So what went wrong? Why are the Mets not one of eight NL teams playing for something now? We know the obvious flaws of their pitching rotation, lack of hitting with runners in scoring position, defensive lapses, failure to compile that winning streak.

Or a bullpen that continued to show the flaws? Though, Edwin Diaz, a little too late, resembled the closer they acquired with Robinson Cano from the Mariners. Regardless, the Mets should be playing now and they are not.

A Mets team that was talented and good enough to qualify in this expanded playoff format are asking the same questions. What went wrong and why?

And the Pete Alonso home runs? If they came more and often, perhaps the lineup would have been more consistent. You can’t answer that  and neither can Alonso, even if he ran out of time during a 60-game sprint.

One Mets player, contacted by MMO said, “We are still asking what went wrong. We know the talent was there. It’s baseball, I guess. We know as a team we should still be playing baseball.”

He repeatedly said that there was nothing wrong in the clubhouse. The manager, Luis Rojas, was a perfect fit. Players behind the scenes dealing with the negativity of COVID, confronted the adversity of a 60-game sprint. 

But when the season ended Sunday, many of these Mets had to know they played their last time together as a group. Contracts and the business of baseball hardly keep the same team intact. A complexion of this team will change with the expected new chain in command.

J.D. Davis, with numbers that did not resemble last year, commented to MMO “Hopefully next year the group is together and have some direction. We are all very motivated for next year.”

Last year, Davis was a cog in the lineup hitting .307, 22 home runs,57 RBI, 22 doubles only behind Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil in the middle of the batting order. The acquisition of Davis, from the Astros, a prize and one of the few wins for GM Brodie Van Wagenen.

But the 2020 numbers for Davis were different, .247/.371/389 slash line with six home runs, 19 RBI, and nine doubles. 

No surprise, it will be a busy offseason. A probable restructure of the roster, new owner, possible change of the GM. Davis, though, would not comment about his status and  is under that contract control the next four years. 

The adversity, according to several players, had nothing to do with the manager and decisions behind closed doors. Baseball, as the players say, is mental and more so with good and bad streaks during 60 games as compared to 162. Though fans tend to not look for excuses and the Mets won’t either.

As a team, the Mets know there was a failure. They will accept responsibility and look back at what could have been.  Davis does not like to lose and said after the season finale Sunday, “It’s going to make us even more hungrier to go into the 2021 season.”

And by then, hopefully the Mets and baseball should know if there will be a normal 162-game season.  But those questions of what went wrong will linger about a team that had playoff hopes.