Mets' Stearns: 'Entirety of the player universe' accessible in free agency
New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said the team will spend aggressively this offseason after its surprising playoff run.
"We've got financial flexibility. It means that pretty much the entirety of the player universe is potentially accessible to us," he said, per SNY.
"That's an enormous opportunity. I envision us taking advantage of that opportunity and being aggressive in certain spaces."
New York's 2024 payroll of almost $318 million was the highest in MLB this season, according to Spotrac. That number is expected to drop to below $150 million in 2025 with the contracts of several traded players - including Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer - coming off the books.
Several notable Mets are slated for free agency this offseason, including playoff hero Pete Alonso, as well as Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Jose Quintana, and J.D. Martinez, among others.
While the opportunities are exciting, Stearns also preached spending in a way that's repeatable and allows for prolonged success.
"We want to set up our organizational pattern so that we can invest in free agency, invest where we think we need to to complement the club on an annual basis," he said.
The Mets reached the NLCS for the first time since 2015 this year, falling in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They eliminated the Milwaukee Brewers and juggernaut Philadelphia Phillies along the way.
New York finished with an 89-73 record during the regular season.