Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

August has been so bad for the New York Mets that even when they win a baseball game — which has been few and far between recently — it feels like they lost.

Case in point was this past weekend’s series against the Washington Nationals. After dropping the opener on Friday, New York ended up winning on Saturday and Sunday to keep their very slim playoff chances on life support. All year long, we’ve heard about New York’s impeccable clubhouse chemistry and how these guys have come together as a group. One byproduct of that chemistry is they’ve had a variety of team-wide celebrations after base hits, most notably throwing up the churve, which was done in honor of Joey Lucchesi.

But now, we’ve got the thumbs down celebration, which could’ve been interpreted a million different ways until Javier Baez made it abundantly clear for those wondering:

Báez did say one thing that I can relate to — mostly because I’ve said it myself on these here internet webpages. Between watching professional ballplayers do amazing things on the field and listening to all the trade and free-agent rumors that go on every winter and summer, it’s easy to forget that they’re humans just like us. And, just like us, they have bad days at work, and the only real difference is their job is more visible and constantly scrutinized under a microscope. Especially in New York.

I wouldn’t want someone following me around throughout the workday, asking me questions and then writing up stories for everyone to read. That doesn’t sound fun. So, Javy is right — these guys aren’t machines, and they’re pressing right now. Plus, nobody likes getting booed. Even if they look listless on the field, there’s more going on out there and in the clubhouse than we’ll ever know about.

One thing that bothers me about what Javy said? He said the boos don’t really get to him. There’s nothing wrong with them getting to him — after all, as we just established, they’re humans with thoughts and feelings. But, clearly, the boos are getting to him and some others because they talked about it and came to a decision on how to respond.

I personally don’t boo players. I get frustrated with unfortunate results just like everyone else, but for me, I don’t think booing actually accomplishes anything. In a big market like New York, though, fans booing players for a lack of performance is a given, regardless of whether it’s right or wrong. The players responding in this way is a classic “two wrongs don’t make it right” situation.

Plus, as team president Sandy Alderson alluded to in his statement Sunday night, the customer is always right. In a city like New York, the newspapers going to look like this for a little bit, especially without a Mets game on Monday:

The comments that Báez already shared above should’ve been plenty, but here’s another one, courtesy of Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News:

“In my case, they [the fans] gotta be better. I play for the fans and I love the fans. But if they’re going to do that, they’re just putting more pressure on the team. That’s not what we want.”

Woof, man. Do you know what cures everything? Winning ballgames and stopping an absolute tailspin in the standings. Not long ago, when New York lost its three-month grip of first place in the National League East, I talked about how it was important to focus on themselves. I didn’t think I’d ever need to add in “Don’t start a war of words with fans because you don’t like it when they boo,” but here we are.

It also didn’t take long for the backtracking to begin. Not from Báez himself, but from Kevin Pillar, who was another player to partake in this new celebration.

I’m all for not making this a bigger deal than it is, but what he said doesn’t make sense. Players don’t come up with celebrations such as this without any significance.

Whether we’re talking about players, coaches, or fans, the last few weeks haven’t been very fun for anyone associated with the Mets. Baseball is hard and players are doing what they can to bust out of this funk. However, this is a results-oriented business, especially in major media markets. When a team goes through a sensational nosedive like this, boos are inevitable. When the New York Yankees struggled through the first portion of the year, fans were flipping out about how the season was over and that heads needed to roll for a lack or performance. The Yankees turned that narrative around by being aggressive at the trade deadline and…they started winning.

Just like that — all is forgiven. Crazy how that works.

The underperformance of the Mets in 2021 was likely going to lead to substantial personnel changes over the winter. This thumbs down celebration will likely only intensify those conversations and decisions. Regardless of what happens next, this is likely not something manager Luis Rojas and the rest of the coaching staff/front office want to deal with right now. You know, especially since the Mets’ current playoff odds are down to just 2.5% thanks to an 8-19 record so far in August.