After getting rained out Thursday, the New York Mets began their season Friday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers, and it could not have gone much worse. The Mets were one-hit at Citi Field -- the one hit was a Starling Marte solo homer -- and Jeff McNeill got into it with Rhys Hoskins over a late slide. The Brewers won the game 3-1 (box score).
Prior to Friday's game, Mets owner Steve Cohen held court with the local media and said that, although the club had more of a low-key offseason, he would be disapponited if they missed the postseason again. From the Associated Press:
"I think the goal is to make the playoffs. Pretty simple. Let's not overthink this," Cohen said Friday. "If we don't make the playoffs, obviously I'd be disappointed."
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"(Fans are) still pretty supportive. I'm waiting for that to run out. We've got to win at some point," he said. "Listen, I think the goal is to make the playoffs and be there year in and year out, and I think we're going to over time accomplish that. I think what we're building here is something that's sustainable."
The Mets won 101 games and went to the postseason in 2022, though they blew a 10.5-game division lead and were eliminated by the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card Series. They then slipped to 75-87 in 2023, and things went poorly enough that they sold at the trade deadline. Mark Canha, David Robertson, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were among the veterans traded away.
To Cohen's credit, he agreed to eat significant dollars on those contracts, allowing the Mets to receive better prospects in return. This past offseason he hired president of baseball operations David Stearns with the idea that Stearns would build a consistent contender. Cohen has said repeatedly that he wants the Mets to become the East Coast version of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This is something of a transition year for the Mets. They want to contend, as Cohen said, but they're also using the season as an opportunity to see what they have in young players like Brett Baty. At the same time, they recently signed J.D. Martinez, which pushed young slugger Mark Vientos back to Triple-A. The Martinez signing was their most all-in move of the winter.
The Mets entered the season with 38.7% postseason odds, per SportsLine. Baseball Prospectus has them a tick higher at 42.8%, FanGraphs a tick lower at 26.0%.
