David Stearns’ first and second offseasons with the New York Mets had a lot of the same types of moves. He took chances on pitchers coming off of bad seasons with an injury history. He regularly added players to the 40-man roster with a question of whether they’d actually make it to Opening Day or not.

Things weren’t exactly the same. He held out as long as he could before signing J.D. Martinez. He was right there in the mix to add Juan Soto from the start and successfully signed him.

This winter, we should see a mix of some of those same old traits as well as new ones. But if he’s going to try to sell fans any of these three changes, he’s going to have an incredibly tough time.

1) Going light at first base isn’t going to make us feel good

Opinions will vary about what the Mets should do at first base. Many would be fine re-signing Pete Alonso. Who doesn’t like familiarity? Munetaka Murakami is incredibly intriguing yet worrisome because we have never seen him perform against MLB pitching for a full season.

Those two power-hitting options are likely the favorite choice of most Mets fans. What if Sterans passes on them both?

There are some options that might satisfy. Cody Bellinger is a free agent who could be signed to play a lot of first base while also giving them assistance in center field. It’s those much lesser options that’ll have fans enraged. This includes everything from the internal decision of moving Mark Vientos to the position or signing a guy just for his defense.

Run prevention is important, but the Mets lose a lot if they allow Alonso to walk and don’t replace his offense. His 126 RBI won’t be easy to come by. How much could be made up by a defensive player robbing opponents with his glove?

Going lighter at first base isn’t something Mets fans are used to. Even prior to Alonso, the Mets have been a franchise to regularly employ All-Star level players at the position.