Stop if you've heard this before: The New York Mets are one of the most disappointing teams in the 2023 MLB season. Unfortunately, this narrative doesn't seem to be improving anytime soon. Brace yourself, as you're likely to hear it repeated over and over again.

Witnessing the Mets crumble game after game has become a truly astonishing spectacle this season. The team that was once considered a strong contender for the World Series title is now desperately clawing for wins, let alone thinking about October.

World Series favorites no more

Perhaps the burden of being labeled as World Series favorites was the initial problem. Predictions and expectations surrounded the team from the early stages, being at the forefront in the minds of everyone involved, including the players and coaches. When a team like the Mets falls significantly short of meeting those expectations, it only amplifies the existing problems. Now, imagine adding the pressure of the New York City market on top of it all.

Out of the top-10 teams initially favored to win the 2023 World Series, only three remain in contention at this point: the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers. After last year's World Series, the Mets started as +1100 favorites, but their odds have plummeted to +4500, according to FanDuel.

How did the team's talent and resources grow, while their odds and victories diminished?

Overcoming history of bad ownership

When Steve Cohen became the Mets' owner in 2020, after purchasing the team from the troubled Wilpon family for a staggering $2.4 billion, there was a belief that everything would finally be set right in Queens. Prior to Cohen, the team endured over three decades of debt, lawsuits, and poor management. So, was it unreasonable to believe that just three years under Cohen could erase the lingering effects of such mismanagement?

The common belief, in baseball and beyond, is that money can solve most problems. Cohen has certainly spared no expense to make that belief a reality. In the past three years, he has spent over $1.3 billion, yet the team has only managed to secure one Wild Card appearance last year. The memory of leading the division for most of the season last year, only to be swept by the Braves in Atlanta during the penultimate series, still lingers. Since then, the Mets' fortunes have taken a turn for the worse.

That pivotal series against the Braves last season proved to be the undoing of any promise they showed. The Mets have never recovered from that devastating loss as the carryover to this season is evident of it. Any momentum or advantage they had hoped to start this season with, evaporated early on when the wins never came consistently. However, there was always hope that they were just in a temporary slump and that their talented roster could stage a late-season comeback.

Those hopes were shattered during the recent series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Almost winning is always losing

In the eighth inning, holding a 6-3 lead, the Mets endured a string of unfortunate events. They issued three walks, hit two batters, and committed a fielding error, allowing a runner to reach base. Out of the 10 batters faced by Mets pitchers, only one managed to secure a hit during the unlikely four-run comeback. Adding to the chaos, Buck Showalter was ejected in the ninth inning, just before the Mets eventually succumbed to a devastating 7-6 loss.

It's been aptly labeled the “most horrific” loss of the year, according to Mets' play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen. It was a distressing reflection of the mismanagement and chaos that have haunted the team over the past three decades.

In familiar fashion, Showalter mismanaged his bullpen, neglected to play his best players, and set the Mets up for failure. Of course, Showalter is not the sole problem plaguing this Mets team. Injuries have taken their toll, while the team as a whole has been frustratingly inefficient.

“Everybody can critique it and talk about this and that, could've been, should've been” Showalter said. “But we have to move on to Milwaukee. Just like they [Phillies] put the first loss here behind them and got after the second game, they were behind yesterday and have a sticky, hot day, and competed and almost won today. People wonder how they can ever [move on], you have to, you do it, and that's a part of the job description.”

Almost won? Wow. That's where the Mets are now… at almost winning games.

The Phillies series marked the Mets' seventh consecutive series loss, resulting in a dismal 6-15 record for the month of June. If they fail to win at least two out of three games against the Milwaukee Brewers in their upcoming series starting on Monday, they will conclude the entire month without a single series victory.

Showalter's tenure as the Mets' skipper appears to be on shaky ground, with his future hanging in the balance. If the team continues to falter, Cohen may opt for a complete overhaul, with Showalter being at the forefront of it. Regardless of the outcome for this Mets team in 2023, it's evident that they were burdened from the outset by remnants of the past, sky-high expectations, and extravagant spending. It's proof that money can't buy happiness, just a losing baseball team.