‘It is Ache’: The Mets’ $380 Million Payroll Discovered A Method To Miss the Playoffs

MIAMI – In the final weeks of the regular season, as toothless as they were playing, there was just no way the New York Mets and their $340 million payroll would miss the playoffs, right? 

After all, they entered the final day of the season with the second-best offense in the National League, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yet, as the Mets lost series after series to bottom-feeding teams in a pennant race, it became all too easy to picture it. And after flirting with disaster for months, the Mets eventually made it their reality when Francisco Lindor grounded into a double play to end Game 162 and their catastrophe of a season.

The Mets were eliminated from postseason contention after being shutout, 4-0, by the Marlins on Sunday at loanDepot Park. To top it off, the Reds lost, 4-2, to the Brewers on Sunday. In other words, all the Mets needed to do to get into the expanded playoffs was win. 

The season-ending loss stung even more when the Mets learned that Cincinnati had lost, Brandon Nimmo said. Now they’ll go home and watch the Reds play the Dodgers in the wild card series on Tuesday. 

“There are no words to describe what we’re going through,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s pain, frustration, you name it. We came in with a lot of expectations, and here we are going home. Not only did we fall short. We didn’t even get into October. Pissed. Sad. Frustrated. You name it.” 

The Amazins were equipped with all the talent they needed to win it all, slugger Juan Soto said after the curtains fell on his first season with the Mets. That seemed true enough on June 12, when the Mets held the best record (45-24) in Major League Baseball. They were 21 games over .500, rocking the lowest ERA (2.83) and the fifth-highest OPS (.808) in the big leagues. 

That team had most people convinced that it could break the franchise’s 39-year championship drought. The rotation had risen to the occasion without the injured arms of Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, the highest-paid starting pitchers on the staff this year, to permit the fewest earned runs in MLB. The bullpen, too, was rolling — sporting the second-lowest ERA in the majors. 

But the Mets failed to perform at that high level once injuries took over. Despite adding Juan Soto to largely the same team that was two wins away from the World Series last year, inconsistency and falling short of expectations became the themes of the season. From June 13, the Mets finished the season going 38-55 —the fifth-worst record in baseball in that span. 

“You can have a great team on paper and nobody’s going to bring it to you,” Soto said. “You gotta go out there and get it.”

Kodai Senga had the lowest ERA among all major-league starting pitchers before he sustained a hamstring strain on June 12. But he wasn’t the same pitcher when he returned from the injured list a month later. He spent the final month of the Mets’ season removed from the major-league roster in Triple-A, working on his mechanics, believing his body wasn’t the same since the injury. 

Montas eventually appeared in nine outings and pitched to a 6.28 ERA before a UCL injury ended his season in August. Manaea recorded a 5.64 ERA this year after the Mets re-signed him to a three-year, $75 million deal over the winter. Even though Clay Holmes stepped up in his first full season as a starting pitcher, the lack of quality innings from the rotation forced the Mets to rely on three rookie starters to help save their season down the stretch. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough.

“From my side, it’s a complete failure,” Manaea said of his performance this season. 

There’s a case to be made that this Mets’ collapse was worse than the one in 2007, when New York lost 12 of its last 17 games and missed the postseason. Now, at least, more teams can qualify for the playoffs through the wild card round than they could 18 years ago. As late into the season as Sept. 1, FanGraphs’ projection system gave the Mets a 94.5% chance of making the playoffs. 

But the Mets didn’t execute when they needed to, Lindor said, which ultimately doomed their season. The shortstop, barely speaking above a whisper, looked like he was in pain as he reflected on what went wrong this year. It is baffling that the Mets offense — which featured three players with 30+ home runs (Soto, Lindor, and Pete Alonso) for the first time in franchise history — did not do enough. 

Mets bats went cold when the stakes were highest too often this season. In the final series of the year, the offense batted .161 (5-for-31) with runners in scoring position. 

“I failed at the job,” Lindor said. “I failed at the mission. It was on us, on me, on the players to get it done. We didn’t execute. We didn’t get it done. The front office did a good job. The coaching staff did a good job. It sucks. It’s not a good feeling.”

What’s next for this hapless team? 

Alonso may have played in his final game as a Met. The first baseman announced following Sunday’s loss that he will opt out of his contract and enter free agency again this offseason, and though he had a terrific season for the Mets, it’s unclear which direction the team will go. Alonso appeared in all 162 games for the second consecutive season, becoming the franchise’s all-time home run leader along the way. 

“Nothing’s guaranteed, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’ve loved being a Met. Hopefully they’ve appreciated me the same.”

Closer Edwin Diaz has an opt-out in his contract. He ended the year with a 1.63 ERA in 62 relief appearances. If he chooses, he can become a free agent after the World Series is over. Diaz said he will reconvene with his family before making a decision on his future, but that he would prefer to remain with the Mets.

Those are just two potential changes to what could be many modifications to the roster and coaching staff this offseason. David Stearns, the Mets president of baseball operations, is scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday at Citi Field, when the direction of the offseason will be made clearer.  

For now, one thing is certain. For all the money Mets owner Steve Cohen spent on building a championship-caliber roster, not even $380 million could buy a ticket into the postseason. 

“The front office put the best team possible on the field,” Lindor said. “As players, we are responsible for what goes down on a daily basis. I don’t think it’s about missing something. It’s about… we didn’t get it done.”

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

---

---