Amazin' Clubhouse

After a 101 win regular season campaign, the Mets have nothing to show for it.

Not a divisional banner, playoff round win or any team accolades to celebrate. The San Diego Padres simply outplayed the Amazin's to take the newly instituted 3-game wildcard round 2-1. Yu Darvish dominated Game 1 against a struggling Max Scherzer, while Joe Musgrove shutdown the Mets in the series finale against Chris Bassitt.

A Mets offense that relied on wearing out starting pitchers with patience at the plate and settling for walks and singles for the majority of the regular season instead of tried to dial up home run swings in the postseason.

Whether it was the excitement of the home crowd of Citi Field, the magnitude of the moment or simply just getting away from what made them successful, New York abandoned its offensive formula in Games 1 and 3.

The last three weeks of the season were brutal for Mets fans as they watched their team played down to the level of their competition and continue to give ground to a red-hot Braves team that eventually took the NL East Crown.

Even with new life at the start of the 2022 postseason, a less than healthy Scherzer and erratic Bassitt doomed the Mets in the wildcard round. One of the lone bright spots for the Mets was the performance of Jacob deGrom in Game 2, but he already opted-out of his contract and will become a free agent this winter along with a laundry list of Mets key players including: Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, Bassitt, Seth Lugo, Carlos Carrassco and Adam Ottavino.

The 2023 Mets will have a much different look than this year's squad, that's simply the reality of the situation. Next year will be the third year of Steve Cohen's majority ownership of the Metropolitans.

He self-imposed a 3-5 year window to deliver a championship to the great fans in New York and as they approach the midway point of that timeframe, the Mets are making progress but still have no hardware to show for it.

At the end of the day, anything short of a championship will be looked upon as a disappointment for Mets fans starved of a World Series ring for the past 36 years.

This winter will make the most critical period for Cohen and General Manager and newly promoted President of Baseball Operations Billy Eppler to retain the key pieces on this club to remain in contention and fill out the roster deficiencies that find the Mets sitting hom for key October baseball.

48 hours after Javier Baez admitted that a "thumbs down" gesture among he and his Mets' teammates was directed at the fans for booing them, Baez and Francisco Lindor publicly apologized -- even though it felt half-assed.

Lindor struggled to find a way to spin reasons why the thumbs down was used as a target for the fans, stuttering and pausing to explain that the thumbs down to him resembles the "adversity" the team has gone through this year.

As for Baez all he said was he "didn't mean to offend anyone."

Too late bud.

What's worse was the tone-deaf response from manager Luis Rojas and owner Steve Cohen. Rojas said that the matter was handled in house, players are being held "accountable," adding that it was a "teachable moment" the exact "kick the can down the road" words Cohen used to describe the situation when pressed by the New York Post the other day.

To make matters worse, Cohen -- who has become synonymous for issuing tone-deaf Tweets like they are going out of style, implored fans to get behind the players.

"Glad to hear our players apologizing to the fan. Let's get behind our players today and go out and win two today!"

How inspiring Steve! Seriously, this is the same guy they based the Bobby Axelrod character off of when they wrote "Billions"? Really?

Cohen has come off as a totally out of touch buffoon with his latest missive, acting more like school teacher in the playground than an owner of a billion dollar baseball franchise, who should be furious that his players basically waved the middle finger at his customers.

If anyone believes the Mets are sorry for what they did, I got a stack of Lindor jersey's to sell you.

Lindor and Baez aren't sorry they insulted the fans, they are sorry they got caught in their own stupidity. Sorry that their little game inside the clubhouse got exposed. Maybe letting Baez in about about how much the players hate the fans was a bad idea, otherwise nobody would know what the hell was going on out there.

Let's face it, this has been an issue that has been brewing in the Mets clubhouse for some time. Earlier in the year Lindor expressed how much he hated getting booed, and has even hinted at how disturbed he is that struggling outfielder Michael Conforto would hear it from the fans.

The problem is the Mets seems more worried about what the fans think of them than what is going on between the lines. That is a huge issue that goes beyond the stats sheet.

There is a lack of leadership in the Mets organization. It seeps from the top on down. From Steve Cohen to Sandy Alderson and Zack Scott to Rojas -- who has done more damage to his reputation by pleading ignorance on all controversial matters.

Remember this is a organization that in the last eight months hired a GM, Jared Porter, who was accused of sexual assault before firing him, and was more than willing to toss $400-plus million at Trevor Bauer before he went to the Dodgers instead, who was also accused of sexual assault.

This is also the same organization that decided it was not worth going for it when they were four games ahead in the NL East, instead trading for a 41-year old slow ball pitcher in Rich Hill and of course sending a former first round pick to the Cubs for Baez. Oh, and they also screwed up the Jacob deGrom injury on a regular basis.

Now we have this disaster on the heels of the Mets 8-19 record in the month of August.

And this is a disaster, don't let anyone tell you different. The damage is done.

If the Mets are smart, and if Javier Baez is smart, neither side even thinks about talking extension and Baez walks away at the end of the year. As for Lindor, he is stuck here for the next decade. He is getting paid $341 million, or $32 million a year. He needs to play out of his mind from here on out if he wants to fans to forgive him for his idiocy. Otherwise he will continue to hear it.

Maybe Lindor should have realized that he was too thin skinned for New York, and not signed that mega deal in March. Guess, the ravioli with Steve Cohen wasn't the problem.

METS 10 - YANKEES 5 - Game 1

YANKEES 4 - METS 2 - Game 2

For the Mets it was easily one of the best victories of the season. For the Yankees it was one of their worst; heck one could argue the Yanks suffered two of the worst losses of their season in the same week on the same home-stand.

In what was a wild opening game of the day-night double-header, the Mets stormed back twice, once from 4-1 down, and again from 5-4 to stun the Yankees and drop them to an even .500 at 41-41, as once again Aroldis Chapman imploded on the hill for the Bombers.

There was so much to take away from the first game.

For starters, the Mets had numerous opportunities early in the ball game to knock Gerrit Cole out, but failed to do so. In the top of the 2nd, with the Mets leading 1-0, the umpires initially ruled that Jeff McNeil was out at first, but replay proved that he was indeed safe. The call was reversed, but the Mets could't move him as Billy McKinney struck out and Tomas Nido lined out to right.

Then in the top of the third, after the Yankees scratched out three runs to take a 3-1 advantage, the Mets got Luis Guillorme on base with an infield single, and it appeared that Brandon Nimmo beat out Luke Voit at first for a single of his own, but he was called out. The umpires did not reverse that call that time, which proved to be an inning killer for the Amazin's.

Still, the Mets hung around. In the top of the fourth, Cole lose Michael Conforto to a walk after getting ahead of him with a 1-2 count. McNeil singled, and McKinney walked. That set the table for Nido with the bases full, and the Mets back-up catcher slapped a single to right to plate a run, cutting the Yankees lead to 4-2.

Two batters later, Nimmo ripped a single to right-center to cut the deficit to 4-3, and chase Cole out of the game.

Cole lasted only 3.1 innings for the Yankees, allowing four runs on six hits.

With Jonathan Loasiga on the hill in relief of Cole, Francisco Lindor slapped a single to right, driving in McKinney with the tying run.

And it felt for a while like all the Mets best efforts would be for not, especially after Marcus Stroman's wild pitch brought in D.J. LeMahieu with the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Loasiga settled into a nice grove for the Yankees on the hill.

Then Chapman came in and the bottom fell out. He left a hanger over the plate that Pete Alonso corked over the left field wall into the Mets bullpen to tie the game at five. Alonso pumped his fists in the air, as Chapman wrapped his arms around his head in disgust.

It didn't get any better for the embattled closer who hit Conforto and walked McNeil before Aaron Boone removed him from the game to a chorus of boos.

The Mets had life.

Kevin Pillar singled off Lucas Luetge to get the party started. Then Jose Peraza hit one deep to left that a Mets fan leaned over the wall and caught resulting in a ground-rule double and two runs for the Mets to take a 7-5 lead.

Brandon Nimmo then got that fan off the hook when he doubled to left to give the Mets a 9-5 lead. Lindor capped off the stunning Mets rally with a RBI single to plate Nimmo to push the Mets lead to 10-5.

The win gave the Mets the series, and sent the Yankees back into the clubhouse pondering their problems. They had both Cole and Chapman and couldn't get the job done.

In the nightcap, the Yankees rode the left arm of Nestor Cortes and reliever Chad Green to stop the Mets from pulling off a series sweep in the Bronx.

Cortes was brilliant, holding the Mets to just two hits over 3.1 innings, but Aaron Boone decided to take him out of the game in the fourth for Darren O'Day, and that almost blew up in his face when Alonso cracked a two-run shot to right that cut the Yankees lead to 3-2.

On the flipside, Corey Oswalt struggled in a bullpen outing for the Mets, serving up a three-run homer to Gio Urshela in the second inning. While he settled down a bit after that, the Mets just couldn't do anything offensively.

Green shut the Mets down in the final three innings of the game as Chapman never got into the ballgame, an obvious choice by the Yankees who needed the win to get back over .500.

Even with the loss in the nightcap, the Mets have to feel good about taking two-of-three from their crosstown rivals in a critical series for both at this juncture of the season.

METS 6 - D-BACKS 2

The good times just keep on rolling for the New York Mets. Not only did they ride another superb outing from Jacob deGrom, but Pete Alonso and Kevin Pillar made their triumphant returns from the injury list as the Mets stung the Diamondbacks 6-2 out in the Desert.

Alonso spent the better part of two weeks on the injury list with a hand injury, came back on fire, going 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBI. His two-run single in the top of the third inning scored both Mason Williams and Jose Peraza to give New York an early 2-0 lead.

Later with New York in front 3-0, Alonso crushed a Merrill Kelly fastball, planting it over the left field wall to give the Mets a 5-0 advantage.

Alonso's multi-hit effort was his first since May 3 at St. Louis; the homer was his first since a May 15 game at Tampa.

If Alonso is about to get hot, it's only a good thing for the Mets who will have 11 games with the Padres and Cubs coming up in the next couple weeks.

Meanwhile, Jacob deGrom was his stellar self. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before catcher Carson Kelly ended that bid with a line-drive base hit to right-center. Still, deGrom held Arizona to just two hits over six innings of work. He didn't walk a batter and struck out eight. His ERA dropped to 0.78 on the season.

deGrom even helped himself with the bat when he lined a base hit to right that scored a run that gave the Mets a 3-0 lead.

Finally, Kevin Pillar made his return to the Mets. Pillar hadn't played a game in over two weeks after getting drilled in the face with a baseball in Atlanta back on May 19. He wore a protective mask over face, and played left field in the second half of the game, spelling Dom Smith. Pillar singled in his only trip to the plate.

Not to be forgotten, but newly acquired outfielder Billy McKinney continues to rake for the Mets. The former Milwaukee Brewer, hit his second home run for the Mets in as many games, a solo shot in the seventh that gave the Mets a 6-2 lead. McKinney had a three run-shot against Atlanta on Saturday in a 13-2 victory.

The Mets now stand at 26-20 on the season; a huge win on what will be a critical road trip out West. After the Mets finish their series in Arizona, they will head up the coast to San Diego, California to take on arguably the best team in the National League in the Padres. The Padres are 34-21 and virtually tied with San Francisco for first. That will be a big test later this week.

Want to see more?

Check out the second half of this vlog on the Mets stock on Memorial Day.

The New York Mets have endured numerous injuries that have taken out starting pitchers and key players from their everyday lineup, but they still find ways to win on a nightly basis.

Tuesday night was no exception as the Mets held-off the Atlanta Braves 4-3 to move to 20-16 on the season. Let's go to the SportsTalk Nation for the latest hot takes!

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