A new report reveals a pair of New York Mets players who could have a far bigger influence on the team’s success in 2026 than fans may realize.
After a topsy-turvy last five months, there is renewed hope in what the NY Mets can do this season. Following an epic collapse in August and September, then losing Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz in free agency, fans were enraged and concerned about the club’s potential in 2026.
However, in January, the front office’s grand plan to improve the team came into focus after they added Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., and Freddy Peralta. Those moves, along with other additions the team made earlier in the offseason has created a narrative that this overhauled NY Mets roster may have addressed the issues that led to their ugly finish in 2025.
While improving the defense was a goal this winter, the biggest unofficial priority was to improve the locker room. During an after the season, reports emerged about issues in the clubhouse between various players, including some of the team’s top stars. The belief is that the departures of JD Martinez and Jose Iglesias took away veterans who helped bring teammates together during tough times.
Sean Manaea and Francisco Alvarez’s underappreciated roles in NY Mets leadership
However, a new report reveals two other camaraderie-building members of the roster who also didn’t have the same clubhouse influence last year that they had in 2024. But they could be under-the-radar factors in the NY Mets having a big turnaround in 2026.
“In diagnosing what went wrong at the end of last season, multiple sources inside the Mets pointed not just to some difficult injuries, but to how those injuries affected the mood inside the clubhouse,” Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic report. “Specifically, players such as Sean Manaea and Francisco Alvarez — who bring infectious energy — missed time early in the season and struggled to perform for large swaths later.
“It’s harder to be a clubhouse leader when you aren’t performing. Alvarez brought some of that back upon his return from Triple-A last summer — ‘You notice the energy right away,’ a team source said that week — only to be sidelined again by a thumb injury in August,” they added.
Fans are well aware of Alvarez’s energetic personality. But it is interesting that Manaea also plays a major role in bringing positivity to the clubhouse. If both can have improved seasons in 2026, it could make a huge difference for the NY Mets on and off the field.
