How did the New York Mets miss the playoffs with the second-highest payroll in MLB, and where do they go from here for 2026?

The $342 million New York Mets couldn’t do the one thing money can’t buy: Make the MLB Playoffs.

On June 12, the Mets had baseball’s best record at 45-24, with a 96% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. They then proceeded to go 38-55 over their final 93 games. Only the White Sox, Rockies, Twins, and Nationals were worse during that span. Only two teams in MLB history, Cleveland in 1905 and the 1977 Chicago Cubs, had worse records in a season after being that many games above .500.

So, what the hell happened to the 2025 Mets?

After leading MLB with a 2.83 ERA before June 12 with the best pitching staff in the game up until that point, the Mets nosedived to 26th of the 30 teams with a 4.95 ERA from that point forward due to a disastrous combination of injury and ineffectiveness. Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea never had it, and injuries derailed the starting rotation to the point where an unproven group of minor league call-ups was tasked with keeping the team afloat late in the season.

The Mets’ excellent SNY TV crew of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling detailed the many fatal mental errors the team accumulated during the season’s final weeks. And the Mets managed to go an astounding 0-70 in games they trailed after eight innings, the only team in baseball this season without a ninth-inning comeback.

So, where do Steve Cohen, who apologized to the fans on Twitter, and the Mets go from here, a year after signing Juan Soto to a record $765 million contract?

The Mets need to improve a defense that finished 19th in the league in defensive runs above average, overhaul a bullpen that may have to re-sign closer Edwin Diaz and his fan-friendly, trumpet-forward entrance music, and figure out whether they want to spend big on starting pitching or rely on youngsters like Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong.

Most importantly, fan favorite and all-time team home run leader Pete Alonso will be a free agent after saying after Sunday’s game that he’d opt out of the final year of his contract. He’s due for a huge raise after finishing second in MLB with 126 runs batted in, though Alonso and Soto were a major part of the problem defensively. Among the 117 players in 2025 who accumulated the most innings in the field, the duo finished with the two worst defensive runs above average totals in the league.

Expect Cohen to spend even more money to build a winner 40 years after the Mets’ last World Series title, especially after getting one step closer to securing a New York State casino license for the area around Citi Field. No matter how you personally feel about Cohen, he spends money on his team, and they’ll still have the nucleus of a dynamic, exciting, potent offense led by Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo that finished in the top 10 in runs, OPS, home runs, and steals. If Alonso departs in free agency, expect Cohen to be aggressive in more than replacing his offensive value. Also, money doesn’t necessarily buy you success, especially considering four of the 10 highest MLB payrolls this year missed the 2025 postseason, like the Mets did.

But after their incredible start over the first two months, the Mets and their fans will remember the hurt and heartache from this 2025 season for a very long time.