The Mets can use a break.
This has been a terrible season, and it is possible that if we played it out 100 times, it would be the worst outcome for injuries — from the flammable (Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr.) to the previously durable (Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto) — and for widespread underperformance. You might not love Brett Baty, but did you think it would be this bad for him? Or Freddy Peralta? Or Bo Bichette?
You should never say, “At least it can’t get worse.” It always can — Lindor and Soto could run into each other chasing a popup, break bones and then it is worse. But this is pretty close to the worst conceivable outcome for this $350 million-plus roster.
This is not to excuse David Stearns. There have been a lot of wrong calculations and gambles. Thinking you are seismically upgrading run prevention with players out of position and a declining 35-year-old second baseman, or that you have rotation depth when part of that includes David Peterson relying on that defense or Sean Manaea recovering his fastball or Kodai Senga staying healthy and confident was misguided at best.