Major League Baseball

Three reasons why the Mets might just be getting started: 'We raised the bar'

Updated Oct. 21, 2024 2:58 p.m. ET

The magic ran out, but the movement has just begun.

It's different for the New York Mets to say the season didn't end in a total collapse with players and staff alike proud of what they delivered across 175 games — and for the fan base to be right there with them, believing it.

After all, the 2024 Mets advanced to the playoffs for the first time in eight years and vanquished the Braves, the Brewers, and the Phillies on the way. They took the superteam Dodgers to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, despite projection systems giving them a 5% chance to win the NLDS, let alone come within two wins of the World Series.

Once their unexpected and iconic season finally ended in Los Angeles on Sunday night, there remained a handful of legitimate reasons for the Mets to look ahead with optimism and hope. Let's take a moment to examine how this season's heroics have set the Mets up to be consistent contenders, with a new standard for success to achieve annually.

1. Mark Vientos is a ‘bona fide big-leaguer'

That's how first baseman Pete Alonso described the 24-year-old Vientos, who was left off the Opening Day roster and fought his way to the starting third base job by the middle of May. Once Vientos was in the majors for good this year, he never let his OPS drop under .837 across 111 regular-season games. He was solid on defense at a tough position in which he had only 21 games of MLB experience before this year. Then he raised his own level this October, crushing five home runs, collecting 24 RBIs, batting .327 and posting a .998 OPS across 13 playoff games.

"When I'm talking about some of our younger players and the way they develop, he's right there at the top," manager Carlos Mendoz told reporters of Vientos in Los Angeles on Sunday. "It wasn't easy for him. Had to fight for an opportunity. He finally got it and ran with it. And when you look at the numbers in the regular season, he's a big part, a big reason why we got to this point and then the playoffs."

Vientos, a couple of years removed from his September 2022 MLB debut, exceeded expectations with his consistency this year. The Plantation, Fla. product showed the kind of makeup and put on the type of performance that a front office can start building around. Whether the powers that be will decide Vientos' future is at third base largely depends on if the Mets can strike a deal with Alonso, who is imminently approaching free agency.

But regardless of Vientos' infield position, the Mets should not hesitate to take a page from their Atlanta division rivals and lock him up to a long-term deal. In the span of a season, Vientos' outlook went from let's see what he can provide, to genuine excitement for the foreseeable future.

2. Money — lots of money — is coming off the books, and the farm is sprouting

Last winter, the Mets gambled on one-year deals for Sean Manaea and Luis Serverino, both of whom became essential pieces in their deep playoff run. Now, New York is in a good position where both starters would love to come back, and there is an intriguing top free-agent arm in Corbin Burnes to consider adding to the rotation. Pitchers who are on the books for 2025 include: Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn, and Jose Butto.

Plus, the Mets will have more financial wiggle room with a ton of money coming off the books. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer were owed over $57 million combined in 2024 and that will no longer be the case next year. The Mets finished this season with an estimated $336 million payroll, and that number is expected to be slashed to around $170 million heading into next month's free agency, per FanGraphs.

But the organization's long-term goal has always been to build a sustainable contender through critical free-agent pickups as well as farm-system development. We saw some of that vision come to fruition this year, thanks to Luisangel Acuña's encouraging MLB debut and Vientos' noted ascension. Next year, New York's top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat should be in the mix as a possible rotation addition, as well as potential roster upgrades from top infielders Ronny Mauricio and Jett Williams and top outfield prospect Drew Gilbert.

As Francisco Lindor said Sunday, "There's something special going on here."

This year's roster provided a taste of how far the organization can go when blending core veterans (Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz and Starling Marte) with up-and-coming youngsters (Francisco Alvarez, Vientos and Acuńa). That concept should be back in play for years to come for these Mets.

3. The new regime is in sync

The trifecta of owner Steve Cohen, new president of baseball operations David Stearns and first-year manager Mendoza formed an excellent, stable foundation for the organization to continue building off of. Cohen got more involved in the day-to-day, becoming more visible and approachable to his staff members and players. Stearns did what he does best, stuffing the Mets roster on the margins with savvy moves and setting up the runway that allowed the team to finish two wins away from the World Series. Mendoza's calm and well-balanced attitude, particularly in times of deep distress and ultimate highs, formed a sense of fearlessness within the clubhouse.

In the end, it all led to respect. The Mets this season became a normal organization — a place that free-agent players would love to come play for — maybe Juan Soto? — especially those who have something to prove; a family that doesn't just mind a little fun, but will lean into the eccentricities that allow people to be themselves and push their efforts to the ultimate limit; and a team that won't dwell in the basement, but will fight its way out because the benchmark is a championship.

There is legitimate trust and a complete buy-in from players and staff members who operate under Cohen, Stearns and Mendoza. Those three leaders made it not only believable that the Mets' success can be sustainable, but they will make sure of it. The Mets have made the postseason in back-to-back years just twice (1999-2000, 2015-2016) in the franchise's history. The new regime has made it possible to consider, for perhaps the first time ever, that the Mets can commit to doing what they did this year on an annual basis.

"I just told the guys how proud I was because, not only we became a really good team, we became a family," Mendoza said. "And now we raised the bar. Expectations now, this is what we should strive for every year, to be playing deep into October. And we showed that this year."

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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