One personal note before we start dispensing information: Mets fans deserved better this year. You gave so much of yourselves.
Steve Cohen asked you to show up, and you did. You were loud. Your energy rocked Citi Field nearly every night. You made Queens the center of New York baseball, even as the collapse worsened. It’s such a waste that the team didn’t give you a playoff run.
Anyway, here are a few reported items in the immediate aftermath of the 4-0 loss in Miami that ended the Mets’ season.
What just happened?
David Wright once told me that while the 2007 Mets choked, the 2008 Mets were just not quite good enough, especially in the bullpen once Billy Wagner went down. This year felt far more like ‘08 than ‘07. The Mets were short on pitching and defense, period. There isn’t a stat for choking on Baseball Savant, so my point isn’t provable — but I didn’t see a lot of what looked like a choke job. I saw guys playing hard and going about their business (full disclosure, I wasn’t in Miami).
In the end, the team simply failed to prevent runs well enough. They didn’t have enough pitching, or even close. And they might have squeaked into the postseason with better defensive personnel.
So how will that improve?
On the pitching side, don’t be surprised if the Mets are aggressive off this debacle in trying to acquire an ace.
David Stearns does not believe in using free agency to overpay top starting pitchers. But what if Paul Skenes or Sandy Alcantara can be pried from their teams? If there is a way to land one of those two without trading Nolan McLean, why wouldn’t the Mets be aggressive?
Stearns will also need to reflect on the flawed process that led to wasting money on Frankie Montas. It’s easy from my seat to cherry-pick moves that did not work, but this one stuck out as a possible example of weighing data over an overwhelming human argument against the player.
Stearns wants to be great here, running the team he has loved since childhood. He is intelligent and ambitious enough to take a long look at how he and his group arrived at certain decisions that smart folks around the industry — not just the closed-minded haters — didn’t understand.
The Mets’ young pitching depth continues to be a reason for significant optimism regarding next year’s team.
As for the defense, that will improve over the years that Stearns is running the Mets. Look at the versatile and athletic Milwaukee Brewers. Stearns mostly inherited this position player group. He will gradually bring in better defenders.
Will the manager survive?
According to sources with direct knowledge, the Mets have no plans to fire Carlos Mendoza. A change would require a series of events that was not at all in motion as the Mets finished off their collapse on Sunday evening.
You should, however, expect notable and perhaps widespread changes to the coaching staff. This feels like the biggest news to watch in the immediate aftermath.
What will happen with Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz and other stars?
It is entirely possible that both stars with opt outs played their final game at a Met on Sunday. These situations could go either way.
Obviously, there are Mets officials who would make an internal case to spread their money around on players other than a thirty-something first baseman and closer. Buckle up for more Alonso free agent uncertainty.
And would the Mets go so far as to explore a trade market for stalwarts Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo? You can rest assured that the team’s leadership will reflect as deeply as possible on how to keep the Mets pointed in the right direction.
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