“The Mets’ winter strategy is the biggest mystery among executives,” Nightengale wrote. They don’t believe that David Stearns, president of baseball operations, is interested in keeping Alonso for $200 million or paying Soto close to $700 million.

After a relatively austere offseason last year, the Mets once again plan to be big players in free agency. New York has around $180 million coming off its team payroll, and Stearns said that he expects to spend “a good portion of that.”

After a season that saw the Mets shatter all expectations and play until Game 6 of the NL Championship Series — where they lost to the Dodgers — Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was asked how close his team was to fulfilling Cohen’s wishes. He had some strong feelings.