What would it take to make the suddenly 1962-ish Mets 2026 season seem somewhat more tolerable? There are a number of scenarios to consider:
Making the Postseason
As long as we’re rolling out the statistically improbable fantasy outcomes, how about a New York Mets 2026 season ending with a playoff appearance? It could happen. Well, mathematically it is is possible. Right now the club is playing at a won/loss record of 10-21, a winning percentage of just .323. Yes, that is indeed very bad, but the newly minted 1962 Mets held a record for 62 years until tied and passed by the Chicago White Sox when a .250 winning percentage with 120 losses was the major league standard in baseball futility. The Mets currently sit 11.5 games back at the close of the Nationals series and it is indeed possible for the club to spend the next 131 playing at a much more impressive record to equal what they did in 2025 when they finished with a .512 winning percentage at 83-79. To get there the Mets would have to play at a winning percentage of .557 which extrapolates to a 90 win season long record just to reach 4 games over .500. Yeah, the playoffs are possible but that’s quite a climb to make which would also require similar drops off the cliff from many other baseball teams league wide.
Some people are on already painting the protest signs that read, “Fire Carlos Mendoza” as their panacea for all the things that have gone wrong thus far during this season. Others are saving some paint to express the very same sentiment about David Stearns. We’ve seen the results of wholesale roster rebuilding made by the latter and managed by the former. It’s pretty ugly. Carlos Mendoza didn’t suggest getting rid of Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz and Brando Nimmo were smart moves. David Stearns didn’t make the necessary changes to help Mendoza win games when every single hitter on the roster not named Juan Soto was not having even a courtesy level of All Star consideration and while most pitchers are falling into that same category. All the while the only actions taken by Stearns to help win games was watching the DFA announcements instead of executing actual trades which may or may not happen in late July when the season is already too far gone to have any impact on post season aspirations.
Staying Inside Instead of Going Outside for Roster Improvement
During this past offseason David Stearns held his version of a sales pitch to fellow ball clubs by offering up his minor league resources to help relieve them of payroll burdens or for rentals of players about to become free agents when the season ends. We saw how that strategy worked out. Maybe this time around the Mets should instead look at promoting players from the minor league system who have posted gaudy numbers and actually giving them an opportunity to play. Even the folks ready to roast David Stearns over a flaming pit for sticking to Carson Benge are gradually warming up to him as he’s starting to see hard hit balls finding gaps and his below .100 batting average is threatening now to cross the Mendoza line. Obviously not everyone who gets promoted is going to be the cream of the crop on day one, but after multiple years of significant playing time with embarrassing results, maybe it’s time to decide to cut them loose and try someone else since what you’re STILL doing continues to be not working.
What would the remainder of the 2026 season have to look like for it to finish on at least a vaguely spin-worthy positive note?
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