ESPN’s Paul Hembekides is among those who have repeatedly said that the New York Mets ultimately will shop All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso this summer with Alonso set to reach free agency after the season. 

On the latest edition of the “Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney” podcast, Hembekides suggested that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns could also make fan-favorite closer Edwin Diaz available ahead of the trade deadline if the club is thought to be out of the playoff race around the All-Star break. 

“I’m curious to see if, around trade deadline time, we’re talking about Alonso and even talking about Edwin Diaz, who could be an enormous boost for any number of teams at that point because of the role that he occupies,” Hembekides explained, according to Jimmy Hascup of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Hembekides hinted that the Mets could bolster the future of their starting rotation by trading Alonso and/or Diaz after the club failed to adequately replace co-aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer over the winter. 

New York traded Verlander and Scherzer last summer. 

While Alonso turns 30 years old in December and likely will reach the open market after the World Series, Diaz signed a five-year, $102M contract shortly after the 2022 season ended. The 30-year-old missed all of the 2023 campaign because of a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, and he’s recorded four saves with a 1.29 ERA, a 0.57 WHIP and 10 strikeouts across seven appearances and seven innings of work this spring. 

Diaz is one reason the Mets began Thursday responsible for the best bullpen ERA in the National League:.