Mets frustrated by finish to 101-win campaign

NEW YORK -- For so many, for so long, the 2022 Mets season felt different.

The changes were obvious and widespread, beginning in the ownership box and trickling down to every corner of the organization. In signing Max Scherzer, the Mets purchased a prepackaged winning culture. In hiring Buck Showalter, they brought on a steady hand. In the standings, the Mets became the envy of the National League East, holding a hammerlock on first place for much of the summer and setting a pace to win 101 games, the second-highest total in franchise history.

Then over the course of five dispiriting weeks, everything changed. The Mets lost their grip on the division not once, but twice. They failed to impose their will on lesser teams in September. They gave back the remainder of their lead in Atlanta on the final weekend of the regular season, losing their first-round playoff bye and settling for a best-of-three Wild Card Series at Citi Field as a consolation. Finally, the Mets lost that as well, dropping Game 3 to the lower-seeded Padres, 6-0, on Sunday night.

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“Nobody cared that we won 101 games,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “Just that we lost these two.”

Now, the Mets enter one of the most uncertain offseasons in their history, with four-fifths of their rotation and nearly every prominent member of their bullpen capable of becoming free agents. General manager Billy Eppler, who made only modest improvements to the roster at the Trade Deadline, may need to spend tens of millions of Steve Cohen’s dollars just to bring the roster back to its current heights.

Since purchasing the Mets in November 2020, Cohen’s charge has been nothing less than a top-down culture change in Flushing. In many corners of the organization, he has already succeeded. But even Cohen has been unable to alter the ultimate result -- lights out at Citi Field before New York’s autumn chill fully sets in.

“Our goal was to win the World Series,” Scherzer said, “and we failed.”

The final blow occurred Sunday, when Chris Bassitt allowed three runs over four innings. That proved to be more than enough for Padres starter Joe Musgrove, who allowed only one hit through seven innings and was seemingly unaffected by an umpire substance check in the sixth. The Mets put just two men on base all night.

By the later innings, enough fans had departed from a non-sellout crowd that individual jeers could be heard above the din. One fan yelled that he hoped the Mets would re-sign Nimmo. Boos cascaded down upon other players, who quickly shuffled out of their dugout as the Padres celebrated on the field. Since Citi Field opened in 2009, the Mets have never rushed the mound here, never sprayed champagne in their own clubhouse.

When they clinched a postseason berth in Milwaukee in mid-September, Mets players chose to hold a subdued celebration in a nod to their higher ambitions. Even then, they understood the risk that a more raucous party might never occur.

In Queens, such scenarios are not new. Since their most recent World Series championship in 1986, the Mets have routinely disappointed. There was the NL Championship Series loss to the Dodgers in 1988, which became the last gasp for a onetime potential dynasty. There were the various letdowns of 1999-2000, then again of 2006-08. The 2015 team reinfused life into an emotionally broken fan base; the 2016 ending jaded them all over again. The 2022 club offered them glimpses of what could be, but that never materialized into something more substantial.

“We had a ballclub that could do it,” Scherzer said. “I really love this clubhouse. I love all the guys in here. I thought we had great chemistry. I really thought we had the makeup to do it. I’ve been on several teams that have gone deep in the postseason. I thought we shared a lot of the same characteristics of those teams. Unfortunately, we got beat.”

Afterward, Cohen entered the clubhouse to shake hands and say goodbyes. Some players milled about and played pool on the clubhouse table, while others packed boxes. Nimmo, one of many pending free agents, remained in full uniform more than an hour after the game, which he acknowledged was partially due to his desire to “soak it in.”

“Because we don’t know what the future holds,” Nimmo added. “Because you never know, especially in baseball, where the future might take you.”