What are the expectations this year? Will there be significant disappointment if there’s not another World Series appearance? In other words is it World Series or Bust?
Logan Kader – As Mets fans, we always hold high expectations for our favorite team. For many people this season is World Series or bust, however, I do not believe that is the case. This season will not be a disappointment as long as the Mets make the playoffs this season. Making the playoffs this season will demonstrate that this team is consistent, a trait that has been long lost when talking about the Mets. Making the playoffs in back to back season has only been done one other time, and if the do it again this year I will be more than happy.
Matt Fritz – To me, the expectations are exactly that, World Series or bust. Make no mistake about it, its extremely difficult to get back there, and many of the teams the Mets will have to eventually go through, most certainly got better. However, what most of the teams don’t have that the Mets do have, is an outstanding starting rotation from top to bottom, one of the best in quite some time. The Mets did a decent job at fixing some of their problems from 2015. They got a bit better defensively up the middle in their infield with Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker. The bullpen is seemingly better with a healthy Jerry Blevins and the acquisition of Antonio Bastardo, and most importantly, they were able to bring back Yoenis Cespedes. If their lineup can produce to what it’s capable of, and limit the strikeouts in the process, this team absolutely has a chance to get back to the promised land.
Mike Simon – “World series or bust” is taking it too far, but of course there will significant disappointment if the Mets don’t return. Last year’s run was so exciting, and the championship so tantalizingly close, that it will be a major let down if we don’t get to experience that ride again as Mets fans. My expectation is that the Mets will be a team that makes the playoffs and will have a good shot of returning to the World Series, but we all know that anything can happen in baseball.
Michael Mayer – I expect the Mets to win the National League East although it should be closer than last year. Playoffs are a crap shoot but it would be disappointing if they didn’t at least get back to the World Series.
XtreemIcon – The Mets will almost assuredly make the postseason barring an unforeseen injury to a major contributor (see: A.J. Pollock), and their pitching is built to win in the playoffs, so they have a great shot. But the playoffs are a crap-shoot, so it’s unfair to expect nothing but a World Series. I’d be disappointed with fewer than 90 win and/or missing the playoffs.
Mathew Brownstein – The expectations heading into the 2016 season are set extremely high, especially considering that the Mets made it to Game 5 of the World Series in 2015, and boast the best starting five in the game. With a top five closer, and a balanced lineup the Mets haven’t had in years, they’re in position to win over 90 games this year, and take advantage of the rebuilding Phillies (19 games) and Braves (18 games) this year. While I hate to say it’s World Series or bust (something the crosstown team has been known to use as their mantra), I do think the Mets need to take advantage of the opportunity they have with their rotation and the resigning of Yoenis Cespedes for essentially one season, and head back to the Fall Classic to seek their revenge. And it is the 30th anniversary of their last championship, which has to mean something right?
Martin Kester – Realistic expectations should be the aforementioned “meaningful games in September” and that has nothing to do with the team on the field in Queens. The gNats are annoying but they are talented, feature the reigning league MVP and just hired a manager that wins pretty much everywhere he goes. While the Braves and Phillies will be beatable, there are six other teams (Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates, Dodgers, Giants and Diamondbacks) vying for five playoff spots. There’s too much competition for a World Series or Bust attitude, that’s why making the playoffs should be the goal, whether that’s via a division title or a wild card spot.
Jacob Resnick – As a Mets fan, I don’t think it’s fair to expect a World Series appearance, although after what transpired last season, most fans will tend to drift the other way. With the potential surrounding this year’s team, it will surely be disappointing if they don’t make it back there, but I will temper my expectations to simply playoffs or bust.
Rob Piersall – In my opinion, yes. It is World Series or bust. The Mets have a window right now with all their young pitching studs, that they need to be thinking World Series bound no matter what. We came up just short last season, so this year, everyone should be hungry to bring a World Series title to Queens.
Tommy Rothman – I expect a very good team and a thrilling season. You can’t demand a World Series appearance because the playoffs are such a small sample, and anything can happen. We weren’t supposed to make it to the WS last year, and we did. This year, a lot of people think we’re supposed to, but anything can happen in a short series. So it’s hard to get too low on this team if they fall short of where they got last year. But I expect a playoff appearance and a championship contender. It’s not World Series or Bust, but the Mets haven’t been set up this well to win a title in a long, long time.
Gerry Silverman – Met fans are a largely fatalistic bunch thanks to years of conditioning and can be counted on to express near amazement when things actually work out favorably for their team. That being said, I think everyone realizes that windows of opportunity in baseball are generally fleeting things due to the ephemeral nature of rosters thanks to the various effects of contracts, injuries, competition, etc. So when a team has a chance to compete for the big prize, nabbing it at least once during an upswing for a franchise is something many feel is a nearly a requirement to consider a season to be a success. I think at least getting back to the postseason is considered a minimally acceptable outcome for this season by most fans.Still, it’s a long season and there will be many moments to savor. If nothing else, the Met fan is one who usually learns to be philosophical about whatever the outcome is for their team.
Tim Donner – Surely, we will all be disappointed if they do not win it all this year. Any Mets fan who denies that is not being honest. But this is baseball, and things happen. Injuries. Suspensions. Underperformance. One can only fight the unpredictable with…the predictable, and the Mets have stored enough nuts for the winter to overcome a lot of misfortune. But then, so did the 1987 team that was overcome by injuries – every starting pitcher went down at one point or another – and failed not only to repeat as world champions, but to even qualify for the post-season.
One need look no further than the 2015 Nationals, and widespread predictions that theirs would be the best starting rotation in the majors, to understand the curse of great expectations, and the crippling effect of injuries to multiple spokes in the wheel.
The key is to be lifted rather than weighed down by lofty expectations, to embrace their status as a powerhouse and develop a swagger – something at which the 2015 Nationals failed miserably. And now that the Mets have already surpassed what the Nationals were supposed to achieve in their multi-year window for success, the confidence gleaned from winning the pennant can not be understated.
But this year is entirely different. The Mets will no longer be underdogs to anyone, except perhaps the (IMHO) overrated Cubs, who I would be delighted to help continue their unprecedented and never-to-be-surpassed history as losers (I’m talking to you, Mr. Ricketts).
