Pete Alonso departure just gave Mets perfect excuse to plunder Yankees yet again

New York Mets fans have been losing their minds this week after watching Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso depart in consecutive days. Weird, though, because these same people were complaining about how this team wasn't good enough ... yet making an attempt to change the roster is now all of a sudden bad? Maybe they, too, are getting sick of signing former Yankees players?

The Mets insured themselves against a Diaz departure by taking Devin Williams away from the Yankees on a three-year, $51 million contract. And now they can insure themselves from Alonso landing a $155 million deal from the Orioles.

Cody Bellinger, anyone? The Mets' rumored involvement there has dated back to during the regular season when there was speculation of a possible crosstown pursuit by Steve Cohen. It all depends on where his market settles, and we know Scott Boras will be looking for the most security, both in terms of money and years.

Now with Alonso out of the picture, the Mets have already been linked to another former Yankee in Paul Goldschmidt, but Bellinger makes the most sense in terms of a roster-changing addition with elite versatility. The Mets would technically be saving money, too, because Bellinger won't be getting Alonso's $31 million AAV, and they already shed $6 million AAV by swapping Diaz out for Williams.

Over the last 24 hours, the real connections have started to pick up from legitimate talking heads after the Winter Meetings.

Yankees Rumors: Cody Bellinger-Mets link now stronger than ever after Pete Alonso departure

The Yankees are said to be heavily pursuing Bellinger still, but it's unclear how serious that is, with how the rumors about decreasing payroll have poisoned the offseason, in addition to Brian Cashman seemingly alluding to the fact that Yankees could be content where they are right now in the outfield. Not to mention, ESPN insider Jeff Passan outright said Bellinger probably will not be joining a Yankees outfield picture if all of Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones are retained.

With the Mets parting with Brandon Nimmo as well, it gives Bellinger a prime opportunity to log reps in center field and at first base (the latter of which he'll eventually transition to once he slows in the outfield). And if the Mets go short-term with Goldschmidt, that'll solidify their near future even more before Bellinger starts bouncing around on defense.

The money is floating around. The need is spot-on. The big market/star player pairing is self-explanatory. The Mets might've just needed to clear some roster space before this got very real, and it just did.