Paul Articulates - Happy Holidays from Mack's Mets

The staff at Mack’s Mets is thankful for the wonderful support from all of our readers throughout the 2025 season and beyond.  We enjoy discussing the state of our favorite team and projecting their future successes through our words.

The year ahead of us seems like uncharted territory.  We have been comfortably uncomfortable with the Mets’ core since 2020, and the results have always been somewhat disappointing.  David Stearns has decided that the core of the 2025 team was not suited to the long term strategy of the organization, so he blew it up.  When you change the core pieces rather than the supporting cast, it becomes difficult to predict what will happen.  It is a huge gamble to make such a dramatic change to a team that reached the NLCS just 14 months ago.  The aggressive move is something Mets fans are not accustomed to but without it, how could one expect a different result?

The Christmas season is rooted in religious tradition and religion has faith at its core.  So it seems like a very appropriate time for Steve Cohen and David Stearns to say, “have faith in what we are doing because the intent is to give you a sustainable championship contender”.

In the cartoon image at the head of this post, I show Lindor, Soto, and Semien.  They are the new core of this team and the ones that must shape the culture of this team.  These three are not all on the same page at this moment.  Lindor has been an established leader, Soto is the superstar with a season under his belt, and Semien has all the right qualities to lead but has not worked with this pair before.  If they can establish a leadership trust and motivate the team with a common voice to pursue a championship objective with undying passion, the rewards will be great.

I only include those three in the leadership trio.  All others have too much to prove – they must be led.  Starling Marte is the only exception, but his inclusion on the 2026 roster is still in question.  For now, those three wise men must not only bear their individual gifts of talent, but the responsibility to meld this new mix of players into a winning tradition of excellence.

This is no easy assignment.  It involves connecting with every player on an individual level and integrating their abilities into a shared objective.  It means holding players accountable to adhere to a team strategy without alienating individuals that may be adverse to criticism.  It means portraying a consistent public image of a united approach while still remaining open to the opinions of every player involved.

Can this be accomplished?  Are these the right people to do it?  Only time will tell, but I believe that it was an important consideration by the front office in the rebuild so we will trust that they have chosen wisely.  Time will tell, and we will report on the progress on a daily basis at Mack’s Mets.  Until then, we wish you a very happy holiday season!