NEW YORK — The New York Mets’ players-only meeting on Wednesday probably won’t save their season. But can one of the lasting messages — about accountability — push them to at least play more respectably?
Finishing strong and improving the clubhouse vibe would at least help them look more appealing to big-time free agents, regardless of where the Mets end up in 2024.
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Otherwise, what good is owner Steve Cohen’s money if the biggest names turn it down to join a club with a better track record? Money talks. That’s been proven under Cohen. But it’s not always everything, and the best players — Juan Soto, anyone? — sometimes prefer winners.
“It definitely plays into it,” Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “What it’s going to take for us is selling the organization, where it’s going, and the people that are running it. I think that’s the most important thing. … Again, it’s one of those things you can’t change right now but a lot will depend on how we finish, how we do the rest of this year.”
Mets 3, Diamondbacks 2: The day after a fiasco, the Mets won a baseball game. Lindor went 4 for 4 with a home run. J.D. Martinez added a home run in the 8th. Garrett got the save. New York is 23-33.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) May 31, 2024
On Thursday, the day after a players-only meeting, the Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2. It wasn’t perfect (they made two errors), but they eked out a close win with better at-bats and crisper all-around play. They’ll definitely take it.
It will be important to see how the Mets continue to respond after their most recent fiasco. Even with three wild-card spots up for grabs in a seemingly weak league, it may be too late for New York (23-33) to mount an inspired comeback that revives thoughts of the playoffs. But with four months left in the season, there’s plenty of time to improve the conversation about them. Because people around the league — executives, players, agents — wondered over the last few weeks how a team with talented players found countless ways to lose games it should win.
Teams go on skids. Teams go through stuff. It’s just that the Mets have endured so many embarrassing episodes over the years that it’s hard to erase the perception of an ill-fated place. That’s not fair to Cohen, who was supposed to be a breath of fresh air after the Wilpons, and he has been; most of the issues predate his tenure as owner and he has done plenty right for the organization. But even people within the club would probably say that perception matters, and winning needs to happen to make those concerns irrelevant.
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Against Arizona, the Mets deviated from their 2024 norm. For one-third of the season, the Mets have struggled to do the little things and they’ve often crashed at crunch time. Nimmo, Adam Ottavino and Francisco Lindor mostly attributed late-game struggles to a lack of individual preparation and processes that needed improvement.
“Yes, this is a team game, but individually you have to hold yourself accountable,” Nimmo said before the game. “And we are going to have to start implementing holding each other accountable in different ways because what we’re doing right now isn’t working.”
It sounds like a promising plan. Also, a necessary one. Last year, former Mets outfielder Tommy Pham said some position players were the least-hard-working group he has played with. Pham also said he had respect for the work ethic of Mets leaders including Lindor, Nimmo and Pete Alonso. Pham added that coaches were always accessible and worked hard. This year, the Mets have seen a lot of turnover but their core group remains. Again, players pointed at themselves, not coaches.
The Mets feature one of the oldest rosters in terms of average age, and for a while that has created a difficult balance for team leaders. It’s tough to speak up to a fellow veteran, players said. But that can no longer be an excuse.
“It’s harder to say something when a guy has spent 10 years or 15 years and if they’ve been doing it for that long,” Jeff McNeil said. “But we gotta treat everyone as equals in this clubhouse. If you see something, say something.”
From Nimmo’s perspective, it was good for the group to discuss accountability aloud, to put it on people’s radars so that they would feel empowered to speak up without coming across as disrespectful.
“You can say we had a come-to-Jesus meeting,” Nimmo said. “Things are going to be brought to people’s attention, don’t take it the wrong way.”
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So what does implementation look like? Players said it’s a matter of taking someone aside — not blasting them in front of people — and giving it to them straight.
“It’s obviously not going to be a thing where it’s, ‘Hey, you messed up one time, and you gotta go,’” Nimmo said. “But it’s going to be something like, ‘Hey, I noticed this today. … You’re a little lost today … What’s going on?’ And I think there’s just going to be more accountability from all sides.”
For Nimmo and a few others, that was one of the major takeaways from the meeting. From their view, the mentality hasn’t been an issue; they’ve remained positive. It’s more a practical matter of preparation and execution.
“It’s more so the little mistakes that are happening on the field,” Nimmo said. “We want to try to nip that stuff in the bud. Usually, that mistake has been led up to a series of decisions throughout the day.”
The meeting ended with players feeling confident about the situation. J.D. Martinez said it was one of the better meetings he’s had in his career. During it, Martinez said he told the group, “No one thinks we’re going to win 100 games this year. Guarantee it. Everyone is going to put all their money that we’re not. We have no pressure on us. The pressure is on everyone else right now. If we lose, we lose — they already think we are the worst in baseball. So let’s go out there, do what we do; we know we have a really good roster, we have a legit, competitive team day in and day out.”
The next day, the Mets did a better job of showing that. The challenge is continuing to play well. They haven’t won back-to-back games in three weeks. The meeting, though, represented an acknowledgment of necessary change — which, in theory, should help both the present and the future. As long as players follow through.
“We feel like, OK,” Nimmo said, “we’re in a much more unified spot moving forward of everybody holding each other accountable.”
(Photo of Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
