Paul Articulates - Stagger or Swagger?

When Steve Cohen became the New York Mets' owner, he indicated a strong desire to build a consistent winner.  When he hired David Stearns and made large investments in the team's technology and analytical capability, he repeated that mantra.  Attempts to bridge the gap between what the team was and where it was heading with some high priced free agents like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander did not work, so we knew it would take a while.  A much improved talent pipeline stemming from better drafts, more involvement in signing international free agents, and better player development due to those investments gave all of us hope that there was a master plan to get us to the goal.

As the young child in the backseat of the car on a long vacation trip would say, "Are we there yet?"

The answer, as we all know, is a resounding NO.

The 2025 version of the Mets is a streaky, frustrating team to watch.  There was a very strong start, some ugly slumps by premier players, and extreme swings from a week without winning to a week without losing.  Early on the pitching was incredible, especially considering that the two top starting pitchers Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea were both out with injuries.  In fact, the Mets led MLB in staff ERA for most of this year until they were overtaken last week.  The lineup was built to score runs this season.  One could look at the career stats for Nimmo, Lindor, Soto, Alonso, McNeil, and Marte plus the potential of prospects like Alvarez, Mauricio, and Vientos and say this group had the potential to put up some impressive numbers.  Instead we see a very unimpressive set of numbers with batting averages all below .265 and only two players with OPS over .850.  Lindor and Alonso carried the offense early but since they cooled there has been nothing but a few individual short streaks contributing to the box score.

This feels like a train wreck, but it isn't.  The Mets are only a couple games out of first place in the NL East and still hold on to a playoff spot (if it's not too early to look) by three games over the nearest rival.  Given the streaky nature of this team, they could reel off several wins in a row and surge past the equally streaky Phillies into first place next week.

I can't explain it, other than to say that the one thing that this year's team lacks that other successful ones have had is swagger.  In recent memory, the 2024 OMG Mets and the 2022 team had a "you can't beat me, I will find a way to win" aura about them that willed those teams to many victories.  Every win built the belief that they would always get it done.  This year's team seems to have a very businesslike grind-it-out mentality that is helpful to recover from rough games, but doesn't provide fuel to get the hit parade marching.  The most recent example of no hits from the fourth inning Tuesday to the ninth inning Wednesday illustrates what I am describing.  Every failed at bat was followed with a jog to the dugout, a sip of water, a handful of sunflower seeds, and put the glove on.  No smashed helmets, no broken bat over the knee, no ejections for venting the frustration of not getting an expletive-delete hit for thirteen innings!

Swagger comes from a collective team belief that they will succeed.  It is not generated by a recipe so it cannot be artificially created because it is needed.  For the OMG Mets it was a great day that followed the visit of a McDonalds character and a feel-good vibe from a song composed by Candalita that pulled the collective psyche together.  For the 1986 team it was a rollicking group of partying, fist-fighting, passionate guys that never had a thought that they could lose a game.

This year's team can still get that attitude.  They could also muddle their way to an 89 win season and bow out in the first round of the playoffs.  It is impossible to predict when and if they will achieve the state of mind required to get them over the top.  What I can say is they don't have it yet.