As someone who is born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and has rooted for the hometown team’s biggest rival my entire life, it has not been easy. I’ve watched the Braves win division title after division title, and even a World Series five years ago – miserable throughout. But hope springs eternal and just like every year, I am very excited about the outlook of the 2026 team.
The Mets had an objectively talented roster throughout the five years post-COVID, but the group of players never won a division title, pennant, or anything of real substance. David Stearns, lifelong diehard Met fan and current president of baseball operations, took this to heart when crafting the 2026 roster. Even though there had been guys in the organization for 7,8,9,10+ years that were beloved by the fanbase, it was important to pivot after the collapse of 2025, a team that was easily one of the 3-5 most gifted in baseball, yet missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker.
This brings us to the 2026 team. Out went franchise home run leader and fan favorite Pete Alonso. Out went Brandon Nimmo, a player who was beloved by fans and had been with the organization since being drafted in 2011. Out went Jeff McNeil, a player that epitomized the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Out went Edwin Diaz, the marvelous closer that took the offer of the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers in an attempt to get a ring of his own. In came Jorge Polanco, a great veteran switch hitter that should bring presence to the locker room. In came Marcus Semien, a defensive wizard on the back side of a great major league career carrying a 3 year contract worth $75 million. In cam Luis Robert Jr., objectively one of the most polished athletes in the game who just happened to play center field for one of the worst organizations in professional sports. In came Bo Bichette, a stud .300 hitter that was an integral part of a Blue Jays team two outs away from taking down the Dodgers in the World Series less than 6 months ago.
Only time will tell if there is a net positive with this crazy amount of additions as well as subtractions. I will unfortunately be watching as many games as I can, treating each game as if it is a playoff game, and as if there aren’t 161 more. The best thing about baseball is that they play again tomorrow. The worst thing about baseball – is that they play again tomorrow. All I know is that regardless of outcome, I will be there tomorrow.
The answers to a lot of these questions remain unsolved as the Mets are a lowly 29-36 with 97 games left to play. However, they have gone through a month without their best player, Juan Soto, and now 2 months without their second best player, Francisco Lindor, and are still not entirely out of it. As winners of 7 of their last 10 games, hopefully they are heating up for a great summer to get back into playoff position.
Lets Go Mets!
-JB
Jack Bennett's Mets Blog 