From LOL to OMG: Why the Mets' 2024 MLB playoff run is start of something big

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From LOL to OMG: Why the Mets' 2024 MLB playoff run is start of something big
Jeff Passan, ESPN

A few years from now, when the New York Mets have become the powerhouse they're bound to be, they will look back on the 2024 season as where it all started. Something special happened in Queens this year. And the fact that it ended in disappointing fashion, with the Los Angeles Dodgers dispatching them from the National League Championship Series on Sunday night with a 10-5 victory in Game 6, in no way lessens what the Mets achieved.

As much as this year was outwardly about Grimace and OMG and a lucky pumpkin, more important were the dramatic, substantive changes arriving in an organization that for far too long had operated less like a leviathan and more like a mid-market team cosplaying as a big-market spender. The internal transformation, delivered by owner Steve Cohen hiring David Stearns as president of baseball operations and Carlos Mendoza as manager, brought to the organization a pair of leaders who immediately flipped a culture long known for its brokenness. Nothing in baseball fosters success like the marriage of money and stability -- a Dodgers vs. Yankees World Series matchup suggests as much -- and after decades of unserious ownership and early-tenure stumbles by Cohen, the Mets were positioned to assert themselves overnight.

That all of it came to fruition this postseason, against the backdrop of the Mets carrying themselves as the ultimate meme team, provided for a delightful contrast. As the organization began to grow up, it experienced on the field and in the clubhouse a simultaneous glow-up.

"The culture that we live in and that we're building," infielder Jose Iglesias said, "is going the right way."

To a fan base that fell in love with these Mets after their 0-5 and 24-35 starts gave way to comeback after dramatic comeback, this season will be remembered less for its disappointments than the joy it provided. Grimace, the McDonald's character whose first pitch before a June game at Citi Field coincided with an early run of success, was the mascot. Iglesias' song, "OMG," was the soundtrack. Outfielder Harrison Bader's clothing was the aesthetic. First baseman Pete Alonso's pumpkin was the amulet. Outfielder Jesse Winker's celebrations were the personification of Mets fans' long-concealed id, a desire to be exuberant and outlandish that was eternally curbed by the feeling that it would be repaid with something bad.

"This is the craziest team I've been on. We laugh about it," Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez said. "We just never know what's going to happen. Iggy might come in with some new song, and Bader's coming in with some new outfit, and Pete's saying some crazy things. It's just fun."

To see Citi Field turn into the biggest singalong in New York every time shortstop Francisco Lindor came to bat -- the fans belting his walkup song, "My Girl," and finishing the warbling even when the music went silent -- brought a different dimension to the stadium than in recent years. At the same time, to attribute the Mets' success to vibes rather than the construction of a team of solid baseball players does a disservice to the work of Stearns in talent acquisition and Mendoza in extracting the best versions of his players.

Lindor, who called the late-May players-only meeting that catalyzed the Mets far more than the purple creature or pop song, reinforced his Hall of Fame bona fides and will finish second in the NL MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani. From the day of the meeting on, the Mets were the best team in baseball, going 67-40. And over that four-month juncture, Lindor logged the most wins above replacement in the NL, even more than Ohtani, who hit 40 home runs and stole 46 bases in that time.

After the final scheduled day of the regular season, the Mets seemed to only get more clutch. Lindor's home run in the Mets' 161st game, part of a doubleheader moved to the Monday after the originally scheduled finale, clinched New York's spot in the postseason. In the wild-card round, Alonso delivered a seismic, go-ahead, ninth-inning home run to oust the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. The enchantment continued in the division series, as Lindor's grand slam propelled them past the rival Philadelphia Phillies and allowed New York for the first time to celebrate a playoff clinch at Citi Field.

Then they ran into the team they ultimately would like to be. The Dodgers -- who won 98 games to the Mets' 89 -- spoiled the possibility of a Subway Series by feasting on a bullpen that tired and faltered throughout the series. Over 32 innings, Mets relievers allowed 57 baserunners and 24 earned runs. That Mendoza extracted as much out of them as he did leading up to the NLCS demonstrated his deft touch extends beyond exemplary communication with players.

It's not like the Mets will forever be stuck in bullpen purgatory, either. One of Stearns' strengths in Milwaukee, where he shepherded a small-market team to five playoff appearances in six seasons, was building a lockdown bullpen. He's primed to do the same with the Mets, particularly considering the financial leeway with which he'll enter the winter looking to build around a talented core.

Lindor remains the linchpin. In addition, third baseman Mark Vientos emerged as a force this season, Brandon Nimmo is a stabilizer in the outfield and 22-year-old Francisco Alvarez remains the full-time solution at catcher. Kodai Senga should be healthy come Opening Day, Edwin Diaz fought through a midseason slump to reemerge as a closer capable of going multiple innings and David Peterson put up a 2.90 ERA over 131 innings. On top of that they can throw in a few more bats (Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte) and some powerful arms (Reed Garrett, Tylor Megill, Jose Butto).

The Mets have somewhere in the range of $190 million in salaries coming off the books this winter, including some difficult decisions to make: Alonso, one of the franchise's most popular players, enters free agency after a postseason with four home runs and a .999 OPS. Potentially gone as well are Iglesias, Martinez, Winker and Bader, who all contributed on the field and in the shift in clubhouse culture, and left-hander Sean Manaea, who can opt out of the deal he signed in January.

Without any of those players their payroll currently clocks in around $160 million, and for a roster that needs augmentation more than reimagination.

It's a great place to start. Especially for Stearns, perhaps the best in the business at finding value around the edges to complement a team of stars. But the assumption is also that a team that for three consecutive years has run out a payroll in the $300 million-plus range will remain among the game's highest-spending teams.

Which is fitting timing this winter. Because rarely does a player of Juan Soto's caliber and age reach free agency. The Yankees right fielder will spend his 26th birthday playing in Game 1 of the World Series, and after a champion is crowned, the free agent sweepstakes for his services will begin. As much as the Yankees are favored to re-sign him on a deal of more than $500 million, especially after the run to their first World Series since 2009, Cohen and Stearns understand the rarity of high-floor, high-ceiling position players like Soto and how few will reach free agency over the coming offseasons.

In the winter of 2025, it's Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Houston outfielder Kyle Tucker. The season after is relatively barren. Come the 2027 offseason, catchers Adley Rutschman and William Contreras headline the class. This might be the Mets' best opportunity to land a true franchise superstar without having to deplete its farm system.

If Soto is the Mets' top priority, rebuilding their rotation isn't far behind. Manaea, right-hander Luis Severino and left-hander Jose Quintana, who combined to throw more than 37% of New York's innings this season, all are expected to be free agents. Right-hander Corbin Burnes, whom Stearns selected in the fourth round of his first draft overseeing Milwaukee, is a free agent. So are left-handers Blake Snell and Max Fried. Although Cohen has shown a proclivity for handing out excessive money to starting pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer -- both later traded -- he doesn't have an overwhelming amount of opportunity there, either, with future AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (after 2026), Houston left-hander Framber Valdez (2025), right-hander Zac Gallen (2025), lefty Garrett Crochet (2026) and righty Logan Gilbert (2027) the best options after this winter.

Maybe they get Soto, and if they don't, maybe they build their winter around Alonso, or perhaps Cohen shrugs and signs both and adds an ace on top of it. His willingness and capacity to dive headlong into free agency has made him a beloved owner less than five years into his tenure, a rarity around the game. Cohen is far more than money, though. He recognizes the power of a good management team, of moves on the margins, of investing in things beyond major league payroll. Teams are not built on superstars alone. They are the product of talent, work and especially -- unquantifiably, but without a doubt -- a kind of single-mindedness the Mets stumbled upon during their season.

"The guys are understanding the importance of competing -- competing every pitch," Iglesias said. "We just give everything we got, every pitch, every bat. And then usually the god of baseball -- he helps you when you go with the right energy and the right attitude."

From LOL to OMG, the Mets today strut about with a different mindset. Gone is the wobbliness of past seasons, replaced by the actualization of this year and these playoffs. No longer are the Mets a team constantly cycling through general managers and managers. They are here. And even if 2025 cannot match the miracle that was 2024, what happened this October has readied New York to take the next step.

Now comes the imperative part. Doing it again is tricky, and doing it again after that will reinforce that the Mets aren't taking anything for granted. They just don't plan on going anywhere. They found something this year, something they believe will last, something that if it does will make Dodgers vs. Mets a regular playoff series. Los Angeles won this time, but the lessons New York reaped have value. The dawn of the Mets' resurgence has arrived. It's just a matter of time until the full breadth of that reveals itself.