The Mets losing Pete Alonso and picking up Devin Williams shows me that they’re not a serious contender for the NL East. The Yankees are way too quiet and they better sign Bellinger. And the Dodgers keep getting better. Can’t wait for 2026 baseball! — Carl F, Los Angeles, CA
Hey Carl, good to see that SportsRantNY reaches the west coast! I’m going to have to disagree with you on a couple of these points.
Despite losing Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso on back-to-back days, the New York Mets have been filling holes as quickly as they are being created. Here’s their scorecard as of today’s posting:
EX-METS | NEW METS |
1B Pete Alonso | 1B Jorge Polanco |
LF Brandon Nimmo | 2B Marcus Semien |
RP Edwin Diaz | RP Luke Weaver |
RP Tyler Rogers | RP Devin Williams |
SP Frankie Montas | |
SP Danny Young |
Plus, no one thinks the Mets are done yet. Considering their need for a centerfielder, and a bat to replace Alonso as protection for Juan Soto, I’m projecting that they are the likely destination for your man Cody Bellinger.
As for the Yankees, I agree that they’ve been too quiet. But considering that I’m bullish on Jasson Dominguez, and curious about Spencer Jones, I think the signing of Trent Grisham enables them to move on from Bellinger if the bidding gets too high. Given the choice, I would rather the Yankees spend the money being allocated for Bellinger on a starting pitcher — either Japanese righty Tatsuya Imai or former Yankee righty Michael King. Plus, I think they should take a run at infielder Bo Bichette whose right-handed bat would balance the Yankees lineup.
And yes — the Dodgers are pretty, pretty, pretty good
ICYMI: “4 Things Yankees: Let’s Talk Roster Ahead of Winter Meetings”
Isn’t it amazing that when the Rangers had the #1 overall pick (and the #2), there were no elite players available? Look at the last decade with Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini — and even next June, Gavin McKenna. Lafreniere is a good player, but he’s not what you expect when you win the lottery. — Jeff O, Rye, NY
There’s really two ways of looking at it. You could say the New York Rangers had some bad luck — that Alexis Lafreniere was the first overall pick in a year that didn’t produce a generational superstar. And the season before, when they drafted Kaapo Kakko, he was the consensus No. 2 pick to Jack Hughes, and he’s turned into a defensive forward (who now plays for the Seattle Kraken).
But on the flip side, the Rangers have been extremely lucky in the later rounds. They drafted future Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist 205th overall in 2000. 14 years later, lightning struck again when they drafted future Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Igor Shesterkin 118th overall in 2014.
Plus, let’s not forget that the only reason they were able to acquire future Norris Trophy-winning defensemen Adam Fox is because he made it clear he only wanted to play for the Rangers. That’s why the Calgary Flames, who drafted him 66th overall in 2016, included him in the Dougie Hamilton deal with the Carolina Hurricanes. And why the Canes sent him to Broadway for two second round picks.
Jeff, I feel your pain and absolutely wish the Rangers would’ve landed one of those generational players. But big picture — I would say their luck has evened out.
ICYMI: “4 Things Rangers: Still Searching for Consistency at the Quarter-Pole”
No more Sauce for the Jets?! Quinnen on the Cowboys? Great trades, but they’ll screw up the picks they got back, just wait and see. — David M, Port St. Lucie, FL
David from Florida — we are spanning the globe in this edition of RantBack — obviously has green scar tissue from years of disappointment. Allow me to try and give you some reason for optimism.
Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn were not responsible for drafting Johnny “Lam” Jones or Blair Thomas or Vernon Gholston or Dee Milliner or Zach Wilson. While they have had a disappointing year one, they did have a pretty good first draft.
I was impressed with the fact that they didn’t reach on four of their first five draft picks — selecting OT Armand Membou (7th overall), TE Mason Taylor (11th overall), CB Azareye’h Thomas (73rd overall), and S Malachi Moore (130th overall). Membou has been a stud, Taylor has been solid despite poor QB play, and both Thomas and Moore have flashed potential.
Now, they did reach in the fourth round for WR Arian Smith and again in the fifth round for DE Tyler Baron. But I’m ok with taking chances in the later rounds. It’s the premium rounds where executives need to build their reputations and playoff rosters. Those deadline deals give the Jets plenty of premium picks — four in 2026 (two firsts and two seconds) and five in 2027 (three firsts, a second, and a third).
As you said David, now we need to “just wait and see”.
ICYMI “4 Things Jets: ‘Tis the Season to Reflect & Dream”