Some seasons leave a mark in ways the standings never quite capture. The New York Mets finished 83-79 in 2025, a record that disappointed thousands of fans. Too many late-inning scrambles. Too many nights where the bullpen looked more like a patchwork solution than a backbone. The organization knows it, and the search for something sturdier has quietly become one of the defining tasks of their offseason.
The Edwin Diaz question hangs over everything
The first domino is still Edwin Diaz. He opted out of his deal after a dominant season, a 1.63 ERA with 98 strikeouts reminding everyone why he’s the kind of reliever front offices sweat over. The Mets want him back. They might even be the favorites. But free agency, especially at the top of the relief market, often has its own plans. One aggressive suitor can change the math.
That uncertainty is shaping the way the Mets are acting now. They’re not waiting for Diaz to decide. They’re building parallel paths, with or without him, because they can’t afford to run this back with the same thin margins.
Casting a wide net for impact arms
According to the New York Post, the Mets have already touched base with representatives for Robert Suarez and Pete Fairbanks. The Athletic added Devin Williams to the list of names the team has contacted. That’s not the behavior of a front office working through its second or third tier. That’s a team poking at the very top of the market because it has to.
It’s easy to imagine the dream version of this bullpen: Diaz in the ninth, Suarez and Fairbanks handling the heaviest traffic in the seventh and eighth. Three different looks, three different tempos, and finally a late-game group the Mets could lean on rather than tiptoe around.
Robert Suarez brings results, not projections
Suarez is 34, which will cause some hesitation on long-term years, but his performance over the last two seasons is tough to ignore. Seventy-six saves. A 2.87 ERA. Back-to-back All-Star appearances. He opted out of $16 million over two years with the Padres because he knows exactly what kind of market exists for a power right-hander who doesn’t flinch.
He has plenty of suitors, and he should. But he’s the type of reliever whose presence changes the tone of an entire bullpen. Whether Diaz returns or not, Suarez would give the Mets something they simply lacked in 2025: stability backed by real numbers, not hope.
Pete Fairbanks offers upside if the velocity rebounds
Fairbanks is a different case. Tampa Bay declined his $11 million option after a season where his velocity dipped, but the results didn’t fall apart. A 2.83 ERA at age 31 is evidence he still knows how to pitch even when the raw stuff takes a step back. The Mets would be betting on a bounce rather than a replacement for Diaz, but it’s the type of calculated wager smart teams make.
There’s also something appealing about Fairbanks’ edge on the mound, a kind of wired competitiveness the Mets could use more of. He doesn’t shy away from traffic. He doesn’t fall apart after a mislocated fastball. Those things matter.
What the Mets want, what they need
The reality is simple: the Mets can’t exit this winter without at least two high-end bullpen additions. The deadline rentals are gone. The internal depth isn’t strong enough to paper over misses. And even if Diaz signs back in Queens, they can’t treat that as the finish line.
The Mets need a bullpen that changes the temperature of a game, not one that forces their offense to overcompensate. They need innings that don’t feel like a tightrope walk every other night. They need volume, reliability and impact, all at once.
A winter defined by urgency
There’s no guarantee they land Diaz, Suarez, or Fairbanks. There never is with relievers in this tier. But the Mets are operating with intent, and that alone marks a shift from how they stumbled into last season’s bullpen.
The next few weeks will show whether intent turns into action. The Mets don’t need perfection this winter. They just need to stop living on the edge.