The Mets’ ‘Unfathomable’ Collapse Was so Bad Their Own Announcers Turned on Them
The New York Mets were supposed to be October’s headliners. Instead, they ended their season in Miami with a 4–0 shutout that knocked them out of the playoffs and left their own broadcasters speechless. This is a team that once held the best record in baseball, but just in mid-June, the ending was more than disappointing.
As Francisco Lindor rolled into a season-ending double play, Gary Cohen delivered the line that will forever be attached to this collapse: “And the Mets’ agonizing, three-and-a-half-month, slow-motion collapse is complete.” Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez echoed the disbelief by noting how the roster never found a spark and how the Marlins once again slammed the door, just as they had in 2007 and 2008.
From Contenders To Collapse
The numbers say it all. On June 12, the Mets sat at 45–24 with the best record in baseball. They finished 83–79—meaning they went just 38–55 the rest of the way. The collapse dropped them from first in the National League to out of the playoffs, with Cincinnati taking the final wild card on a tiebreaker.
Juan Soto delivered a monster season—43 homers, 105 RBIs, and 38 steals—but the rest of the roster couldn’t keep pace. Pete Alonso chipped in at times, yet the offense too often disappeared. The bullpen was an even bigger problem that gave away games when every win mattered. For all the $340 million spent on payroll, the Mets never looked like a team built to hold together.
Deadline Deals That Backfired
Team president David Stearns tried to patch the leaks in July. On paper, the moves made sense. Ryan Helsley arrived from St. Louis with 49 saves the year before, but in Queens, his ERA ballooned to 8.47. Cedric Mullins, acquired from Baltimore, batted .188 in 40 games and made high-profile mistakes in the field and on the bases.
Clay Holmes, asked to carry more innings than ever, looked worn down, and the bullpen overall slogged to an ERA over 5.00 after mid-June. By September 8, the Mets still led the wild card race by four games. Three weeks later, they were eliminated. That’s how quickly everything came undone.
Déjà Vu Against Miami
Image via Wikimedia Commons/D. Benjamin Miller
The ending felt all too familiar for Mets fans. The Marlins had knocked them out of contention in 2007 and again in 2008, and now in 2025, they played spoiler once more. Steve Cohen even pointed out the strange symmetry: in all three years, New York got a strong pitching performance in Game 161, only to collapse in the finale against Miami. Anyone who lived through those earlier heartbreaks didn’t need reminding, but the broadcasters made sure the parallel was front and center.
The season leaves more questions than answers in Queens. Soto delivered on his megadeal, but the rest of the roster didn’t match his output. If the Mets were supposed to be built for October, the story of 2025 is that they never even made it to the stage.