The New York Mets made a major mistake before the 2025 season and it's already costing the franchise in a big way
David Stearns hasn't made many mistakes since becoming the president of baseball operations for the New York Mets in late 2023 (and to be fair, it's impossible not to make some mistakes when it comes to building an MLB roster…baseball can be a weird and unpredictable sport). But it seems pretty clear that he made […]
David Stearns hasn't made many mistakes since becoming the president of baseball operations for the New York Mets in late 2023 (and to be fair, it's impossible not to make some mistakes when it comes to building an MLB roster…baseball can be a weird and unpredictable sport).
But it seems pretty clear that he made a big mistake ahead of the 2025 season and it's already costing the Mets.
For some reason, the Mets declined to bring back one of the main ingredients of their spectacular 2024 playoff run — infielder Jose Iglesias.
Iglesias was an important part of the Mets' success last season. From his hit song OMG, which became a rallying cry for the Mets, to his magical hands in the infield, to his clutch hitting, Iglesias was a revelation last season for a team that looked like it was heading nowhere early in the year.
Instead of bringing Iglesias back on a one-year big-league deal, the Mets instead opted to sign infielder Nick Madrigal to a split contract as an in-field depth option.
The reason the Mets didn't want to bring Iglesias back is because they wanted to keep a path open for some of their younger infield options, such as Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña.
Madrigal, however, ended up suffering a season-ending injury. Then Jeff McNeil, the team's presumed opening day second baseman, suffered an oblique injury in March, which has thus far kept him out of action (McNeil is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment this week).
As a result, the Mets have relied on Acuña and Baty at second base to start the season. And through the first 12 games of the season, the Mets are getting almost nothing at the plate from that duo (Baty and Acuña are a combined 6-for-46 so far this season with two extra base hits).
With McNeil set to return in the next week or so, it means that Baty will likely head back to the minor leagues (since Acuña at least offers an elite glove and elite speed on the bases).
Iglesias, who signed with the San Diego Padres a week before McNeil's injury, would've been a perfect option for the 2025 Mets. If the Mets would've signed him before the McNeil injury, he could've served as a backup infielder/late-inning defensive replacement (Iglesias often replaced Mark Vientos at third base late last season). Once McNeil went down, Iglesias could've served as the starting second basemen with Acuña serving as the late-inning defensive replacement option. Baty would be in Triple-A, where he clearly belongs at the moment, and the Mets would likely be receiving more production from the second base position (critics of my take will point out that Iglesias is currently just 3-for-15 with the Padres, but his playing time has been limited….and he already proved he can hit in New York).
Stearns made a mistake by not bringing Iglesias and his good vibes back this season. The Mets ended the season as one of the hottest teams in baseball and Stearns, who made the team better by adding outfielder Juan Soto and beefing up the bullpen this offseason, elected to go with unproven youth over a one-year veteran option who was a perfect complement to the rest of the team. It made no sense in March and it makes even less sense now.
There's no doubt that Stearns is elite at his job, but not bringing Iglesias back was a major misstep.
