J.D. Martinez
We were not in the New York Mets clubhouse in 2025, so we can’t know just how bad things were. In fact, we don’t even know if it was bad.
However, there have been signs. The vibes were different from the OMG Mets. Juan Soto talked about how Starling Marte was the true leader.
The team was just different, but perhaps not. There was the famous story sparking the 2024 turnaround. J.D. Martinez said the Mets needed to recall Jose Iglesias to change the vibes and get the Mets to turn their season around.
Usually, that’s just talk. Chemistry is a talking point. It’s something to talk about to explain why teams aren’t performing to their expectations. However, with the 2024 Mets, the chemistry change actually worked.
Something was off, and it seems David Stearns traded Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil to change the clubhouse. In the announced sake for run prevention, the Mets added Marcus Semien, who is a great defensive second baseball and a renown clubhouse leader.
Again, we can question the decision to trade Nimmo and McNeil. We just can’t know how necessary it was. Let’s take Stearns word for it that trading them was absolutely necessary.
The real problem here is Stearns hasn’t fixed the outfield, and he’s running out of options.
For a moment, let’s overlook how he has been pushing run prevention while also having aggressively pursued Tucker. Nimmo was a -1 OAA in left, and he is getting slower.
Tucker was a -2 OAA, and he’s slower than Nimmo. While Nimmo played nearly everyday, Tucker is becoming increasingly injury prone. Tucker is a much better hitter, and he is younger.
Tucker was not the great fit for a team who is harping on run prevention. However, when you get rid of a left fielder to fix team chemistry with no real plan in place, you offer $60 million per year for an imperfect to bad philosophical fit.
That’s also the result of few options on the free agent market. There were few options on thf trade market. The deeper we get into the offseason we see the plan was to change the chemistry without a definitive plan to actually address left field.
Nimmo was the left fielder. He is gone. With Semien aboard, McNeil moves to left where he has been good. He was an All-Star left fielder. He’s gone.
Right now, for the Mets, it’s Cody Bellinger or bust. Bellinger is younger and better than Nimmo. He’s arguably better than Tucker. He’s the most versatile. He might’ve been the best fit overall.
However, he wants a seven year deal. Stearns doesn’t like going to five years, and with the Mets, he’s proven sheepish to go to three years. Bellinger has a five year $150 million offer from the Yankees, who also need him desperately.
The Mets are in a bad place trying to replace Nimmo in left field. Things are worse when you consider they also need to solve center. Maybe they get Bellinger. Maybe there’s a trade candidate we haven’t heard be linked to the Mets.
Whatever the case, the Mets have two massive holes in the outfield. The options are dwindling, and the closer we get to spring training, the more it seems the Mets can’t fill both holes.
Stearns might’ve been right about needing to fix the clubhouse chemistry. The hope is he didn’t sacrifice 2026 to do it.
For a brief moment when Jeff McNeil singled home Tyron Taylor, you let yourself dream one last time. Francisco Álvarez was suddenly hitting great, and then it’s Francisco Lindor. Mark Vientos would represent the tying run . . . .
Look, if there was any team that could do it, it was this New York Mets team. If anything, a six run rally with two outs would perfectly encapsulate what this team had been.
Sadly, Álvarez grounded out to end the series.
They’ll tell us the Los Angeles Dodgers were just the better team. The Mets were lucky to get this far. Us Mets fans know better.
There was so much fun with this team with Grimace and OMG. Jose Iglesias was this year’s José Valentíne. Sean Manae became an ace. Carlos Mendoza looks like he may well soon be the best manager in baseball.
Lindor was an MVP in every sense of the word. Vientos finally got his chance and would show the world he’s a star in the making. Pete Alonso reminded us why we loved him so.
This is a Mets team we will remember and cherish forever.
The reasons to adore this team are far too many to count, but in the end, this team was quintessentially a Mets team. In some ways, this run was reminiscent of the 1999 run that just fell short. Fortunately, with Steve Cohen and David Stearns, we know this is just the beginning of what can be a long, dominant stretch.
As for now, time just caught up with this team.
Brandon Nimmo was just too injured. There were just too many innings on the arms of Manae and Luis Severino. There wasn’t enough time for Kodai Senga to get where he needed to be. José Buttó and Phil Maton couldn’t carry that regular season success into the postseason.
In the moment, you’re wringing your hands saying if only the Mets got just one hit (other than Vientos’ grand slam) with the bases loaded it would be a completely different series. There are moves like J.D. Martinez in Games 3 and 4 where you’re left wondering what if . . . .
Sitting there on my couch with an upset 10 year old, all you can say is this one hurt. It’s hurts that they lost. It hurts because we all completely fell in love with this team and reminded you why you love the New York Mets with every fiber of your being.
This was the first real postseason run for my kids. For me, I was way too young in 1986, and 1988 was fleeting. But to this day, I’ll forever cherish the 1999 team.
I can tell you everything about that team, and I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t say that wasn’t the greatest defensive infield of all time.
For my sons, Lindor is their Mike Piazza. Vientos is their Edgardo Alfonzo. Manea and Severino are their Al Leiter and Rick Reed. Fortunately, no one will be their Armando Benitez.
Ultimately, this is the team you point back to and say this is why I love baseball. I love the Mets.
When they’re raising their sons to be Mets fans, they will talk about Lindor against the Braves, Alonso against the Brewers, Vientos’ NLDS, and all this season entailed.
For now, it’s pain. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, it’ll be fondly remembered.
For my dad, I don’t know how many more of these we have left. The 1999 and 2000 runs we special. It’s only cruel we had Adam Wainwright doing color in the this year’s NLDS. We left Game 3 of the 2015 World Series thinking they were going to win. We were holding onto hope after Game 5.
There’s always a certain magic when the Mets make these runs. Maybe it’s because it’s just their 11th postseason appearance, but in reality it’s more.
Because it’s always so special and magical, it hurts more. I wanted this for Lindor and what we have the fans, for Alonso in what may be his last year with the Mets, and Nimmo for staying.
Mostly, I wanted it for my family. I don’t want to be the 1994 New York Rangers fan or 2004 Boston Red Sox fan visiting a grave telling dad we finally did it. I want to be there with my boys, dad, and brother having that one moment.
Just one.
Maybe this is the springboard for 2025. Maybe that will be the year the Mets won. For now, it’s just appreciating what was while thinking about what could have been.
So, to that, thank you to the 2024 Mets for this magical season. Your team will be forever loved by Mets fans and will always have a special place in my heart.