Postseason For Yankees As Mets Go Home

Image Credit: Bill Menzel, Ernesto Diaz and George Napolitano/Latino Sports

BRONX, NY — April came and went. September arrived and concluded with a 2025 baseball season where not too long ago had baseball fans across New York looking towards a Subway World Series in October.

We know a Fall Classic won’t happen at Citi Field. The Yankees have an opportunity in the Bronx, seeking a second consecutive year to get there and we have a tale of two different baseball teams.

The Mets go home, a historic franchise collapse after holding the best record in baseball on June 12th at 45-24 (21 games over .500). Then you could believe in the Mets with pitching, consistent hitting, and playing good baseball. They led the NL East division by 5-½ games and FanGraphs had them with a viable and good chance to win a World Series.

But their chances dwindled rapidly. Three months later, a different team. David Stearns, President of Baseball Operations, was riding on momentum of last year and did not see a repeat, starting pitching was not good enough with a bullpen taxed. A trade deadline failed to obtain a front line starting pitcher with injuries to Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill. And the injury returned Sean Manaea could not replicate his marvelous season of 2024, nor could David Peterson who was inconsistent.

Don’t put the blame on Juan Soto or Francisco Lindor, both with 30-30 seasons, or Brandon Nimmo. And don’t fault Pete Alonso with playing 162 games a second consecutive year (38 HRs, 41 doubles and 126 RBI which was second in NL.) Alonso, though, said he was opting out of his contract after the Mets’ season ending loss to the Marlins and failure to gain the third NL Wild Card Sunday afternoon.

“Nothing is guaranteed, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’ve loved being a Met. Hopefully, they’ve appreciated me the same.”

Instead, blame this Mets failure on Stearns. Don’t blame the manager Carlos Mendoza, he doesn’t make the plays. Mendoza was optimistic during the Mets swoon. The roster construction was not good enough, then again Mendoza saw his honeymoon rapidly come to an end. He deserves another chance with an improved pitching rotation and less emphasis on going to bullpen arms that failed.

They packed their bags, the Mets going home instead of a trip to Los Angeles where they could have turned another miracle. Proves again also about winning a season series as the Mets let the Reds beat them out for that third Wild Card position based on a tiebreaker.

Stearns will address the media Monday at Citi Field with many questions to answer. Will there be coaching changes? Is Jermey Hefner’s pitching lab efficient, after all Mets pitching led baseball in ERA until the swoon commenced in June. With a lineup composed of Soto, Lindor, Alonso, and Nimmo, the Mets scored runs, but when they failed to pitch, it did not matter.

They never won a game trailing after eight innings. Just like yesterday it was Alonso and Lindor with game-winning home runs and come from behind wins in the postseason, an unexpected run and failing to the Dodgers in the NLCS. Mark Vientos had a sophomore jinx with some life.

Stearns put three rookies in the rotation and threw them to the wolves, a contingency plan that failed except for Nolan McLean who had quality starts. Soto alluded in a dismal Mets closing, “We have everything we need. We just have to win games. That’s the only thing that’s got to change, win games.”

But Citi Field will be quiet until March of 2026. A $340+ million team payroll failed, a disaster of sorts and we await to hear from owner Steve Cohen. In another era, the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner would have cleaned the house after the final out of a failed season.

Regardless, the Yankees move on after their struggles, hosting a best-of three AL Wild Card series against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, beginning Tuesday night, broadcasted on ESPN (6:08 PM ET). A vintage rivalry in the postseason that will spark immediate interest.

The Yankees finished with a 94-68 record, a season-high eight-game winning streak after concluding their three games series sweep and 3-2 win Sunday over the Orioles in the Bronx. They tied the Blue Jays for best record in the AL, though failed to win the AL East because Toronto won the season series.

Again, winning series’ are important, indicated with this strong Yankees finish. And eight games during a Yankees swoon with the Blue Jays that could have been wins and went to the other side. So they accept a top AL Wild Card and have the momentum.

“We can beat you in different ways,” said manager Aaron Boone. “But we’ve still got to go out and do it. We’re a long way away from that. We’re confident going in. I know the guys are and hopefully we put our best foot forward.”

Momentum as a Wild Card, no rest and first round bye which has worked since the expanded postseason format with teams that find another way to play baseball in October instead of winning their division.

The Yankees went 11-1 in their last 12 games, 14-3 in their last 17, 25-8 in their last 33, 30-11 in their last 41 and forgetting about sub .500 months of June and July and questions if the postseason was possible. Only the Cleveland Guardians put on a better show as the comeback team of the year, winning the AL Central division.

“These last couple of weeks were fun,” said Aaron Judge who is a favorite to win another AL MVP honor, claiming the league batting title with a .331 average, the third player in Major League history to hit at least 50 home runs and win that title in the same season. The home runs were the most for a player who won a batting title in MLB history.

He said it will be a rowdy crowd in the Bronx and fans never lost faith as the Yankees went through their swoon.

“Even in our tight times in the summer, they were still showing out in numbers supporting us,” Judge said. “They’re definitely going to be excited for a Yankees-Red Sox postseason matchup, that’s for sure. We went into a gauntlet of games where people counted us out. We took care of business, especially this last week.”

And it won’t only be Judge, the Yankees depend on the home run ball, a Major League leading 274. Giancarlo Stanton is healthy and locked in, 24 home runs on the year. Ben Rice has grown up, homering twice Sunday with a solo job in the first inning and a go-ahead shot in the eighth.

“We fell short of our goal to win the division, but now we’re just on to the postseason and just focusing on the series (Red Sox),” said Rice.

And the Yankees have 19-game winner Max Fried on the mound for Game 1 and Carlos Rodón, their 18-game winner starting Game 2, an advantage in the Bronx to begin their quest and return to the World Series.

Quite a contrast of two New York baseball teams. For the Mets that failure and questions to be resolved for 2026. And the Yankees where they always seem to be, the postseason again.

Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and columnist at LatinoSports.com – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso

Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content

Instagram: @latinosportsoficial

Facebook: Latino Sports

Twitter: @latinosports