By Eddie Castro
The New York Mets come into the 2025 campaign with more expectations than they’ve had in some time. After getting into the playoffs last year as a Wild Card team, New York was just a few outs away from punching their ticket to the first Subway World Series in 24 years.
Although many questioned if the core of Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo could put it all together, the Mets as a team made an exciting and impressive playoff run until they fell to the Dodgers in the NLCS (National League Championship Series) in 6 games. With the 2025 season just a week away, is this the year where the Mets can finally break through and take the next step?
During the off-season, the team knew they would have to stay competitive to go head-to-head against powerhouse teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and the Atlanta Braves, to name a few. How do you go about doing that? Well, you go out and sign a generational type of player like Juan Soto.
The 26-year-old inked a 15-year/$765 million deal with the Mets in the off-season, making it the largest contract in professional sports. Soto is coming off an impressive 2024 year. In his lone season with the Yankees, Soto batted .288 with a career-high 41 home runs and 109 RBIs, finishing 3rd in the American League in MVP voting.
The team also re-signed Pete Alonso to a 3-year deal. Third baseman Mark Vientos had a tremendous breakout season which included 14 RBIs in the playoffs. As for Francisco Lindor, he is still putting up Lindor-like numbers. It is safe to say the Mets will go into 2025 with one of the most dangerous offensive lineups in baseball.
The weakness for the Mets last year was their pitching, especially their bullpen. The Mets finished 17th in the majors in bullpen ERA (earned run average) at 4.03. The bullpen performance was notably worse in the playoffs showing signs of fatigue as a unit. The Mets hope to find some magic in their pen aside from their star closer, Edwin Diaz.
The team will already be out with starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas to begin the season. Luis Severino left the team to sign with the Athletics in free agency, and their Ace pitcher, Kodai Senga, had an injury-plagued 2024 campaign.
As dynamic as the offense appears to be, manager Carlos Mendoza knows that pitching will be key, especially in the National League. Spring is in the air finally and so is Mets baseball. The fun begins March 27th when the team heads to Houston to play the Astros.
Sports Notes: (Basketball) update on Jalen Brunson: this past Monday, the team announced that Jalen Brunson will be out for at least another 2 weeks as he recovers from a sprained ankle. The team will head to Charlotte tonight to play the Hornets. The Brooklyn Nets are in Indianapolis tonight to play the Pacers.