Who Is Most to Blame for New York Mets' Botched Season?

As Francisco Lindor grounded into the inning-ending, game-ending, season-ending 4-6-3 double play in Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, New York Mets play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen summed up the dismay pretty perfectly:

"The Mets' agonizing, three-and-a-half-month, slow-motion collapse is complete ... It is unfathomable that this collection of talent winds up outside of an expanded postseason system."

Had their $341M star reached base, their $765M star, Juan Soto, would've come to the plate. And if he had gotten on base, New York's favorite Polar Bear, Pete Alonso, would have had a chance to tie the game with a home run that would have rivaled the blast he hit off Devin Williams in last year's wild-card round.

But did anyone who has watched this team play over the previous 92 games honestly believe that was on the table?

Despite Soto putting together a 30 HR / 30 SB campaign just in those 92 games, the Mets felt destined for anything other than greatness, missing the playoffs for the second time in three years—even though they opened each of those seasons with a payroll north of $320M.

Now that they're dead, time for the autopsy.

Who was most responsible for the Mets' disintegration from a 45-24, best in the majors start to this 38-55, traveshamockery of a finish?

Sean Manaea

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It's unfortunate that Manaea strained an oblique early in spring training and didn't make his season debut until mid-July.

But when the highest-salaried (3 years, $75M) pitcher on the roster finally did make it back, the hope was that he would stop the bleeding for a team that was clinging to a half-game lead in the NL East after losing 17 out of 27.

Instead of being a band-aid solution, though, he cut them even deeper.

Starting Game 162 and only tallying five outs was almost too on the nose for how his season went. The Mets went 4-11 in games in which Manaea pitched, and he failed to record even one quality start.

While we're on the subject of the highest-paid starting pitchers, Frankie Montas (2 years, $34M) was even worse, making just nine appearances with a 6.28 ERA before undergoing UCL surgery that will most likely keep him out for all of 2026, too.

Center Field

The ol' No. 8 in the scorecard was always liable to be a problem for the Mets, entering the year with a platoon of Tyrone Taylor and Jose Siri in center. Two veterans who had never been consistent/healthy enough to receive the plate appearances necessary to qualify for a batting title.

While Taylor did at least supply plus range on defense, he ended the season with a .598 OPS. Meanwhile, Siri appeared in just 16 games with an almost impossibly awful .292 OPS.

This led to the Mets trading for Cedric Mullins, who already had OPS concerns of his own—which only got worse in Queens. He batted .182 as the Mets entered the final day of the regular season with a woeful triple-slash of .209/.283/.314.

Jeff McNeil played 34 games in center field, too, and he was a mess down the stretch. He went 19-for-100 with no home runs in his final 30 games played. That 2022 batting title feels like it happened 20 years ago.

The Trade Deadline Acquisitions

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All told, the Mets added four players ahead of the trade deadline: Mullins and relievers Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley.

At the time, it felt like they were maybe the biggest winner of the deadline. Mullins, a buy-low candidate who could get back to hitting like he did in April. Soto was a desperately needed southpaw. Rogers was a reliable innings machine. Bringing in an elite closer in Helsley to become Edwin Díaz's primary setup man looked like a lethal combination.

We already noted Mullins' struggles, and the trio of pitchers went a combined 1-9 with five blown saves, logging 71.1 innings pitched with a 4.29 ERA. Rogers was solid with 12 holds in his 28 appearances, but overall, the additions turned out to be subtractions.

David Stearns

He didn't throw a pitch or swing a bat while the Mets collapsed, but it's because of this president of baseball operations that they made the moves (and non-moves) that they did.

Despite working for an owner in Steve Cohen who is willing to spend just about anything in pursuit of a World Series, when it comes to the starting rotation, Stearns acts like he's still operating under the constraints of a Milwaukee Brewers budget.

Even before both Manaea and Frankie Montas got hurt in spring training, the rotation was a gigantic question mark heading into this season. By the trade deadline, it had devolved from a question mark into a poop emoji, and still, they did nothing to address it. And perhaps most egregious of all was Stearns' refusal to call up top prospects Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat until it was too little, too late.

Will they now bite the bullet and cut a nice big check to a Dylan Cease or Framber Valdez?

Or are they content with repeatedly spending half a billion dollars for a team with a starting rotation barely good enough to get them to the final day of the regular season with a prayer of making the playoffs?

Should be a mighty interesting offseason for the Mets—one that will be a month longer than planned.

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