More than an hour after the Mets’ once-promising 2022 season ended, the team’s longtime midfielder Brandon Nimmo remained in full uniform at the club. He went out to the yard to take pictures with his family after Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 6-0, on Sunday night at Citi Field in the decisive match 3 of the Wild League National League qualifiers.
For the first time in his career, Nimmo, 29, is a freelance agent, and he doesn’t know if this will be the last time he will represent the Mets, the only organization he has ever known and the one that has come to be known. married him when he was 18 years old. .
“I need to enjoy it now and immerse myself in it because you never know, especially in baseball, where the future might take you,” he said. He added later, “No one cares that we won 101 games, it’s just that we lost these two. So it’s a sad mood in the clubhouse now. “
Late at night in the Mets dressing room, players hug, sign autographs, stuff their belongings in bags or boxes, share drinks and say goodbye. This Mets team, as it was built, will never be the same again. With so many free agents, the Mets and their major league top $288 million payrolls are likely to look very different next season.
“It really hurt,” said first-timer Pete Alonso. “It’s not just about losing; It’s the disbandment of the group because every single guy in this club is truly amazing. It sucks when you know they won’t be in the same group next year. “
Change is inevitable in professional sports. Executives, managers and coaches have a shelf life. Players age or out of contract. Vibration performance. The 2022 Mets, after a 101-winning regular season, seem to renew hopes of a franchise, which is often just a joke, that will tackle revenue acumen this winter.
The list of key players who are eligible to become free agents – or possibly join them if their contract options are not selected – is long. The entire rotation begins except for Max Scherzer who may no longer be: Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker. So does a large part of the barn: Edwin Díaz, Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino and Trevor May. Nimmo can also depart.
And at the very top of the organization, the Mets are looking for a new president of the team to replace Sandy Aldersonwho is moving into a special advisor role after leading the franchise since billionaire Steven A. Cohen bought the club two years ago.
“I’ve been part of organizations where you can have one year go down and then reset the next year and be really good,” says Scherzer. “So it’s too early to comment on what will happen next year because you have all the off-season. But I’ve been in this situation before and I’ve seen organizations recover, and there’s no reason why this organization can’t recover.”
“I love the platform we have here,” quarterback Mark Canha said, adding that he has confidence in General Managers Billy Eppler and Cohen. (Cohen, the players said, spoke to the team after the loss, telling them how proud he was of them.)
When Cohen, Eppler, Mets main office, director Buck Showalter, coaching staff and perhaps the team’s new president sat down to analyze this season and why it ended sooner than expected, there were plenty of them. things could improve despite accumulating most often- their last World Series championship season in 1986.
“There’s a lot that we’ve accomplished, but it’s really hard to finish,” said Alonso. Francisco Lindor added, “We didn’t make it through. We didn’t accomplish what we wanted.”
Is the Mets attack, which relies more on average and base percentages and less on power, the best way to build a squad in an age of high velocity and movement this? With the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves ahead at the time, should the Mets do more by the August 2 trading deadline to strengthen the roster and grow? Can the team re-sign deGrom, 34, who has said he doesn’t expected to exercise the opt-out clause in renewing his contract? And given that they missed out on a big chunk of 2022 with injury, how much can deGrom and Scherzer, 38 – with their five Cy Young Awards combined – provide as they continue to age? What about the rest of the rotation, the bullpen and the lineup? Will Cohen continues to spend at record levels?
Although the Mets’ season came to an end on Sunday, it has since unraveled. The Mets led their division, NL East, for the entire season except for six days, most of which were at the end of the season.
If the Mets had simply won one more game in the regular season – they were underpowered by the Chicago Cubs in mid-September, for example, and against Atlanta in the final weekend – then they would have been in a better position coming in. post-season. Although Atlanta and the Mets each finished with 101 wins, Atlanta took the title of the season and thus earned the first place bye bye to the best-ever split starting Tuesday while the Mets had to compete. play in the knockout round.
“Sometimes, we need to win, and we haven’t won some big baseball games like the Braves and tonight,” said deGrom, who secured the Mets’ only win in the wilds card round against the Padres but was defeated, like Bassitt and Scherzer, by Atlanta in their important series a week ago. “Everybody in this room was disappointed, and we wanted to play another month.”
Nimmo added: “We have relied on starting pitches for the whole year. This offense is built to score consistent runs but might not get 10 and all that. We were built around pitching that started. So yeah, when the Braves do what they did to Jake and Bass and Scherz, and then they score like they did this weekend, it’s surprising. “
DeGrom, for that matter, has said he has enjoyed nine years in New York but declined to discuss the future of his contract on Sunday night. Nimmo, Díaz and Lugo, with tears in their eyes since joining the Mets 12 years ago, all say they want to return but that has yet to be determined. After the game, Díaz said Lindor gave a speech and the players expected to stay next season wish those likely to leave good luck.
“Obviously they were hoping that we could all come back, but unfortunately that’s not the case,” said Díaz, 28, in Spanish. “We are not all going back. And honestly, I’m going to make the best decision for me and my family, and I hope to God that I can come back because it feels like a family here.”
But keeping Díaz, deGrom and others, plus chasing the top freelance agents this winter or making big deals, will come with an unusual price tag. Some holes can be filled from the inside, such as third-year pitcher David Peterson slipping into the ring. As of Sunday, the Mets have $195 million in wage commitments by 2023, according to Baseball Reference.
A lot could change, though, between now and spring training. There’s been so much about the Mets between their last playoffs in 2016 and this season: new owners, more spending, enhanced infrastructure, new managers, improve stability when franchising.
Lindor said the team’s culture “will be one of the best in the game.” When asked what has changed since last year, he said there was “less noise from outside” in the clubhouse and “one hopes to win day in and day out, and this is not the case.” like a audition, and you’re expected to take charge.”
In arguing that the Mets are in good shape going forward, Nimmo cites an organization Cohen has said he wants to model the Mets later, the Los Angeles Dodgers. To build a longtime contender, the Dodgers spent a lot of money on big league salaries and developing minor league prospects, and they won the 2020 World Series in their eighth consecutive appearance. next season.
Nimmo said of the Mets: “Sometimes, that experience and having those experienced young men can help you in the long run. “But I think it will be looked back on as a stepping stone in the right direction for this organization. I think they’re in a great position to head towards. They have an owner who really wants to win and will do whatever it takes to win. And that’s more than half the battle right there. This organization is on the right track.”
