Brodie Van Wagenen arrived at the podium for his first press conference as Mets general manager last October vowing “boldness and creativity” as he looked to jumpstart a franchise desperate for both.
As much as 2015, and the team’s unlikely World Series appearance — and a subsequent wild-card berth that put the Mets in the postseason in consecutive seasons for just the second time in franchise history — are celebrated, it’s hard to obscure the ugly truth: The Mets have played far more meaningless games after the All-Star break than meaningful over the past decade.
Last year’s 77-85 fourth-place finish in the NL East gave the Mets eight losing seasons in their past 10, a mark matched in franchise history only by the woeful teams that polluted Shea Stadium from 1974-83.