Apparently $330+ million does get you what it used to. While the Atlanta Braves have been dealing with constant disappointment and misfortune this season, the division rival Mets’ 2025 season has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Unfortunately, New York was annoyingly good for most of the first half, but the story has changed a lot since then and the Mets or their fans haven’t been chirping nearly as much.
It is honestly remarkable that the Mets are still in contention for a playoff spot at all right now. Over their last 81 games, they went 32-49 and any hope that they could contend for the NL East title went out the window. After a rough stretch in September, New York all of sudden finds themselves in the last NL Wild Card spot with multiple teams in hot pursuit. Even if they get in, their reward would appear to be a first round match-up against the Dodgers. Just fantastic stuff to watch.
However, there is also a weird wrinkle to the Mets’ total and complete ineptitude that reminds one of the first half Braves. If they do make the playoffs, the Mets will be the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs after being that bad for that long of a stretch in a given season.
Mets having to defy history to make the playoffs should make Braves fans feel a little bit better
This is a weird record to hold and, frankly, it is wild that The Athletic was able to pull the data needed to figure it out. At 17 games under .500 over that stretch, New York would beat the wild card era record by a full four games. Funnily enough, that record was only set last year when against all odds, the Tigers rallied to make the playoffs in the second half after an rough first half in 2024.
Oddly enough, it would actually be better for Braves fans if the Mets didn’t set that record, because the most likely way that happens is that they don’t make the playoffs at all and that would be absolutely delicious. That isn’t a pipe dream, either, as the Diamondbacks, Reds, and Giants are all within three games of that final Wild Card spot and New York has been playing like garbage.
If we are honest with ourselves, it doesn’t really matter how you get to the playoffs as long as you get in. If the Mets stumble their way into the postseason and still manage to make a run, New York fans would probably take that. However, in a season when Mets fans and personalities have taken shots needlessly at the Braves, it is nice to see them having to sweat what could end up being an even more brutal fate than Atlanta has dealt with.
