This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- The baseball calendar leaves little time for reflection. Even before the Mets lost to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, baseball operations employees had begun the work of preparing for the 2024-25 offseason. It will be a busy one for the Mets, who are about to see more than a third of their NLCS roster enter free agency.

Within the next two weeks, they will dive into an exclusive negotiating period with Pete Alonso and other pending free agents, while gaining clarity on contract options for multiple players. And that¡¯s just the beginning. These days, the free agency of top stars often extends into late January, February or beyond.

We¡¯ll hit on those topics in more detail in future newsletters. For now, these broader questions figure to dominate New York's winter:

1. Will the Mets re-sign Alonso?

From a competitive standpoint, this might not actually be the biggest question facing the Mets. From an emotional standpoint, it almost certainly is, given all that Alonso means to the franchise and its fans. Before Alonso hit his dramatic three-run homer in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series, it seemed like his time with the Mets could be expiring. To the extent that it¡¯s possible for someone to change the narrative with a single swing, Alonso did.

Does that mean the Mets will sign Alonso at any cost? Probably not. He¡¯s still entering his age-30 season and coming off statistically his worst year in the Majors. But the Mets are going to talk to him, and they¡¯re probably going to talk seriously. How those conversations go remains anyone¡¯s guess.

2. How much will the Mets spend on pitching?

In terms of how competitive the club will be in 2025, this could be a more pertinent question than anything involving Alonso. The Mets risk losing 37 percent of their innings once Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana hit free agency. Those three will be candidates to return, of course, and the free-agent market is full of other options. Some -- including Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and probably Manaea -- represent the types of long-term pitching gambles that president of baseball operations David Stearns has never made in all his years as a top decision-maker.

Will Stearns change course now and enter the arms race? Or will he try to pluck the next Manaea or Severino out of this year¡¯s marketplace?

3. Could Juan Soto come to Flushing?

The popular narrative surrounding Soto¡¯s free agency is that the Mets and the Yankees will engage in a two-team bidding war for his services, with no other club willing to match the money-flinging exuberance of those rivals. If Soto¡¯s free agency indeed goes down that path, it will be unlike any other in the history of the sport.

Will the Yankees¡¯ performance in the World Series affect things? Will Steve Cohen outbid Hal Steinbrenner at any cost? Is Soto -- an extremely good player, but just one man -- even worth the hype? Expect to hear lots about this situation once Soto¡¯s free agency really gets going in November and December. No matter how it ends, the Mets will surely be involved in the talks.

4. What is Mark Vientos¡¯ future?

If Alonso sticks around, Vientos -- under team control for five more seasons -- could become the Mets¡¯ long-term third baseman. Although advanced metrics weren¡¯t in love with Vientos¡¯ work at the position this year, he did manage to hold his own, and his bat proved potent enough to outweigh any defensive shortcomings.

If Alonso leaves, however, the Mets will have a choice: commit to Vientos as a first base/DH type, or keep him at third and try to backfill first base through free agency. A move across the diamond probably makes more sense, given the Mets¡¯ in-house alternatives -- Ronny Mauricio (the Mets' No. 6 prospect) and Brett Baty chief among them -- at third. But at this juncture, Stearns isn¡¯t committing to anything.

5. To what extent can the Mets rely on their prospects?

Many of the Mets¡¯ roster questions would have easier answers had several players in their under-25 set developed the way that team officials had hoped. As things stand, only Vientos and Francisco Alvarez are locks to hold down 2025 roster spots. Others -- most notably Mauricio, Baty, Luisangel Acu?a (No. 12), Jett Williams (No. 2) and Drew Gilbert (No. 3) on the position-player side -- either suffered major injuries or didn¡¯t show enough growth for the Mets to count them as realistic Opening Day options.

As far as pitchers, Christian Scott¡¯s Tommy John surgery similarly left the Mets without a prospect they can trust. (Team officials still feel No. 1 prospect Brandon Sproat and No. 8 prospect Blade Tidwell, among others, could use a bit more Minor League seasoning.) That may change as soon as the first half of 2025, but until it does, the Mets will need to keep searching outside the organization for answers.