It’s what fans secretly wish for. That the Mets somehow catch fire in the next few weeks and rise to the top two in the NL Wild Card standings. The Braves are the favorite for the first Wild Card but after that it’s anybody’s guess.
After Friday’s night’s win vs. the Marlins the Mets play the San Diego Padres two more time in the series. The Padres right now are the 2nd Wild Card team in a race that’s too early to handicap. While there are many Mets fans who’ve given up on the 2024 season, it may be premature. The Mets don’t appear to be a World Series caliber team but compared to many of the National League non-Phillies, Braves, Brewers, Dodgers also-rans, with a protracted streak of good play the Mets would have as good a chance as any to be the second or third NL Wild Card representative.
What a Mets run would need to look like
With the walk-off victory on Thursday the Mets are 9-4 in their past 13 games. Going 15-8 in their next 23 games would have the Mets one game above .500. But a winning streak does not HAVE to happen over the next 24 games, but something close to that ahead of the July 30 trading deadline. With that kind of a run the Mets could be buyers as much as they might be sellers.
This is not to suggest that the Mets should mortgage their future to bolster a fight for the second or third wild card. Should the Mets continue their improved play the Mets could be one of several teams looking for bullpen help prior to the trading deadline. Any continuance of better play is completely contingent on Edwin Diaz looking like the Edwin Diaz of 2020-2022. The additional needed bullpen help comes after since there won’t be any run if Diaz slumps the rest of 2024.
The lingering question – Could not selling off at the trade deadline be worth it?
If the Mets are serious about contending in 2025 which is only a little more than a half season away, selling off and crashing to a less than 75-win season would not position them as immediate contenders. Coming on to win a wild card slot would seemingly be something on which the Mets can build on their yellow brick road to a World Series championship. Steve Cohen is kind of Oz-like anyway.
Wouldn’t Met fans be interested in seeing their team play well and compete for the next 94 games? It was not so long ago that the Mets were difficult to watch since they seemed to struggle with everything. Lack of hitting when the pitching was good, lack of pitching when the hitting was good along with finding new and horrible ways to lose baseball games.
It’s rough being a fan of the Mets but winning is always better than losing and cashing out for the future is something only to be done as a last resort. It’s not a good primary strategy.
Root for the Mets to win. Don’t be shocked if they do not. It’s what Met fans do.
