The Mets’ offseason has left one of the franchise’s legends nearly “speechless.”
Keith Hernandez joined “SportsNite” on SNY to discuss the state of the organization after Pete Alonso left for the Orioles on a five-year, $155 million contract on Wednesday.
The slugger’s departure comes after Brandon Nimmo was traded to the Rangers in November and Edwin Díaz agreed to a three-year, $69 million deal with the Dodgers this week.
Hernandez, a Mets broadcaster who has his number retired by the team, said the changes this offseason feel unprecedented.
“I’m a little bit speechless,” he said. “This is very explosive. In the years that I’ve been with the Mets, I have not seen this kind of moving in a new direction, I guess. It is definite — it is profound.”
After the Mets’ months-long collapse that saw them fall short of making the playoffs, president of baseball operations David Stearns made it abundantly clear that the team needed to focus on getting better at “run prevention” — meaning they needed to shore up the defense and pitching staff.
“It’s going to be defense and also pitching,” Hernandez said about the team’s new direction. “I always look to the ’69 Mets when you have a team that won a world championship with great pitching and didn’t have a great offense… not by any stretch of the imagination.”
The Mets did get second baseman Marcus Semien, who is well-regarded for his up-the-middle defense, in the Nimmo trade, but they’ll have holes to fill at first base and left field. On top of that, they still have questions to figure out in their pitching staff.
Owner Steve Cohen told The Post’s Jon Heyman that he understands the fans’ frustration over losing three beloved players, though he had some optimism about putting together a successful ballclub.
“I totally understand the fans’ reaction,” Cohen texted Heyman. “There is lots of offseason left to put a playoff team on the field.”
