#new-york-mets

#new-york-mets

This season did not end the way we hoped, Marte wrote in an Instagram post. Every game we left on the field, every opportunity that slipped away, we felt it just as you did. But also we felt something immense: the unconditional support of every Mets fan. You were the reason we gave everything in every game, the motivation that pushed us to keep going even in the toughest moments.

Likewise, there have been previous rosters that have found their Octobers surprisingly free despite an ownership hellbent on spending for hardware, possibly even to the level of the Mets' $340 million or so payroll, once inflation has been accounted for. There have even been nosedives as steep as New York's, which saw them go from the sport's best record in June to a mere 83 wins when all the beans were counted.

Just three weeks ago, on Sept. 8, the Mets owned a four-game lead over the Reds with 19 games remaining. They had a 92.2% chance to reach the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Even this weekend, when their slide had been going for three months, optimism still existed. Day after day, disappointment after disappointment, the Mets repeated the same line: There was too much talent in that clubhouse not to be able to reverse course and play in October.

The Mets were bailed out by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night, as their wins over the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks allowed New York to keep its slim one-game lead for the last NL Wild Card spot despite a 10-3 howler of a loss to the Chicago Cubs. Starting pitcher Jonah Tong, thrown into a nearly impossible situation for a 22-year-old, allowed five runs on seven hits while lasting just two innings.

NEW YORK -- The news spread like a flash of lightning on the night of Dec. 8. The New York Mets and free agent outfielder Juan Soto had reached an agreement on a jaw-dropping 15-year, $765 million contract that would be the largest in professional sports history once signed. That's larger than any deal global superstars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or LeBron James have ever inked with any of their teams.

Where we're at nowadays, we've got to take it one game at a time. Maybe he starts a game, but we have to get there.

More importantly, it made the score 6-1 Cubs, with what looked like a lot of bad road ahead. The Mets hadn't exactly covered themselves in glory so far Tuesday night: David Peterson was terrible, looking again like a pitcher whose tank is on E, and didn't make it out of the second; Juan Soto misplayed a flyball into a two-run double; and Francisco Alvarez allowed two steals while concentrating on framing and/or looking for rulings on checked swings.

The New York Mets are currently out of the postseason picture after holding a playoff spot everyday since April 5. After FanGraphs gave the Mets a 96.2 percent chance to make the playoffs on June 12, that number currently sits at 50.7 percent. In other news, the Detroit Tigers (who, along with the Mets, have also been slumping recently) cut ties with trade deadline addition Charlie Morton. The veteran was designated for assignment on Sunday, possibly putting his 18-year career to an end.

That was huge, Tong said. I remember, I was running and I was like, Oh, no, I have to cover home plate.' And then I turned around and I saw the throw and was like oh.'

He is expected to undergo imaging to reveal the full extent of the issue, but manager Carlos Mendoza did admit that this is concerning, especially because the right-hander just recently returned from a two-week IL stint for inflammation in that same elbow. He continued to have a hard time recovering after every time he pitched, Mendoza said. [Wednesday] night, we got him hot, and as he was getting loose in the bullpen, we shut him down.

Last week? I was incensed to an unhealthy degree by everything they did wrong, waiting with teeth bared for them to shoot themselves in the foot again. But Wednesday night? Yes, David Peterson gave up a grand slam to turn a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 Padres lead that would prove insurmountable, and no, Peterson shouldn't do things like that. But he gave it up to Manny Machado, who's an awfully good player and an even better one with the bases loaded.

Katia brought out the violin for a memorable rendition of the anthem pregame as Lindor and their three kids watched on. Lindor jumped in celebration while carrying his youngest child, Koa Amani Lindor. Of course, Lindor then ended up smashing a home run in the bottom of the second, and cameras found Katia now celebrating with their children. The couple's daughter, Kalina, also did the "play ball" prior to the game.

One thing is for certain: Friday night had better not be the last time Sandy Alcantara takes the mound for the Miami Marlins in 2025. Sandy could have thrown a perfect game Friday night, narrowly outdueling fellow former Cy Young winner Tariq Skubal of the Tigers, and that would still be true. No matter how epic, no matter how packed loanDepotPark was or wasn't, the Marlins have to finagle things to let Alcantara take the mound during the final weekend of the season.

Crazy? Probably, Mendoza said when asked if he envisioned leaning on the young trio of righties at this time of the year. If you would've asked me a couple months ago that all three of them were going to be here, I probably would've said that one of them might be here. Gotta give them credit. Trust and believe in them.

We were a part of the team when 9/11 2001 happened. It means a lot for us to come back. We never forget the brave men and women who gave their lives. We come back every year to show our support, and the Mets organization shows our support year in and year out. The effort that these men and women do day in and day out, because of them, we can put our heads on our pillows at night and sleep comfortably.

Mets futility never seems to know many bounds, regardless of the era, the owner, or the outlook. Now, 2025 is on the cusp of joining the tormented list of epic collapses. Since sweeping the Phillies last month at Citi Field, the Mets enter Thursday night's series finale in Philadelphia 4-9 in their last 13 games, including three-straight losses to their division rivals that have all but handed the NL East over to them.

Enter Gregory Soto, who simultaneously has been quietly terrible and in the top half of the Mets' trade-deadline acquisitions in terms of performance, which tells you all you need to know about how the trade deadline has turned out. Soto immediately allowed the inherited runner to score, escaped the fifth without further harm, and then fell apart in the sixth, putting the game out of reach.

By losing their fourth consecutive game on Tuesday night, 9-3, at Citizens Bank Park, the Mets fell to within two games of the nearest Wild Card aspirant, the surging San Francisco Giants. The stubbornly viable Cincinnati Reds also won on Tuesday, moving them within three of the Mets. New York, once seen as a sure entrant into the National League playoffs, appears to be standing on ever shakier ground.