The Mets problems go far beyond the diamond
Meanwhile in a dash of good news, A.J. Ewing is one step closer to the Show
What’s Up with the Mets? 🤮
The Mets were mercifully off on Monday and will begin a three game series with the Nationals tonight at Citi Field
The Mets are promoting their number three ranked prospect, IF/OF A.J. Ewing, to Triple-A Syracuse (SNY)
Roster Moves 📰
Claimed veteran infielder Eric Wagaman off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse
Injury Updates 🏥
INF Jorge Polanco (wrist, achilles soreness) has resumed baseball activities but there’s still no timetable for his return
LHP AJ Minter (recovery from 2025 lat surgery) remains on-track for a return in the second week of May
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
In the latest edition of the Just Mets Podcast, Rich and Andrew discussed who they think could be the next manager of the Mets if they fire Carlos Mendoza, roster moves they can make to shake things up, and more after being swept by Colorado this weekend.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
All Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (9-19) vs. Nationals (13-16)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Clay Holmes (2-2, 2.10 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Littell (0-3, 7.56 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets problems are way bigger than just the losses ✍️
The Mets are in full-on crisis right now. To say the 2026 season has been a catastrophic failure and embarrassment to date is the understatement of the century.
They are bad, boring, and don’t have anything worth looking forward to on any given night—save for a Nolan McLean start every five days.
This team is uninspiring, underwhelming, and doesn’t seem to care.
In a season in which David Stearns made an obscene amount of changes—that he insisted would make the Mets better (LOL)—this has been an absolute worst-case scenario development.
Look, if we put this season’s expectations to the side for a second, we can dive into the heart of this problem.
The Mets are bad, so what? They’ve been bad before and they’ll be bad again.
But in the most recent times they’ve been bad, there has always been a glimmer of hope dangling as the light at the end of the tunnel.
The post-NL pennant-winning early 2000s Mets were awful. The Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar experiment was a joke, and things were bleak. But bubbling to the surface of the team’s minor league system were Jose Reyes, David Wright, and to a lesser extent, even Aaron Heilman. Heralded homegrown top prospects who fans were eager to see. And once they reached the Show, things turned around in a hurry.
Fast forward a few years to the early part of the Terry Collins era. Those Mets teams were awful. But let’s think back to our attitudes at the time. We weren’t hopeless, we were optimistic. Why? We knew about the homegrown pitching that was coming.
We knew about Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero, Steven Matz, and Noah Syndergaard. And you know what? That team was back in the World Series in 2015.
The vibe around this latest Mets mediocre club is noticeably different and for good reason.
The Mets had a beloved homegrown core in Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil—the latter of whom Mets fans had started to take for granted at the end. That trio cared, produced, and took this team to the postseason twice in a three-year period. Yes, last year sucked, and yes, this team should have been in the playoffs for the third time in four years. But missing the dance by a single game had a lot more to do with the club’s ineptitude on the mound for the better part of four months than it did with the offensive core.
Stearns talked a lot about run prevention, poor defense, and there was even noise he had to stave off about a bad clubhouse. But in the end, none of the guys he jettisoned or let walk - except for Edwin Díaz - threw a single pitch for the Mets in 2025.
Sure, that group of Mets struggled at times, but you never had to question if they were in it with you, and they were certainly better than whatever this is Stearns as assembled for 2026. You never had to question if they’d ultimately be able to pull themselves out of it, because we’d seen it before.
Changes were needed to improve the club, but with the benefit of what we know now, Stearns’ decision-making looks even more horrific.
The only move he made all winter that doesn’t look bad right now is the trade that brought Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers from Milwaukee. And you know what? If Peralta leaves as a free agent in a few months, that deal could turn sour real quick too.
Trading Nimmo for Marcus Semien was an unmitigated disaster from the start. Semien is completely washed, and Nimmo is a good, borderline great player, whose number 9 should’ve been in the rafters one day. If defense up the middle was the deciding factor, the team could just as easily kept Nimmo in left field, and not traded Luisangel Acuña to the White Sox, and instead let him play second base in Queens.
Had that happened, we wouldn’t have Luis Robert, and Carson Benge would more than likely be playing center field right now instead of left. I think we’d all sign up for those redos.
Then there’s first base, which is the most laughable of all.
Alonso was not retained because of defense or run prevention or his age or whatever nonsense you want to buy. But after all the talk of him being a defensive liability, we now get to watch Brett Baty and Mark Vientos struggle at a position that isn’t their natural spot. Speaking of players playing out of position, the infielder they signed to play first base after not hardly playing there ever before—Jorge Polanco—started there just once and is now on the injured list. Outfielder Jared Young has started there as well. If only there had been a better option available during the winter.
And look - I am not saying the Mets should’ve signed Alonso to a five-year deal. But it just goes to show exactly what they thought of him when they didn’t even consider replacing him with an actual first baseman, instead insisting a combined group of players with limited to no experience at the position would be better than he was.
But back to the present.
This was always going to be a make-or-break transition year for Stearns and company. In the past, when the team struggled or was mired in a losing streak, there were the earlier-mentioned cornerstone players that had equity with the fans, the fans were invested in watching, and eventually, things almost always righted themselves.
Right now, what do the Mets have going for them to keep fans that aren’t diabolical masochists like us engaged? What is the younger generation of Mets fans, still reeling from losing their favorite players, supposed to hold onto?
It’s not even May, and they’ve become unwatchable.
The disappointment is going to show itself in ticket sales, tv ratings, merchandise sales, and everything else.
Steve Cohen did so much and worked so hard to turn this franchise around and make it a respected destination yet again. David Stearns managed to undo all of that in just a few weeks.
Around the League 🚩
Former Mets righty Max Scherzer went on the IL with forearm tendinitis (USA Today)
The Cardinals scored four 9th inning runs to stun the Pirates by the score of 4-2
Ranger Suárez struck out 10 across eight scoreless frames to help Boston beat Toronto 5-0
Jonathan Aranda hit his 7th home run in the Rays 3-2 win in Cleveland
This newsletter seems to forget the constant questioning of motives as the team started their downward trajectory last year. I have seen it mentioned a few times now, oh the team didn’t play well last year but we never had to question their drive. You must have poor memory.
It also just bothers me every time I hear someone say Brandon Nimmo would have had his number retired if he had stayed… I don’t buy it. Maybe Mets HOF but number retirement? Get out of here.
David Sterns makes terrible roster decisions. This team has no power, no team speed, average at best defense. I have never seen a team hit as many weak ground balls and take so many strikes and then chase out of the strike zone. Therefore don't walk enough. Maybe David Sterns makes terrible coaching hires also. All I know is that the Mets are TERRIBLE and UNWATCHABLE! I am EMBARRASSED to wear my Mets gear here in Georgia. The Braves made a few key signings over the off season that are working out great. They are back on top without over paying any players. And yes, Dominic Smith plays for them. Plays a great first base...has a higher batting average and more RBIs than any Met. And plays a great first base and a decent left field. Oh by the way, the White Sox signed a free agent first baseman who leads the majors in Homer's. That was only a 3 year deal. David Sterns has been a terrible GM for the Mets!