By, Steve Sica
On the morning of June 12th, 2025, Met fans woke up to their team as the best in baseball. They were 20 games over .500 and coming off a win in which David Peterson pitched a complete-game shutout. That win put the Mets at 26-7 at Citi Field, an unheard-of home-field advantage. They were five games up on the Phillies for first place, starting off June with an 8-2 record and seemingly rolling towards finishing the job from 2024.
The Mets would win later that afternoon, despite Kodai Senga going down with an injury; no one was too worried. Injuries happen, and the team now sitting at 45-24 was due for a bit of bad luck. Realistic fans know that most teams can’t play at a 20+ game over .500 pace for the whole season. The baseball season is a marathon. Teams go into slumps, losing streaks happen even to future World Series winners. So when the Mets were swept away later that weekend by the Rays, it felt like just a bump in the road. 103 days later, it wasn’t a bump in the road. It was the car losing control and falling straight off the mountain.
That sweep at the hands of the Rays led to a seven-game losing streak, including being swept in Atlanta and then losing two out of three to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets would lose 10 of their next 11 games to fall two games back of Philly. They were swept in Pittsburgh to end the month of June. They seemed to turn things around on the next homestand, taking two out of three from the Brewers and Yankees. They went into the All-Star break at 55-42 and tied for first.
Through all of this, though, even as the Mets’ struggles continued in the second half to the tune of a 25-33 record, the most jaded fan wouldn’t have imagined that the team would miss out on the playoffs entirely. Sure, most of us went through 2007 and 2008, but this was different. Nearly half the league makes the playoffs now! All the Mets really needed to do was not go into a complete freefall, and they’ll get in as a Wild Card, and then, it’s a whole new season when the playoffs start. But as the Mets wake up on the morning of September 23rd, they no longer control their own destiny.
What was unthinkable just 100 days ago is now just five days away from becoming a crushing reality for Met fans. The Cincinnati Reds, who just three weeks ago were under .500, are now in the driver's seat for that third and final Wild Card spot. If the Mets' season truly does end before October, what will this roster and coaching staff look like in 2026?
Photo courtesy of JASON SZENES/ NY POST
Mark Vientos' face says it all as the Mets no longer control their playoff destiny
As this season went on, even when times were good, I said that the 2025 Mets have high expectations. Anything short of an NLCS berth would be a disappointment. If they got bounced in the Wild Card round, that would be a failure of a season. Now, if they miss the playoffs entirely? This could be a franchise-altering collapse. The accusing finger of blame can point in almost any direction. Towards the front office for botching the trade deadline and bringing in net negatives like Ryan Helsley and Cedric Mullins, who is making Met fans miss even the likes of Darin Ruf. It could point at the offense, which couldn’t muster up more than five combined runs these last two games against a Nats team with the worst ERA in baseball.
We can point it at the pitching staff, which was the pride of the team in April and May but has now become an albatross around the team’s neck, excluding the rookie pitchers. The manager always takes a large brunt of the blame in seasons like this. Mendoza, who was beloved last year by fans, has been under the bright lights of both the media and fans demanding answers to this team's freefall.
If the Mets season ends on Sunday with no postseason, I still think Mendoza keeps his job. Willie Randolph remained as Manager after 2007, though only for two and a half months before he was fired. I wouldn’t be surprised if the front office wanted to shake things up around Mendoza though, in the form of the coaching staff.
As for the players on the field, this core has a problem that gets louder and louder every season. Since 2021 and the arrival of Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ core in this generation is Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Brandon Nimmo. This group of players is no stranger to late-season meltdowns. In 2021, the team was in first place at the beginning of August in a weak NL East. They went 9-19 in August and ended the season at 77-85.
In 2022, the team got off to a hot start and never looked back. They had a winning record every month and didn’t have a losing streak over three games all season. The Braves also caught fire in the second half, and by late September, the Mets headed into Atlanta for a crucial three-game series with a one-game lead. One win would’ve given the Mets the tiebreaker and likely the division. The Mets would go on to get swept in three non-competitive games, thus giving the Braves the NL East crown. The Mets still made the playoffs and could’ve put that series behind them. Instead, they lost the Wild Card Series to the Padres in three games. 101 wins, but couldn’t win the games when the light shone brightest.
In 2023, the team never really got it together, and had a fire sale by the deadline. Going into 2024, there weren’t any expectations on them, and by mid-June the Mets were playing like that. Then, the opposite of 2022 happened. They started to catch fire as the summer went on. They played clutch all season and like 2022, the season came down to a game in Atlanta. The Mets would win a crucial game 161 and slayed the dragon at long last in Atlanta, which had haunted this team since the Clinton administration.. They’d go on to stun the Brewers with a ninth inning, game three comeback, and then upset the Phillies in four games in the NLDS. The season ultimately ended in the NLCS, but the Mets seemed to be building something.
2025, and it’s the same old story with this core. 2024 was the exception, not the norm. When the chips are down and the weight of expectations is on this team's shoulders, they fall apart. There are still six games left in the season. They could always turn it around. The Reds and DBacks are far from perfect teams. The Mets could go into Chicago, beat a Cubs team already locked in their playoff seed, and then go into Miami and perhaps rest the ghosts of 2007 and 2008 by clinching a playoff berth against the pesky Marlins.
This core has gone through three different managers and two different GMs; it’s not the front office’s problem. Juan Soto was brought in to strengthen this core, and he’s done that and more, putting together one of the best seasons by any Met in their 60+ year history. The accusing finger of blame can’t be pointed at him.
No, this goes back to the same group of guys that have been here since Steve Cohen bought the team. On paper, this roster should be miles ahead of the Reds and Dbacks. The Dbacks sold at the deadline and are just one game back of the Mighty Mets. If the Mets go home after September 28th, this team must do some soul-searching. As likable as this core is, something isn’t right. It’s a deeper issue than just winning and losing games.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. How much longer will the Mets keep rolling out these same guys and not notice the pattern of hot starts and then falling apart right as September rolls in? All I know is when you go out and get the most expensive player in baseball history, and your overall record is worse than the year before, you’ve got a problem that’s even bigger than the Mets’ payroll.
10 comments:
So many key players shattered like delicate glass in a truck with bad shocks driving through potholes.
One cannot deny that Pete’s bad tosses to the pitcher were costly. Senga had the best ERA in the majors until he got hurt on a Steve Sax throw to Senga covering first. Senga returned as a batting practice pitcher. Then the costly terrible toss to McLean. Any player is the totality of his good’s and bad’s.
This team is the most creative team in the majors at faltering in unbelievable ways and missing playoffs.
Yes, this team’s approach has not been working. No matter what management tries.
I therefore suggest one more trade. The Mets should trade Citi Field for Yankee Stadium. There is a curse in Queens, but not in the Bronx.
Lindy's song should be another Temp's goldy "Ball of Confusion". I still can't get my head around not making the playoffs but we've sucked for 3 months and now the reality and what to do what to do I go Mack whats the plan my friend?
Regardless of the final 6 games (and I would not bet anything on them being around after that), the FO has an interesting (in the Chinese proverbial sense) offseason coming up. They should IMO fire Mendy, but they won’t. They have to re-sign Pete (our most clutch offensive player this year by a longshot, and a Met for Life in any just universe). Diaz I think will take longer as they wait to see what the market is for a reliever going on 32 who refuses to hold runners on. Most of the position players are locked up. CF is the obvious spot to improve, but if they think that Benge is their guy of the future (I don’t believe that Jett is truly a CF) they cannot bring in someone to block him. Manea has elbow chips, and is owed 2/$50, so the only upside is hoping surgery gets him back. Senga is elite, but only until anything goes slightly wrong or the next time he’s hurt, and then he’s terrible. Alvy looks like he could be an all-star when he’s not swinging out of his shoes or forgetting how to block balls. The Bullpen has to be totally rebuilt, and you can only hope Minter comes back as Minter. There are kids on the horizon who promise re-birth, but other than the three who are here, none may be ready until mid-‘26 if then.
I don’t know what they think of Hefner and Chavez, so maybe they do something there. But I think that the big offseason move they HAVE to make is to bring in a GM to do the trading and transactions while Stearns POBO’s. This deadline was a disaster, and as Tom has pointed out, both Magnum and Rhylan Thomas would have started (and been better than what we ran out there) for most of this season for us. But we traded them both for nothing.
This core is going to be together at least another year (and mostly more). Stearns has clearly upgraded the scouting, development, facilities and technology. He needs to bring someone else in to make trades and spend 24/7 thinking about roster construction. Hire a GM.
Adam,
A GM is absolutely needed. Stearns is a good COE, but needs help with player trades and evaluations. His trades have been an extremely weak area for him.
The worst thing thw Mets can do is nothing. The RSIP problem is on the hitters and their coach. Nimmo always gets a free ride, but he has more faults offensively and defensively than anyone else mentioned. Pete’s numbers look good, but for some reason in the eighth and ninth inning, he’s striking out quite a bit. This meltdown in August was completely on the pitching: starting predominantly because they couldn’t go 6 innings, but in the bullpen too.
Me? I’m tired of writing about car crash scenes. Almost every year, tragedy followed by post mortem.
I predict 3-3 at best. Maybe 2-4. Have to go see them tonight at Wrigley (purchased tix a while ago)
Comment meant for other post.
They need to add someone with more fire in the belly & have to stop worrying about salary cap reset (they can’t get there). Have to draft & Develop to offset high draft picks.
Lindors walk up song has gotten very stale. Was quaint last year. It’s almost repulsive this year. NEED MORE FIRE IN THE BELLY
Killing me softly with his words...
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