The New York Mets close another disappointing season with 11 games remaining after a campaign that began with World Series hopes and ended with the club serving as a spoiler for several playoff contenders. Despite carrying the second-highest payroll in baseball, the Mets have shown a recent uptick, going 21-16 since trading eight big leaguers in the weeks leading into the Aug. 3 deadline.
The team faced quality competition during that run, facing 13 teams, eight of which currently occupy playoff positions and two others sitting a combined four games under .500. Interim manager Andy Green said the stretch showed what the roster can accomplish when healthy and playing together, and that it has helped restore confidence in the clubhouse.
Pressure remains off the field. Fans at Citi Field chanted for president of baseball operations David Stearns to be fired while celebrating Pete Alonso’s return with a curtain call after Alonso hit his 300th career homer against the Mets, a sequence that reportedly made players uncomfortable. The front office and ownership still expect to contend in 2027, according to the team.
The Mets reshaped their core before the season, declining to re-sign Alonso and trading Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil to build around Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor. That pairing has been hampered by injuries; Lindor and Soto have started just 44 games together in 2026. The club is 21-23 when both are in the lineup and 48-59 without both, figures that underscore how central those two will be to next season’s outlook.
Freddy Peralta reportedly helped repair the relationship between Soto and Lindor by initiating a June meeting, even though his own on-field results disappointed before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the deadline. According to sources, Peralta’s leadership could have a lasting effect on the clubhouse despite his uneven performance.
An unexpected bright spot has been the outfield. After Kyle Tucker signed elsewhere and the Mets added Bo Bichette and Luis Robert Jr., rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing—Ewing arriving from Double-A—have emerged as regulars, with Nick Morabito providing additional left-field depth. Those pieces give the organization reason for optimism as it prepares for 2027.
