Juan Soto
Let’s go back to 1973, the New York Knicks beat the favored Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA title in five games There can be parallels drawn to the 2026 team, but at the end of the day, we are still celebrating this Knicks team winning for the first time in 53 years.
When the 1973 Knicks won, the New York Mets were having a forgettable season. On August 20, they were 55-67. We can talk about them being seven games out, but in reality, they were 12 games under .500 and in sixth place.
Well, in 2026, the Knicks won the title, and the 2026 Mets are having a forgettable season. In fact, they were sellers at the trade deadline. Now, entering play on August 20, they are 58-70 sitting 10 games out of a postseason spot.
The same 12 games under .500. The same disappointment after a Knicks championship. Why not see history repeat itself?
Yes, there’s no Tom Seaver on this team. Then again, the 1973 Mets didn’t have a player at the level of Francisco Lindor (with all due respect to the late Rusty Staub).
These Mets are playing inspired baseball with Carson Benge making a late Rookie of the Year push. With Benge, A.J. Ewing, and Luis Robert Jr., the Mets quite possibly have the best defensive outfield in baseball.
Lindor is back to his old self looking like he did in 2024. Bo Bichette is getting better at third and is driving in runs.
Nolan McLean is rounding back into form. Christian Scott and Zac Thornton look like the real deal. Sean Manaea is once again pitching like their tribal leader.
Even with the bullpen sell-off, their bullpen remains terrific. Suddenly, Kodai Senga is a closer with a better entrance than Edwin Diaz. Don’t argue this point.
Eddie Van Halen >>>>>>>>>>>Timmy Trumpet.
The Mets have been 11-6 in August. They’re playing better baseball against better teams. The hard part of the schedule is almost over.
If this team can somehow position themselves to be within striking distance, they end the season with the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals. No Miami Marlins to block their way.
Plus, at some point, Juan Soto comes back. Let him come back to a team in contention, and there can be real magic here.
This happened in 1973. We can see it happen again. You just gotta believe.
Pop Quiz: Why did the 2026 New York Mets falter? While people want to blame things like losing Pete Alonso, the truth is the 2026 Mets faltered due to injuries.
Francisco Lindor’s injury was devastating, especially with no real Plan B available at the position. Juan Soto’s keg injuries hurt the lineup. Clay Holmes broken leg killed the rotation.
There are more, but that’s the point. There’s only so many injuries a team can sustain before faltering. However faltering one year doesn’t necessitate faltering the next.
Right off the bat, the Mets rotation looks to be in good shape. Here are the promising young arms set to pitch in 2027:
That’s 3/5 of the rotation figured out. The renaissance of Sean Manaea puts them in better shape, and they can always look to bring back Holmes are sign another veteran.
Their outfield from left to right will be Soto – A.J. Ewing – Carson Benge. That’s an all under 30 outfield with speed and power. It’s a very impressive group.
At catcher, the Mets have Francisco Álvarez and Luis Torrens. Alvarez seems to finally becoming the power bat behind the plate he’s always promised to be. Torrens is a great defensive back-up with a bit of a clutch gene.
The infield is a bit of a problem. They’re at least secured on the left side with Lindor and Bo Bichette, who will likely opt in for the rest of his contract.
We know Brett Baty is not part of a solution. Marcus Semien probably isn’t either. Now, if the Mets pick up Luis Robert Jr’s option, Ewing could slide to second. Let’s see how he finishes the season before we go here.
The Mark Vientos and Jorge Polanco injuries leave 1B and DH unsettled. Long story short, the Mets need to rebuild the first side of the infield. Hopefully, one of them takes off giving us some peace of mind heading into next year.
The Mets are having open tryouts for the 2027 bullpen. We also know David Stearns has been adept at building bullpens making this a little less of a concern.
All told, the Mets are very good in most spots. There is a good foundation here with money to spend. Rather than be doom and gloom, Mets fans should focus on the very good pieces here.
The Mets can now see who can be a part of the 2027 team and beyond. They have the means to address their deficiencies. They will contend in 2027.
The 2026 New York Mets season is one of the most soul crushing for fans. Fans seemed willing to believe despite being skeptical of the offseason, we all seemed ready to believe after the offense knocked Paul Skenes out in the first inning on Opening Day.
Since then, Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr. suffered major injuries. Juan Soto would also be hurt for a stretch.
The pitching has completely fallen apart. Unless you’re named Luke Weaver, you’re worse than you were last year. Really, everything is worse than it was last year.
It’s so bad Carlos Mendoza was fired. Worse yet, rather than watch, Keith Hernandez would rather talk about how his family line is dying than this Mets team.
Just about the only good thing about this Mets season has been Carson Benge and AJ Ewing That’s it. Well, that, and we haven’t really had to watch.
The New York Knicks captivated us with their first championship since 1973. It was an epic run we will be talking about for years to come.
Discussions for the 1973 parallels for this Mets season will have to wait for another day. Whatever the case, we have 13 years until the Mets hit the Knicks 53 year title drought, and 14 to match the New York Rangers 54 year drought.
After the Knicks run, we got the World Cup. The USMNT captivated the country until their disappointing exit against Belgium. Still, soccer has captivated this country in a way we never believed soccer could.
The World Cup Final is July 19. The All Star Break is upcoming, and when the World Cup ends, we will be one series into the second half of the season.
That means all the attention can then be shifted to the Mets.
Yes, we all watch every game. We’ve had the Mets game on in another screen during the Knicks and World Cup. Mets fans love this team even when they don’t deserve it.
However, we have been able to mentally get away. Instead of focusing on the Mets pitching, we got to watch Jalen Brunson. Instead of focusing on how the Baby Mets have regressed, we got to fall in love with Folarin Balogun.
Very soon, that’s all away. The Mets will be out complete unfettered focus. We check back in with our full attention ahead of the Mets being one of the few sellers at the trade deadline.
The distractions were very much needed this year much like in 1994, the last time the US hosted the World Cup. However, no Mets fan wants to want a distraction.
We need this team to be run well and be competitive in an era where nearly half the league makes the postseason. This season should have been better, and the Mets should have been ready to take the mantle from the Knicks and/or the USMNT.
This as depressing a Mets season as you can have. It’s about to get worse because we will have nothing else until the NFL season begins.
It is unfair to say New York Mets fans who had given up faith were overreacting. The start of the season could not have gone worse, and it was on the heels of another late season collapse.
Mets fans who don’t believe now are not overreacting. This team is in last place with a 17-25 record. The Atlanta Braves have the best record in baseball, and the Philadelphia Phillies have righted the ship after elevating Don Mattingly to manager.
Still, the Mets are in a good spot right now. They are playing better baseball, and even with the Francisco Álvarez torn meniscus, things are calming down. We can say that after Juan Soto’s x-rays came back negative.
On the pitching front, the Mets have the third best FIP in baseball and second in the National League. They’re fourth in K/9 and eighth in ERA.
They’re doing well from a pitching perspective, and we see there is still some upside from the current staff. You win with pitching, and the Mets are pitching well.
We’re seeing some bats come alive. Mark Vientos has been better, and we’re starting to see some red on his Baseball Savant page. Carson Benge has figured out Major League hitting. A.J. Ewing looks like a big threat out there.
Bo Bichette snapped a long 0-fer streak. We’re heading to the time of the year both he and the rest of this team take off. With health luck from Soto, the Mets offense is about to put together a big stretch.
Really, this team is in a position where they can get to .500 or better by the All-Star Break. After that, Francisco Lindor and Alvarez come back as the Mets will be primed to make some damage.
Remember, no more west coast trips. They will have 35 games against teams currently under .500. They will get six cracks at the Braves. This is a schedule you can see a 2016 or 2024 type run emerging.
The 2026 season started worse than we could’ve imagined. At times, the Mets appeared snakebit. One player returns and another leaves.
And yet, despite that, the young players are energizing the team. They’re pitching very well. The bats are coming around with great players coming back. The schedule is set up for success.
The Mets are fine and will be competing for the postseason this year.
We all know the negotiation between Pete Alonso and the New York Mets after the 2024 season was tense. Steve Cohen spoke out about it and called it worse than the Juan Soto discussions.
We were all prepared for Alonso to leave a year before he did. Alonso came back because he wasn’t getting comparable offers, and Cohen left the door ajar:
I’m being brutally honest. I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Listen, maybe that changes. Certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we’ll have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players that we have.
Well, learning what we know now, Cohen might’ve been sugarcoating things a bit. Jon Heyman of the New York Post gave Alonso’s side of the story. During the interview-person negotiation, Alonso dropped this gem:
When my career is being evaluated for the Hall of Fame years from now, you’ll still be fiddling with your [fucking] formulas.
Look, at first blush, Alonso got the better of that exchange. Certainly, we can all buy that narrative given the fact Alonso was re-signed.
Truth is, Alonso’s comments were a hilarious failure to prove his point.
Look at it again, Alonso asserts when his career is over, David Stearns will still be working. Seriously, why else would Stearns be fiddling with his formulas?
In essence, Alonso is saying he’s a great player, but Stearns will continue to be a GM/POBO for well over 20 years. Only the true great front office executives last that long.
If Stearns lasts that long, his methodology has to be correct. Ipso facto, Stearns is correct in his evaluation of Alonso and similar players.
Those “formulas” are part of why Stearns was successful with the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s why he’s with the Mets now. It’s why Stearns will be with the Mets for years to come just like Alonso conceded.
Sick burn there, Pete.
The Boston Red Sox have been massively disappointing to start the season, and as a result, World Series winning manager Alex Cora was fired. He was replaced by Chad Tracy.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been massively disappointing to start the season, and as a result, pennant winning manager Rob Thomson was fired. He was replaced by Don Mattingly, who happens to be the father of the GM.
The New York Mets might just be the most disappointing team to start the season. Despite calls to fire Carlos Mendoza, Mendoza’s job appears safe for now.
We can speculate why Mendoza has kept his job while Cora and Thompson did not. There are legitimate reasons why Mendoza is still employed.
Juan Soto was hurt eight games into the season and missed 16 games. Francisco Lindor was hurt soon after Soto’s return, and he is poised to miss the remainder of the first half, perhaps more. That also discounts how Lindor was returning from hamate bone surgery to start the season.
With both Soto and Lindor in the lineup, the Mets were actually 5-4, which seems unsatisfying, but that is a 90 win pace. Yes, take that with a grain of salt.
The injuries are a major reason why the Mets have faltered to start the year. Soto has missed 16 games, and the Mets were 3-12 in his absence. The Mets have been 1-3 with Lindor out of the lineup.
Those are not the only injuries of consequence. Jorge Polanco has been injured most of the year before needing to land on the IL. The Mets are 3-11 in games he has not played.
Those are three significant bats that are out of the Mets lineup. Of course, they are going to struggle. However, that’s not the only reason the Mets have struggled.
While the offense has understandable struggled, so has the pitching. Unfortunately for the Mets, there are no injury concerns there to explain these struggles.
Notably, after the Mets fell apart to end the 2025 season, Stearns parted ways with Jeremy Hefner. Hefner is a well regarded pitching coach, who did not remain unemployed long.
Hefner is with the Atlanta Braves now, and the Braves pitching staff has an MLB leading 3.13 ERA. Keep in mind, that is without Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Raisel Iglesias.
Meanwhile, the Mets have seen David Peterson fall apart. Kodai Senga seems to have suffered a fate worse than that. The current Mets pitching coaches have tinkered with Sean Manaea’s mechanics, and he can’t regain his velocity,
That’s nothing to say about Devin Williams being terrible as the closer. Luis Garcia was so bad he was released after just six appearances. Luke Weaver has a 4.91 ERA.
What could have helped was better defense. Believe it or not, the Mets pitchers have a 3.77 FIP, which is the sixth best in baseball. To that end, the Mets have a 1 OAA, which is tied for 13th in baseball. That’s not exactly the transformative defensive impact Stearns promised.
Joining Hefner on the Braves staff was Antoan Richardson. He was the well respected first base coach who had the Mets running the bases much better. Soto LOVED him.
Currently, the Mets have stolen 16 bases, tied for 7th worst in the majors. They’ve been caught 6 times, which is tied for 15th worst. Overall, they have a 72% success rate, far below their 89% success rate last year.
Looking at the returning players, nearly everyone is performing worse. You may want to attribute some of that blame to Mendoza, but in reality, he’s surrounded by a completely new coaching staff. Is it more likely Mendoza got worse, or the coaching staff got worse?
That’s the inherent issue. Stearns not only changed the lineup, defense, and bullpen. He also changed the entire coaching staff basically leaving just Mendoza.
Stearns’ hands are all over this Mets team. To be fair to him, there have been so many impactful injuries. Also, the only player who did not return that has performed well has been Brandon Nimmo, and if you look, he has been quite bad the last two weeks.
The heat is already on Stearns for this season falling apart. However, at this moment, that heat is shared by Mendoza. Once Mendoza is gone, all the attention goes to Stearns.
That makes Mendoza a shield for Stearns. That doesn’t mean that is the reason Stearns is keeping Mendoza. It could be Stearns acknowledges what has gone wrong, and he realizes Mendoza is not at fault. It could be that there are no obvious replacement candidates. After all, reports are Cora does not want an immediate return to coaching. ‘
Whatever the case, Mendoza is taking on the burden of shielding Stearns from total blame. There is no obvious answer as to when would be a good time to replace him, so at the moment, the only thing we can hope is he will be rewarded by this team righting the ship like it did in 2024.
David Stearns hasn’t instilled belief in New York Mets fans. That was the opinion before the 2025 collapse. The ensuing offseason made things worse, and the 11 game losing streak is only exacerbating matters.
Mets fans are apoplectic, and they are screaming that Stearns was an idiot for breaking up the core. No one wants to hear this right now, but Stearns instincts have so far been proven correct.
If your immediate reaction is to scream small sample size, you’re not wrong. That said, it works both ways. Can’t criticize Stearns while failing to recognize the other side of the ledger.
Everyone’s favorite Pete Alonso has not gotten off to a good start in Baltimore. Through 22 games, he’s hitting .207/.323/.341, and Orioles fans are already comparing him to Chris Davis.
Alonso’s good friend Jeff McNeil was sent to the Athletics. McNeil is hitting .266/.351/.341. McNeil is getting on base at a level he hasn’t since 2022, but his slugging has also never been this low.
The Mets did want Edwin Diaz back, but the Los Angeles Dodgers outmaneuvered the Mets to get him. They may be regretting it as Diaz wasn’t even this bad in 2019. His velo is down, he’s getting shelled, and at least for now, he’s seemingly lost the closer role.
Now, the Brandon Nimmo trade has (predictably) turned out bad. Returning to the leadoff spot, Nimmo has been a force for the Texas Rangers hitting .311/.386/.522. Even if Nimmo wasn’t this with the Mets, he’s always been a productive player.
With Nimmo, it wasn’t so much the production as it was the contract. With a potential salary cap looming, the Mets were looking to move Nimmo. Whatever the justification, they need Nimmo now.
If you want to “yeah, but” this, feel free. It still doesn’t mean the Alonso and Diaz contracts look like absolute disasters right now. Most fans believed it was time to move McNeil. Again, Nimmo was an open debate.
Remember, Juan Soto is hurt, and most of the Mets players are slow starters. The team will turn things around. We just have to hope they don’t turn things around before it’s too late.
Regardless of the losing streak and disappointment the 2026 Mets have been thus far, Stearns instincts to break up the core was correct. It’s just the execution wasn’t there . . . at least not yet.
There were many reasons the 2024 New York Mets came back from the dead to make it to Game 6 of the NLCS. One of the biggest was Mark Vientos.
While he kept giving that team reasons to give him a job, they kept holding him back. Finally, when they had no other choice, Vientos grabbed a job and didn’t let go.
In 2024, Vientos had a 132 wRC+, which if he qualified, would have been the best along National League third baseman. If you didn’t believe there, he followed up with a great postseason.
Unfortunately, he struggled in 2025. There were injuries. There was a change in his successful approach and just about all things Eric Chavez. There was also the fact once he faltered the Mets just jumped at the chance to give the job back to Brett Baty.
It’s no secret Vientos isn’t a David Stearns style player. After all, he is a poor defender. However, Vientos has game changing offensive ability, and you could argue that was one of the many things missing during the 2025 Mets collapse.
Vientos showed some glimpses, and he did force the issue for the vacant DH spot. However, Vientos wasn’t the same player, and entering the offseason, he was a purposeful afterthought.
Vientos was relegated to be nothing mouse than a platoon bat. It was so absurd that when a right-handed pitcher entered a game, Vientos was automatically lifted for Baty.
The man once floated as Pete Alonso’s replacement was a non-factor once Alonso actually left. A bad WBC and Spring Training didn’t help matters.
Much like 2024, the Mets were doing all they could to not give Vientos a job. Like 2024, with injuries, opportunities are presenting themselves to Vientos, and he is more than earning a job.
Trying to figure out playing time at first and DH is tough when you have Baty, Jorge Polanco, and Vientos. For the short term, it’s easy because Vientos is the only one healthy. In the long term, Vientos can again make it easy by hitting like he can.
Vientos has the potential to be the Mets hitter not named Juan Soto. At the plate, he has 30+ HR power and can post a wRC+ above 130. That’s the type of bat that needs to be in this Mets lineup.
Vientos can hit. He can be a game changer. We saw in 2024 he can take the Mets to another level. We are again seeing that player, and as a result, he needs to be in the lineup everyday even when everyone is healthy.
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.
In case you haven’t been paying attention the last two years, the New York Mets have been signing former New York Yankees left-and-right. The latest example was the Mets signing Luke Weaver to a two year deal.
Weaver will be setting up for former Yankee Devin Williams. Certainly, they will pitch in relief of former Yankee Clay Holmes.
The pitching changes will be made by former Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Mendoza will fill out his lineup card with former Yankee Juan Soto.
You may see a pattern here. Certainly, Yankees fans are noticing and are trolling the Mets and their fans.
To hear Yankeee fans, this is a new development that only works one way. The irony is the Yankees helped build a dynasty off former Mets players.
The Yankees manager was Joe Torre. Torre finished his playing career and began his managerial career with the Mets.
Torre’s pitching coach was Mel Stottlemyre. Stottlemyre was a well known Yamkees pitcher, but he began his career as a pitching coach with the Mets.
Torre’s first base coach was Lee Mazzili. Mazzili was a beloved Mets player. He did play very briefly with the Yankees after a 1982 trade.
Another coach. Jose Cardenal played two years for the Mets. Interestingly enough, he actually played for Torre.
Aside from the coaching staff, the Yankees roster was full of Mets during those dynasty years.
One of the Yankees big game starters was former Met David Cone. Cone was joined in that Yankee rotation by Mets legend Dwight Gooden.
We’d see those Yankees teams use some former Mets relievers in the bullpen. Those pitchers included Wally Whitehurst, Paul Gibson, and Allen Watson.
The Yankees had Darryl Strawberry, who was a significant contributor and mentor. He should’ve been the 1996 ALCS MVP. He was great again in the 1999 postseason.
When the Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series, it was former Met Jose Vizcaino who had the 12th inning walk-off single to win Game 1. Cone had a big strikeout of Mike Piazza in Game 4.
Look at the current Yankees team. They just re-signed Amed Rosario. Last year, they also had former Mets Marcus Stroman, Paul Blackburn, Carlos Carrasco, Rico Garcia, Geoff Hartlieb, Pablo Reyes, and former Mets draft pick Allan Winans. The Yankees also had former Mets Adam Ottavino, but to be fair, Ottavino was a former Yankee when the Mets signed him.
Put another way, the Yankees love former Mets. They don’t seem to even care if that former Met was good or not. Ability comes second to a history with the orange and blue.
You can honestly say this has been a two way street. It has, but that’s also the point. The Mets aren’t doing anything different than the Yankees do.
They love each others former players and go out of the way for them. The Mets signing a few relievers this offseason only highlights this.
In reality, the Mets signings shouldn’t lead to mockery of the Mets for signing former Yankees. Rather, the Yankees should be mocked for losing so many quality pieces to the Mets.