The New York Mets entered Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers at 22-30, a whopping 14.5 games back of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. The Mets have had two different losing streaks of five games, including this past week, when they were swept by the Cleveland Guardians and lost two of three games to the San Francisco Giants.
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The Mets have yet again shut down their ace Kodai Senga, who hasn’t pitched this season because of a lingering shoulder (and now triceps) injury. Their owner also recently caused a stir on social media with a since-deleted tweet.
If all that isn’t bad enough, superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor was asked a simple question last week when he was back in Cleveland, the team that surprisingly traded him to the Mets in 2021.
Lindor was asked what he misses most about Cleveland, and appeared to take a shot at New York while answering the question.
“Winning. There’s nothing better than winning,” Lindor said to reporters. “I know we didn’t finish the ultimate goal. We didn’t close it out (Cleveland lost to the Chicago Cubs in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series) but just the experiences of winning and pouring champagne on each other and creating memories that way with teammates, their families, our whole entire family front office. It was a great experience and seeing the crowd, how they got behind us with the rally towels and when it was all red and all white, it was pretty cool.”
Lindor was drafted by Cleveland in 2011 and debuted in 2015. In his six seasons in Cleveland, the then-Indians made the postseason four times. Their World Series appearance in 2016 was only the second in franchise history since 1954.
Since coming to New York, Lindor has experienced postseason baseball just once. The Mets qualified for the Wild Card round in 2022, but lost to the San Diego Padres.
In both 2021 and 2023, the Mets had sub-.500 seasons. And in 2024, they’re on pace for another.
Lindor is in the midst of a 10-year, $341 million deal he signed with New York that will take him through his age-38 season. While the team hasn’t been shy in spending — they’ve had the No. 1 payroll in MLB the last two seasons and a top-three payroll in the last four seasons — it hasn’t translated to winning.
Cleveland won 92 games in 2022 without Lindor, then slumped to a 76-86 record in 2023. This year, however, Cleveland is 36-18 — the second-best record in the major leagues.
For all the money Lindor will make as a Met, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
