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.
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