Amid a weekend of storms lashing down across the East Coast, the Mets’ disappointing summer of baseball came to an end amid hopes the rain can wash away the bitter taste of a season that failed to materialize.
After a 6-4 loss to the Washington Nationals on the season’s final day, manager Andy Green described the mood in the clubhouse as “hungry to change the narrative.”
“We’ve got three, four months here to get after it in the offseason,” the skipper said Sunday. “Each guy has the chance to chase the best version of themselves and after that’s done, get together in spring training, get after it, and do something special together.”
Of course, moving on from the 74-88 campaign will take time before getting back to the tabula rasa of Port St. Lucie next spring.
“I think right now there’s still frustration for the way the season unfolded for everybody in the organization and the entire fan base,” Green said. “That takes a while to flush before you get to the excitement phase. And that [disappointment] can drive you for a while, too. To ensure you end up doing everything you end up doing everything you possibly can do to get to the excited phase.”
Despite the down year, Francisco Lindor, who socked his 300th career home run on Sunday, said there was "a lot" of progress made during the season toward building a better future.
"We have some good pieces," Lindor said. "Our relationships grew; guys are getting used to being in New York... I think we are moving forward... we're preparing ourselves to go forward.
"I feel like we're gonna be in a much better spot next year."
As far as lessons learned for the disappointing year, Lindor, who missed long stretches of the season on the injured list, that "health matters a lot" and "relationships grow even bigger throughout the ups and downs."
"I've learned that you can't force relationships," he continued. "I've learned that when you are healthy you gotta go give everything you got, no matter what's gonna happen tomorrow because things can get out of your hands real quick."
Juan Soto, who lost several weeks to calf injuries himself, had the harshest critique for himself.
“Tough one, a lot of up and downs. I want to call it disappointing, embarrassing,” Soto said of his season, which saw him finish with 27 home runs and 68 RBI in 11 games. “I gotta prepare myself better. I gotta be better for the team, try to be out there for 162 and contribute as much as I can.”
Sean Manaea, who allowed five runs on seven hits over six innings in Sunday's loss, called the season a “disappointment” from both an individual and team standpoint.
“We didn’t, as a team, do what we needed to do. I personally didn’t do what I needed to do,” Manaea said. “I think there was flashes of some really good times. There was also a lot of negative things. Overall, I would say it's a disappointment, but I’m just glad I ended it on a high note and go into the offseason.”
Some of the flashes of good were an emergence of young talent, including in the rotation. The challenge for the offseason is to make the flashes more frequent.
“These young guys coming in have unbelievable stuff,” Manaea said. “I know going into next year they can repeat, if not do better. And I know as a starting group, as a rotation, the closer we get to bonding we can do some incredible things.
“Super excited for them for next year; they can be great.”
One thing Lindor predicts to be a "non-issue" this offseason is the clubhouse.
"I think the clubhouse is in great shape," he said. "I don't think we should be hearing anything about it in the offseason because I feel like the clubhouse his great. Everybody here is in a really good spot. We are all pulling for each other, we all care for each other, and at the end of the day, this is about playing for each other and growing and wanting the best for each other so we can win.
"It shouldn't be an issue."
Soto agreed that the clubhouse is in a great spot.
"I think we got a lot of really good veteran players that have played this game for a long time and it's great, so far so good," he said. "I think we have everything that we need. Just gotta add couple pieces in the offseason, and I think it's gonna be even better for the team. "
















