The 2026 Major League Baseball season is somehow already more than halfway over, and it’s been yet another example of the difficulty in predicting baseball outcomes.
Case in point? The New York Mets.
The Mets are one of baseball’s richest teams. Billionaire owner Steve Cohen, after taking control in 2020, committed to building a model organization, combining immense financial resources with established front office success. Starting with the 2022 season, the Mets have spent more on player payroll than any other team in baseball at $1.671 billion. Yes, even more than the Los Angeles Dodgers.
They gave star shortstop Francisco Lindor a 10-year, $341 million contract before the 2022 season. They signed Max Scherzer to one of the highest average annual value contracts in baseball history. Late in the 2023 season, Cohen hired Dave Stearns from the Milwaukee Brewers to overhaul the front office. Stearns had built the Brewers into a consistent contender, despite the inherent payroll limitations in a small market.
Yet as the highest spending team in baseball over the past five seasons, the Mets have just two postseason appearances to show for it. They lost to the Padres in the 2022 wild card series, then to the Dodgers in the 2024 NLCS. In 2023, despite all their money and star power, they went just 75-87 and finished 29 games out of first place. After 2024, Stearns and Cohen added Juan Soto on the most expensive contract in sports history; 15-years and $765 million, with the potential to exceed $800 million.
The reward? Missing the playoffs again in 2025 after an 83-79 regular season.
Stearns, instead of running it back in 2026 with a similar roster, went for an overhaul. Pete Alonso signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Brandon Nimmo was traded to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien. They traded two prospects to Milwaukee for Freddy Peralta, signed closer Devin Williams, brought in Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco after strong seasons, added Luke Weaver, and traded for Luis Robert Jr.
How’s it worked out? Well, to put it one way, entering Tuesday, the Mets were just ahead of the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in the National League. They’ve been outscored by 60 runs on the season thus far, sit dead last in the National League East, 15 games behind the Braves, and their odds of reaching the postseason have dropped to just 2%, per FanGraphs.
It’s a disaster, to put it mildly. A $370 million disaster. And a new report from baseball writer Jon Heyman suggests that the Mets might be ready to blow it up yet again.
Heyman posted on X recently that the team’s “deadline sale” is likely to start any day. “Time for Mets deadline sale to begin,” he wrote. “Everyone but Ewing, Benge, McLean, Scott and Soto should be made available.”
Several notable names are missing from that list: namely, Bichette, Robert Jr., Peralta, Williams, and of course, Francisco Lindor. Those are some big players. And dealing any or all of them would be a stunning admission of a prolifically failed plan. Then there’s the other side of it; how much value do these players even have?
Bichette has been a below average hitter this season, and is owed $84 million over the next two seasons, all but guaranteed now with his player option. Lindor has missed most of the year with injury, but has been below average himself thus far. Robert, too, has missed most of the season and has been unimpressive when healthy.
But there are few true sellers, and if the Mets really do make their stars available, there might be a team or two willing to take on a portion of those salaries in order to potentially separate from their competitors. Cohen has previously said he doesn’t want Lindor going anywhere. Though he might be thinking that, after spending billions without much reward, a full tear down is the only path forward.
Lindor, at 32, would bring a decent return, though given his enormous contract, it would likely be less than most fans would expect. Same with Bichette, whose exorbitant salary and player options limit his appeal. It doesn’t take much, though, to dream on those two stars returning to form and making a meaningful difference in reaching the playoffs or making a deep postseason run.
Still, it’s hard to believe it’s come to this. The Mets were supposed to be the East Coast version of the Dodgers; a marriage of high salaries and organizational competence. Instead, they’re heading toward yet another October spent at home, and still searching for their first division title since 2015.
Money can buy a lot, but as the 2026 Mets demonstrate, it can’t buy everything.