And Now, Once Again, Mets as Spoilers

 

It's kind of insane that the Mets become this kind of team every year they don't make the playoffs, but this is where we are. I've talked about this so many times in the past, even before their big Cohen-aided come-up last year. The Mets never have enough juice to get them all the way to October, so what usually happens is they crap out around July or August and spend the rest of the year as the designated spoiler, where their job is to chase away the wild card teams that are borderline and give them enough losses to hedge them out of the playoff picture.

This has happened practically every season. The most notable instance was 2019, where the Mets were out of it anyway but still disqualified some big teams and finished over .500. They also did this in 2021, as they were one of the first nails in the coffin for the Yankees. Typically they usually beat the Phillies enough times in September to disqualify them, which is why I'm thankful they don't have to play the Phils as much anymore. But sure enough, the Mets are scheduled to play the Marlins, Mariners, Angels, Diamondbacks, Twins, Reds and...yes, those Fightins, later on this season. So even if the Mets aren't heading to October, they can be the grim reaper again and stop other teams from getting there as well.

...is it me or were we thinking the Mets had outgrown this sort of finish?

The Cohen-ball approach fooled us. Stocking the team with that many contracts had to lead to something good, right? Well, Verlander and Scherzer just didn't work in Queens, McNeil trailed off, Marte got hurt, Baty and Vientos couldn't hit for average and D.J. Stewart, Rafael Ortega and Tim Locastro are now playing big roles for this team. Now that the haze has dissipated, this team's a ton older and rustier than we all thought, even with rookies like Francisco Alvarez and Kodai Senga impressing. 

At the same time, we're wasting yet another nice season from Francisco Lindor, who's far and away the team's best player, has a 20-20 year with 70 RBIs, and is one of the few big stars on this team, besides Brandon Nimmo I suppose, that's actually worth their weight in gold. With what they're paying Lindor, he'd better be performing at high levels, and I'd still call him one of the most exciting shortstops in the league. The exclamation point has subsided a bit since 2018, but I don't think his stock has fallen as much as people like Javier Baez or Carlos Correa. Lindor's still on top of his game, at his peak, and commanding the Mets. Even in a down year, that's a great takeaway.

I am firm in thinking that the Mets will heat up down the stretch solely for the purposes of eliminating potential contenders. This is what they've always done, they're good at it, and someday they'll have their vengeance.

Coming Tonight: One of the few young power hitters the White Sox could actually hold onto.