“The New York Mets lost and will miss the playoffs. At one point, they were 45-24. They end the season at 83-79. An all-time disintegration. From the best record in the game to out of the postseason.” MLB insider Jeff Passan shares what an unreal downfall it looks like. The Mets’ 2025 season is that much tragic, even more considering their second-most expensive roster.

The Mets started the year with a bang… They made headlines by giving Juan Soto the richest deal in MLB history and then kept piling on. Pete Alonso took home $27 million AAV this year. Then they are continuing with Francisco Lindor, worth $341 million for 10 years. The result was a staggering $340 million payroll this year! But despite all that, they still fell short of the playoffs.

Their latest 0-4 loss to the Marlins slammed the door shut, ending the 2025 ride in Queens. And now, who takes the blame? Manager Carlos Mendoza has a say here… “I take responsibility. I’m the manager. It starts with me. I’ve got to take a long look here at how I need to get better.”

Mendoza would surely be at the front of the squad to know about what went wrong. But for now, their latest game can give you a glimpse of the most haunting part for the Mets. And that’s their offense…

Even with their star-studded lineup, the Mets’ offense was just a little above average. Mark Vientos started slow and then lost most of June to a hamstring injury, hitting just .223 with a .640 OPS by the All-Star break. Then comes Tyrone Taylor, who ended up playing a good number of games (113 games) but didn’t produce much, managing only a .598 OPS.

And Cedric Mullins, brought in at the trade deadline, wasn’t able to add much length to the lineup either. Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio got extended looks, but they also struggled to make an impact.

Trade deadline blunders continued to haunt the Mets

Till July, the Mets were riding high, holding a 1.5-game lead over the Phillies. But less than three weeks later, by the time their August 15 game wrapped up, that momentum had completely vanished. Notably, they went just 2-14 during that stretch, flipping from first place to six games behind Philadelphia.

And the slump came almost immediately after the Mets front office made several moves at the trade deadline, which were supposed to push the team forward.

The biggest problem, though, was the starting rotation, something that had been an issue since Opening Day and never really got fixed. For reference, Kodai Senga was demoted to the minors back then, Sean Manaea ended up shifting into a bullpen role, and David Peterson continued to have trouble finding consistency.

Yet the Mets front office chose not to invest in the starting rotation, which started to look like a huge misstep. Instead of stabilizing the rotation, the Mets watched it unravel. And here we are seeing how it played a massive role in the team’s collapse.