Gavin Montijo ‘26, Sports Editor
Having a 96.2 percent is almost certain success; most, if not all, people would love these chances in any case as it leaves a slim 3.8 percent for failure. According to Fangraphs, the New York Mets had a 96.2 percent chance to make the playoffs on June 12 with a MLB leading record of 45-24. They had what seemed to be the best pitching staff in the league with only a 2.83 earned run average (ERA) per game.
In the offseason, the Mets signed superstar Juan Soto to the largest contract in the history of pro sports at 15 years, $765 million with a full no trade clause and earning $51 million average annual value (AAV), meaning he earns $51 million a year playing baseball. New York also signed a multitude of players, including All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso, starting pitcher Sean Manaea, and reliever AJ Minter. With a payroll of $333.3 million, the largest in the entire league, the Mets looked poised to go to the World Series.
Surprisingly, the Mets ended up missing the playoffs entirely and ended with a 82-79 record, and a team ERA of 4.95 after June. So where did it go wrong? It started with their pitching staff falling apart. Their ace, Manaea, got injured and had a 5.9 ERA post-injury. The bullpen was inconsistent, and their offense was the opposite of clutch, as they went a 0-70 in games they trailed after the eighth inning. They failed to take the lead in the ninth inning and were not able to win close games such as their late season games against the Miami Marlins. They were unable to have a good rotation due to the large amount of money spent on Soto, leading to having to take inexperienced pitchers on their roster. An inconsistent pitching staff put them into these complicated ninth inning situations where they were behind late, or when their bullpen would consistently blow the lead in the eighth.
The best teams in the league, like the Philadelphia Phillies or the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers, have a good rotation with a solid bullpen along with enough offensive power to get walk-offs and hits late in games. With the Mets, however, they had the star power, but their all star players, Alonso and Soto did not show up when they needed them most. This was the case late in games and late in the season where they lost to the Marlins and missed the playoffs. The main cause of their loss was due to their multiple relievers who came in and gave up four runs in the fourth inning and forced their closer Edwin Diaz to come in during the fifth inning, not allowing for their usual set up they are comfortable operating with late in games. If they had won, the Mets would have played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Wild Card Series. After the game, All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor said, “We failed the job. We failed the mission. It was on the players, it was on me, to get the job done, and we didn’t get it done.”
The season ended as they lost back to back series to the Washington Nationals and Marlins, and they fired a majority of their coaching staff except their manager Carlos Mendoza. In the off-season they will look to rebuild both their coaching and inexperienced pitching staff. Regarding the disappointing finish to the season, the owner of the Mets, Steve Cohen, said, “The result was unacceptable.” When looking to the Mets’ future, they will have to re-sign their closer Edwin Diaz and first base Pete Alonso, who hit 38 home runs, is the all time Mets franchise home run leader, and has been a key part of recent Mets history. They will look to bounce back in a loaded NL East with the Phillies and Atlanta Braves as well as a young Nationals team that looked promising this past season.
Lyon Life 