What the New York Mets learned in 2026

The New York Mets have 11 games remaining in yet another disappointing season that began with World Series title aspirations and ended with the team playing the role of underdog against several playoff contenders down the stretch.

And that's the duality of the Mets' season: a colossal disappointment from a roster with the second-highest payroll in the big leagues, but with enough of a positive glimmer to cheer optimists about 2027. The Mets are 21-16 since trading eight major leaguers in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 3 deadline. They have faced 13 teams in that span, eight of them currently in playoff position and two others with just four games under .500 combined. They've been a good baseball team for six weeks.

"It shows what guys can do together when they're on the field, when they're healthy," Mets interim manager Andy Green said. "It gives us an idea of ​​what we are capable of, of meeting these expectations throughout the season. It doesn't mean that we will start the next season with 5 wins and 0 losses, or anything like that. It doesn't do anything in that sense. But it certainly generates confidence and gives new energy to a group that believes in itself."

That belief extends to the board led by president of baseball operations David Stearns and owner Steve Cohen's box office. The Mets hope to compete for the title in 2027. The pressure comes from a frustrated fan base that expressed its feelings clearly and unequivocally on Monday and Tuesday, with chants calling for Stearns to be fired and celebrating Pete Alonso's return to Queens with the Baltimore Orioles .

Despite the awkwardness of this week's events — fans at Citi Field openly showed support for Alonso, giving him a standing ovation after he hit his 300th career home run against their team, which upset Mets players — this has been a positive period for New York. In addition to finishing the season on a high note, here are some lessons learned from a disappointing 2026.

Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto can coexist

The Mets' future starts with the franchise's pillars. The organization revamped its core last winter, opting not to renew Alonso's contract and trading Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, and building the roster around Soto and Lindor, the team's highest-paid players.

That choice was made despite palpable tension between the two players during their first season together in 2025. The relationship remained frosty until it thawed this summer with the help of starting goalkeeper Freddy Peralta, who initiated a meeting between the two players in June.

Since then, according to sources, the relationship between the two All-Stars has improved significantly. Peralta's performance on the mound was a major disappointment before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline, but his leadership could have a significant impact on the future of the franchise.

Injuries to both players contributed to the Mets' disappointing 2026 campaign. Lindor and Soto have played together in just 44 games this season. The Mets have a record of 21 wins and 23 losses with both on the field, and 48 wins and 59 losses without both.

The Mets' success in 2027 starts with them.

The outfield is set 'for many years' to come.

The Mets may have found the most promising development of the 2026 season.

If the preseason had gone as the Mets had hoped, they would have signed Kyle Tucker . If they had signed Tucker and then acquired Luis Robert Jr., as they did, Carson Benge would not have made the Opening Day roster. But Tucker chose to sign with the Los Angeles Dodger and had a disappointing performance, to say the least, and the Mets turned to signing Bo Bichette. That left an outfield spot open for Benge on Opening Day.

Six weeks later, with Robert on the injured list, AJ Ewing was called up. After starting the season in Double-A, Ewing made an immediate impression and became a major league regular.

After struggling to deal with the speed of the pitches in the first month, Benge, 23, adapted and brilliant results followed. Benge slashed .136/.219/.197 with one home run in his first 21 games. Since then, he has slashed .291/.352/.445 with 17 home runs in 124 games, solidifying himself as the starting right outfielder. Defensively, the former college pitcher has one of the best outfield arms in the big leagues and is tied for third in MLB with 10 outfield assists.

Ewing has been an elite center fielder — his 10 defensive runs saved in just 109 games puts him 11th among all outfielders. He has been more erratic on offense than Benge, with a .274 batting average and a .771 OPS in his first 63 games and .178 with a .474 OPS in his next 35 games. Now, he has a .400 batting average and a 1.132 OPS in his last 11 games.

"I'm excited about what we've seen," Stearns said. "We have seen a continued evolution of many players who will be here next year and for many more years to come. And that is very encouraging to me."

Nolan McLean will likely finish in the top three in National League Rookie of the Year voting, while Christian Scott and Zac Thornton have made strong arguments for inclusion in next year's rotation. Veteran lefty Sean Manaea, who will be in the final year of his contract, and righty Jonah Tong, who had his best major league game on Monday against the Orioles, are also in contention. But the Mets will need to bolster the rotation again this offseason and there is an obvious target.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Tarik Skubal could sign a contract worth more than $400 million this offseason. Few teams are able to invest so much. The Mets are one of them. However, Stearns has a history of not pursuing elite pitchers on the free agent market in their early 30s, and Skubal turns 30 in November. Yes, Stearns tried to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he was 25 when he came from Japan. Skubal is five years older.

Summer Noise

The Mets' formula has resulted in an unexpected trip to the NLCS in 2024, but the performance of the starting pitchers has been an issue over the past two disappointing seasons.

“I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned,” Stearns said. "You can never have too many starting pitchers. You have to have options on the roster to give other players a chance when their performance isn't up to expectations. And I think in those two areas, during the first few months, we fell short."

Last winter, Stearns opted to trade two of his top prospects for Peralta, who was coming off a breakout season and was named an All-Star. It is worth noting that he would only receive US$8 million in 2026. This move proved to be a mistake. Maybe this offseason, two-time Cy Young Award winner Skubal will be the pitcher who breaks the trend.

The throwing test of Kodai Senga was a success.

The bullpen was one of the team's few strong points this season. The Mets ranked ninth in MLB in bullpen ERA as of Tuesday. This is despite having traded four prominent pitchers at the trade deadline and closer Devin Williams being on the injured list less than a week later.

Since the trade deadline, the Mets' bullpen ranks 15th in ERA, with Senga assuming the role of closer. Senga gave up the home run to Alonso on Tuesday, wasting his first opportunity to save the game, but he has been outstanding in the ninth inning, with seven saves thanks to a fastball that reaches 160 km/h and his characteristic forkball. It remains to be seen whether Senga will be in the bullpen in 2027. As we already mentioned, the Mets could benefit from more options on the starting pitching roster.

But Senga, who will receive $15 million in the final guaranteed year of his contract, has not been a reliable starter since the middle of last season.

"It's fun to see," Green said. "I think his commitment to that role, even though he considers himself a starter — and I think he prefers to be a starter — and the way he's embraced it is a great example for his teammates and the organization as a whole. He's done a great job. We still don't know what his future looks like next year, but it's been great to watch. He's had some really good moments coming out of the bullpen."

They still need to find a manager.

Still to be determined: the Mets' manager next season.

Before returning to the bench for his second stint as head coach, Green was the organization's vice president of player development. His trajectory has been much better than the first, he has accumulated a record of 274 wins and 366 losses in almost four seasons in charge of the San Diego Padres, with a record of 35 wins and 35 losses until Tuesday.

Although Green has received praise for his work since replacing Carlos Mendoza at the end of June, he insists he intends to return to the board after the season ends. It's unclear whether this means he will return to his player development role.

“I thought Andy did a great job on the bench,” Stearns said. "Again, I think we'll get to the point where I can describe in more detail what we're looking for in our next head coach."

The list of possible candidates includes former Mets outfielder Carlos Beltrán, former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, former Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, former Chicago Cubs manager David Ross and current Houston Astros manager Joe Espada, who is in the final year of his contract.

Yes, there is the possibility of having exaggerated in the pre-season.

Last offseason, the Mets revamped Mendoza's coaching staff before drastically changing the roster. Last month, Cohen acknowledged that the club had "perhaps taken too many risks" with so many radical changes. The risk included acquiring Polanco and Robert, talented veterans with extensive injury histories who resurfaced this season.

"I think we need to evaluate how we're looking at injury risk across our entire roster," Stearns said earlier this season. "There are definitely some players … who have a history of injuries. We also had some players who spent long periods on the injured list this year, who are among the most resilient players in all of baseball. So we've been hit from all sides."

"But, yes, I think whenever we bring in a player with a history of injuries, we are aware that there is a greater risk of injury. In many cases, we thought we were protected from that risk in certain areas of our squad with other players, but we weren't."

A new coach could mean another shake-up of the coaching staff — coaches often want to bring in people they trust — but another round of drastic roster changes is not likely this winter.