HOUSTON — The ready is nearly over.
After the Mets delighted their followers with an sudden run to the NLCS a yr in the past, they’ve solely elevated expectations following an offseason during which they signed Juan Soto to the biggest contract in MLB historical past — beating out the Yankees within the course of — and appear set as much as be one of many critical threats to the Dodgers within the Nationwide League.
No, they don’t have the colossal highlight on them like Los Angeles will after a World Sequence win and but extra roster constructing with the additions of Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell, amongst others, however the Mets actually gained’t have the ability to sneak up on anybody like they did final season.
To the Mets, although, their objectives have remained the identical.
“Last year, we knew we had a good team,” Carlos Mendoza mentioned on the eve of his second Opening Day as Mets supervisor. “This year, it’s the same. [There’s] a lot more noise now from outside — and rightfully so — because of what happened in the offseason, with Soto being one of them, but we’ve got to take it one day at a time, continue to improve, go out there and compete. We know we’ve got a good team, but it’s not gonna be easy. We’re excited and ready for [Thursday].”
However even Mets gamers acknowledged final yr that their play improved after they talked in Could about not worrying in regards to the standings after getting off to a horrible begin.
This time round, if they begin off 0-5 or are 11 video games underneath .500 in early June, there figures to be chaos in Queens.
Nonetheless, president of baseball operations David Stearns reiterated the mentality hasn’t been altered since when he arrived previous to final yr.
“From an expectation standpoint, I know that’s a big discussion, we had pretty high expectations last year,” Stearns mentioned because the Mets held a exercise at Daikin Park on Wednesday. “I don’t know if it necessarily feels all that different. I know there’s more attention [and] maybe that’s a little different, but we expected a lot of ourselves last year and expect a lot of ourselves this year.”
They’ll begin it off with a three-game sequence at Daikin Park, with three extra towards the Marlins in Miami.
Mendoza skilled one of these strain when he was on Aaron Boone’s teaching workers in The Bronx and Soto did, as nicely, in his lone season with the Yankees final yr.
Clay Holmes brings comparable expertise with him to the Mets after three-plus seasons pitching out of the Yankees bullpen earlier than he signed as a free agent to start out for the Mets.
Holmes mentioned there’s “definitely” a similarity to the strain the Mets are dealing with this yr to what he felt with the Yankees.
“You can feel the excitement for the Mets and definitely expectations,” mentioned Holmes, who will get the ball for Thursday’s Opening Day in his first begin since 2018.
“The payroll and players and talent we have here, things come with that,” Holmes mentioned. “The most important thing you can feel is how close people are in the locker room, the coaches and players. There are expectations, sure, but there’s a lot of accountability, too.”
And that begins for actual on Thursday.
“There’s a standard we’re trying to set here,” Holmes mentioned. “It’s fun to be a part of that. To go into the season knowing you have a real shot to win a championship is what you want to play for. We all feel that and know that. It’s a responsibility we’re happy to have.”
