Let me explain. This team has a few core players, some prospects, and a collection of players. If you watch them closely, that’s how they play on most nights. They have a rookie manager in Carlos Mendoza who is trying to paint a better picture than we all see. That’s his job, but the general manager is supposed to give him a team and he didn’t. He gave him a cost-effective, marked-down bunch of players.
The fans were told by almost everyone that the defense would be improved. It’s not. It’s worse than 2023. It’s the 23rd-ranked defense in baseball. They are making more errors than last year so that’s been a failure.
The Mets walk the house. It’s embarrassing at times.
The Mets pitchers still can’t hold on runners. That’s been a constant. Now their catchers can’t throw them out. That’s something that should have been improved. Even Francisco Alvarez is 0-10 in throwing runners out.
Forget trying to compete for the last Wild Card. It’s fool’s gold and the players don’t seem to “want it” bad enough. The all-out effort that Mets fans deserve isn’t there especially when they play a contending team.
Young players need to be coached up. I don’t see any great evidence of that occurring. Other players who are just mediocre, don’t seem to be trying to get better. Whether it’s fielding or baserunning, it’s the same old same old. Once in a while, they pull out a win.
This team has no identity. All teams have injuries so let’s not use that as an excuse. That doesn’t make players swing at the first pitch continually even when pitchers are struggling. If the coaches are sending messages to the players, the players are willfully ignoring them.
Talk is cheap. Even in a rebuilding year, fans are looking for a certain brand of baseball and so far, the Mets are an off-brand at best.
We all know that BIG changes will be happening at the trade deadline. That’s fine, but don’t expect this team to be in World Series contention by 2026. Remember, Kodai Senga can opt out after 2025 if he has pitched 400 innings. Unless he stays injured, he is going to reach that mark and look for more money.
You can build a core in baseball with long-term contracts and prospects. The Pete Alonso situation is taking a turn and now all the “details” of the Mets negotiations with him are getting out there and Stearns can end it all by signing him in the next week, but he doesn’t want to do that. He wants to win the contract negotiation and in the early part of this, he is losing. Pete having an off-year doesn’t mean he will re-sign for less with the Mets. Especially if he doesn’t believe in the new general manager.
Fans have to hope Stearns can put together a team because the Mets are more than just a few players away from being a true contender.
