After eight straight losses, the New York Mets showed renewed signs of life on Sunday with a 5–2 victory over the Texas Rangers. The win injected fresh momentum into their playoff push, stretching their lead over the San Francisco Giants to a game and a half.
However, the team’s recent poor performance has generated all kinds of comments, some more well-founded than others. One of the most resonant is what well-known Fox Sports and The Athletic reporter Ken Rosenthal said about the bad vibes within the team’s clubhouse.
Despite Sunday’s victory, Rosenthal believes something still “seems off” within the team.
“Something seems off with (the Mets),” Rosenthal said recently on the popular Foul Territory podcast. “I don’t know exactly what it is, if anything. The Mets’ big stars… they’re viewed by the team … all good people, all good guys. No one says, ‘This guy’s a jerk, that guy is that,’ or anything like that. But is it all meshing together perfectly? I would suggest that the evidence says no.
“Is it possible that some stuff is going on here? Only the Mets truly know what is going on in their clubhouse; if there is indeed tension, or jealousy, or even friction, you can’t say for sure.
“But these guys are who they are … because they have massive egos. And I’m not saying that in a bad way. They have incredible belief in their abilities. They’re all alphas. And when you put these players all in a room together, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Rosenthal raised this controversial issue in an article published last Friday in The Athletic, in which he reasoned that “Big stars create a different and occasionally uncomfortable dynamic.”
Following Sunday’s win, the New York Mets hold third place in the National League Wild Card standings with a 77–73 record. That position currently secures them a spot in the playoffs, but their grip remains tenuous, with the San Francisco Giants close behind at 75–74.