Mets join infamous group of disappointing teams

The New York Mets' 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night was noteworthy because it was the 82nd time they checked a result into the loss column in the 2023 season. 

That means they are guaranteed to finish with a losing record this season and are probably going to continue to inch their way toward the 90-loss mark over the next two weeks. 

It is a massive failure on the part of the Mets, not just because this is a team that entered the season with World Series expectations, but also because it puts them in infamous company as far as being a disappointment is concerned.

They are just the fourth team in the World Series era to ever follow a 100-win season with a losing record (excluding any shortened seasons). 

The other teams on that list are the 1986 St. Louis Cardinals, the 1971 Cincinnati Reds and the 1932 Cardinals.

If you want to be optimistic as a Reds fan, two of those teams (the '86 Cardinals and the '71 Reds) followed those losing records by going to the World Series the following year, while the 1932 Cardinals won the World Series two years after.

So they have that going for them. 

What makes the Mets season such a standout failure is that they accomplished their losing record while having what was by far the highest payroll in baseball to open the season. This was not just a nearly unprecedented disappointment, it was an expensive disappointment. Injuries certainly played a major role, but there were also a lot of high-profile players with big expectations that fell far short of them. 

It is also a mystery as to what the 2024 Mets roster will look like. Even though Steve Cohen has a seemingly bottomless pit of money to spend from, the Mets have talked about knowing they will go into next season with lower expectations. Will they be players in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes? Will they trade superstar first baseman Pete Alonso? What will they do for a pitching staff that traded away two future Hall of Famers this season?

So many questions, and so few good answers at this point. History says the Mets can bounce back from this and compete again. That does not necessarily mean the Mets can make that a reality for themselves.