“Our expectation is to win,” New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said in March, at the end of spring training. The team’s new skipper projected confidence that the Mets’ retooled roster — slightly fewer stars, but still the most expensive team in baseball — would perform better than last year, when a highly touted squad basically called it quits midseason just before the trade deadline. “Outside projections and things like that might say differently, but we do believe that we have a really good team,” he added. “I don’t buy the fact that expectations are low for the New York Mets in 2024.”
Unfortunately for the first-year manager, the outside projections are right so far. The Mets, despite a $326 million payroll, suck pretty bad right now. At 22-33, they are 11 games below .500 and 16 games behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies. Their bullpen is a mess — the previously dominant Edwin Diaz has struggled mightily and is now on the Injured List — and they are a bottom-third team in the three major offensive categories. Perhaps worst of all, the consistent losing is causing morale to crater, as evidenced on Wednesday night. In the eighth inning of a game the Mets would lose 10-3, relief pitcher Jorge López was ejected for arguing a call. On his way to the dugout, he did something unusual.
After the game, López was asked if he regretted tossing the glove. He then he said he was “the worst teammate in the whole fucking MLB.”
Baseball is a game full of unwritten rules, some more subtle than others. But throwing a glove in the stands is a pretty obvious violation. On Thursday morning, the Mets announced that López had been “designated for assignment” — meaning that the 31-year-old was off the team’s 40-man roster and may end up in the minor leagues or released onto the waiver wire.
Other members of the Mets organization maintained hope after the loss. Shortstop Francisco Lindor called a players-only meeting to try to motivate each other into being less bad at baseball. “I feel like we needed to talk to look each other in the eye to say we need to get it done,” Lindor told reporters. Mets owner Steve Cohen, meanwhile — who has other big problems at Citi Field — tweeted that this recent stretch was “disheartening” for the fans. “Ty for caring so much,” he wrote. Thankfully for Cohen, Mets fans have proven a high tolerance for disheartening baseball over many decades.
This post has been updated to reflect López’s statement after the game.
