Last year should have been the Mets’ year. Their stars — team leader Francisco Lindor, former batting champion Jeff McNeil, franchise outfielder Brandon Nimmo, slugger Pete Alonso — were all peak age, in their late 20s or just over 30. The 2024 Yankees were probably the worst American League champion in decades — bad baserunning, bad fielding, bad managing. If the Mets had beaten the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, they would have had the easiest World Series any team could ask for. 

Yet 2025 came in with even higher expectations, because in the offseason, the Mets signed the biggest star in baseball, Juan Soto, to the biggest contract in baseball. Our payroll hit $323 million.