor.

Can Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor help the Chicago Cubs win a championship? Will A.J. Minter help the Minnesota Twins claw back into relevancy? Is there a disgustingly perfect October in Brooks Raley’s future with the Philadelphia Phillies? The New York Mets sold a lot of pieces and the final grades for all of those trades will take years to develop. One may have already served its complete purpose.

New York Mets fans better prepare for plenty more reminders about how the team sold Pete Crow-Armstrong for two months of Javier Baez and a year and a half of Trevor Williams. It’s one of those mockeries not going away anytime soon. Currently a favorite to win the National League MVP, it’s kind of easy to forget just where he was only a season ago. While he did finish 9th, he spent his first full season in 2024 as more of an A.J. Ewing-type with defense and speed over any kind of bat production.

The 2015 New York Mets are remembered for their strong finish. Yoenis Cespedes’ arrival was one of the most significant. Other trade deadline additions like Addison Reed and Kelly Johnson put together strong Septembers, too. Who can forget Daniel Murphy? While it’s October when he shined the brightest, he also had a nice finish in the regular season. Although the regular season didn’t officially end until October 4, it included only four games and a 1-3 record.

Less than a month of baseball to go, the New York Mets are willing to take chances on anyone they can. Most will become forgotten. Their latest move appears to be at least a minor upgrade. After hitting .195 with Syracuse, catcher Shawn Ross has been DFA’d. The performance actually managed to lift his career batting average at Triple-A to .177. His spot on the 40-man roster was replaced by Cameron Weston.

The NY Post probably should have gotten their breakdown of how much of a mess the New York Mets pitching staff was this year a few hours earlier. By the time their story on Freddy Peralta and David Peterson went live, the latter was throwing a clunker for the Chicago Cubs. It came a day after Peralta’s masterful performance against the Mets that, outside of a leadoff home run, was everything an ace should be. Both pitchers have spent a month or more with their new teams.