New York Mets downfall was predictable after poor offseason decisions

The New York Mets are at the top of the league in salary and near the bottom of the NL East. The team spent the 2023 offseason making splashy and expensive moves, moves that were obviously never going to work for a team that should have found a way to lock up their ace long-term.

These decisions have backfired on the New York Mets

Instead, the Mets’ answer to the obvious problem was paying 38-year-old Max Scherzer and 40-year-old Justin Verlander both over $40 million. Paying two aging pitchers at this level speaks to desperation and a poorly thought out offseason.

An older roster that needed youth and energy instead went out and opted to get older and less flexible with their roster. Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, and Pete Alonso all deserve heat as well for down seasons and not playing to their full potential.

Perhaps the low point of the season is in part thanks to Alonso, who thought it a good idea to taunt the Atlanta Braves screaming from the dugout after hitting a clutch home run. It was a clutch homer the Braves would quickly erase and go on to dominate the Mets and win the series.

New York is obviously not even the third-best team within their own division despite being at the top of the league in salary after a historic spending spree. What New York is learning is that buying a team or World Series simply isn’t an option.

Whether it is the Braves, Cincinnati Reds,Arizona  Diamondbacks, or surprise contender Miami Marlins, all four top contenders in the National League have two things in common joy and energy for the game. These teams are fun to watch even in losses they have rosters that fight until the final out and always find ways to entertain.

The Mets are the polar opposite of this … a veteran team that, in all honesty, not only is disappointing but boring to watch. They are a team that lacks natural energy and enthusiasm and it consistently shows up in the form of boring and disappointing baseball. A team that the league and its fans so badly want to be relevant is yet again a disappointment and until the front office approach changes radically the results will continue to be the same.