Ten moments that define New York Mets’ epic 2025 collapse

MIAMI — The New York Mets’ stupefying 2025 season, a 162-game ride that launched with World Series aspirations, ended with a thud at 2:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, the final day of the regular season.

The Mets reported to LoanDepot Park needing to beat the Miami Marlins and needing the Milwaukee Brewers to beat the Cincinnati Reds to reach the postseason. But New York couldn’t handle its business, losing 4-0 to fall short of playing October baseball. The Reds will open a three-game wild-card series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Tuesday. The Mets will go home wondering what happened.

Just three weeks ago, on Sept. 8, the Mets owned a four-game lead over the Reds with 19 games remaining. They had a 92.2% chance to reach the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Even this weekend, when their slide had been going for three months, optimism still existed. Day after day, disappointment after disappointment, the Mets repeated the same line: There was too much talent in that clubhouse not to be able to reverse course and play in October.

But the reality is the Mets were one of the worst teams in the majors for nearly two-thirds of the season. The Mets woke up on June 13 with the best record in baseball at 45-24. Their playoff odds were 96.2%. They were playing like a team with the second-highest player payroll in the majors should play. After that, they morphed into a bottom feeder, going 38-55 for the remainder of the season. Only four teams — the Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox — were worse.

Those clubs’ playoff hopes died months ago; FanGraphs calculated the Mets’ chances at 33.4% entering Sunday. They were extinguished when