The billionaire owner of the New York Mets apologized to fans on Monday, after the team crashed out of the 2025 MLB season without securing a spot in the playoffs, despite boasting a $340 million payroll that’s one of the league’s highest.
“I owe you an apology,” Steven Cohen, who bought the team in 2020, wrote on X on Monday. “You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn’t do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn’t perform up to your and my expectations.”
“I know how much time and effort you have put into this team,” he added. “The result was unacceptable.”
The club’s season ended Sunday with a 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, prolonging the 39-year World Series drought for the Mets.
“There are no words to describe what we’re going through,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “It’s pain, frustration, you name it. We came in with a lot of expectations, and here we are going home. Not only did we fall short. We didn’t even get into October. Pissed. Sad. Frustrated. You name it.”
The disappointing end to the campaign comes despite a promising season where in mid-June the Mets had the best record in baseball.
“I said at one point in the year, I felt like it was the most talented team I’ve ever played on,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo told MLB.com after the loss in Miami. “And we weren’t able to make the playoffs. That’s obviously coming up short and a failure in my mind.”
However, that momentum fell apart, as the Mets suffered three different seven-game losing streaks and saw stars including Kodai Senga, Griffin Canning, and Tylor Megill pick up injuries.
While the team had the second-best offense in the National League, commentators also pointed to poor defense down the regular season stretch as a hole for the Queens-based team.
Mets fans have been eager to see Cohen’s splashy tenure at the team pay off, one that’s seen blockbuster contracts like 2021’s $341 million deal for Francisco Lindor and last year’s record-breaking $765 million bid for Juan Soto.
They got a taste of that progress last year, when the Mets made it to the 2024 National League Championship Series.
Personnel changes are expected at the Mets in the offseason, with first baseman Pete Alonso saying he will opt out of his deal and become a free agent, while closer Edwin Diaz says he’s considering doing the same.
There are reportedly no plans to fire Mendoza, though.
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