The New York Mets and New York Yankees will have disbursed nearly $640m in player salaries by the end of the 2025 season, but money hasn’t bought happiness for either New York City fanbase. After enjoying hot starts to begin the 2025 season, the Yankees are now in third place in the American League East while the Mets are a woeful 11-16 since the All-Star Break and 4-11 in the month of August.
Even though both teams would qualify for the postseason if the season ended today, neither of them are meeting their lofty preseason expectations. With under 40 games remaining in the season, what is ailing the teams that enjoyed comfortable first-place leads earlier this season? And is all hope lost as they enter the last quarter of the season?
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The Mets
When the Mets signed Juan Soto to a record-setting 15-year, $765m contract in December, they lured the superstar away from the wealthy crosstown rival Yankees and inherited the weighty expectations that come with a historic signing. When Soto started (relatively) slowly over the first two months of the season, the Mets covered for him with some of the best pitching in baseball (a 2.88 ERA through 31 May) and a strong offensive season from first baseman Pete Alonso.
When Soto found his usual form in June, the Mets started faltering. Since the start of June, Soto has hit 21 home runs and posted a .408 on-base percentage, but the Mets are a dreary 28-36 in that same time span. The month of August has been an ongoing nightmare for their pitching staff: the starting pitching that anchored the team to start the season has a ghastly 6.22 ERA in August, which has taxed a tired bullpen that added two major pieces (Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers) at the trade deadline in July.
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The Mets’ bullpen is responsible for eight of the team’s eleven losses in August. Helsley, a two-time All-Star who led the National League in saves last year with the St Louis Cardinals, was brought in to set up All-Star closer Edwin Díaz. Unfortunately, Helsley has stumbled to a 7.11 ERA in his first eight games with his new team. It’s an uncharacteristically bad stretch for one of baseball’s most dominant relief pitchers, and the Mets need him to find his usual form if they want to compete in a loaded National League playoff race.
Even with their horrendous run of recent form, the Mets remain one of the most talented teams in baseball and a viable pennant contender. Shortstop Francisco Lindor – who finished second to Shohei Ohtani in last year’s NL MVP race – is one of the game’s most admired leaders and consistent producers. Even after battling through two major slumps earlier in the season, Lindor has already hit 20 home runs and stolen 20 bases for the fifth time in his career.
If the Mets want to make their playoffs, they’ll need to play like a postseason team until the end of September. Of their final 38 games, 22 of them will be against teams in the thick of a playoff race (including seven against the division-leading Phillies). For a team that was 21 games over .500 in the middle of June, it would be nothing short of an epic collapse if the Mets were somehow left home in October.
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The Yankees
The Yankees won their first American League pennant in 15 years last season, but their World Series loss to the Dodgers was a bitter end marred by terrible defense and poor hitting in clutch situations. This year’s team has better balance than the 2024 version – they added top starting pitcher Max Fried, former MVP Cody Bellinger and two-time All-Star relief pitcher Devin Williams after losing Soto to the Mets – but the Yankees still suffer from inconsistent relief pitching and sloppy defense.
Aaron Judge is a good bet to win his third MVP award in four years – he leads baseball in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and times on base – and infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr is, like Lindor, one of eight players this season to hit at least 20 home runs and steal at least 20 bases. By the end of the season, shortstop Anthony Volpe might join them as a member of the 20-20 club. The offense hasn’t been the problem: it has the highest slugging percentage (.430) and more home runs than any team in baseball (195). A lineup featuring Judge, Bellinger (22 home runs this year) Giancarlo Stanton (441 career home runs) will terrify any opposing pitcher.
The problem is the pitching staff. Since the All-Star Break, the Yankees have the worst ERA (4.70) of any team competing for a playoff spot and have walked more hitters (110) than any team in baseball in that span. Like the Mets, the Yankees traded for two former All-Star relief pitchers (David Bednar and Camilo Doval), to try to stabilize the struggling staff and push the team into the postseason. While Bednar has adapted nicely (a 2.16 ERA and three saves), Doval has labored to a 6.43 ERA with six walks in eight appearances. General manager Brian Cashman likely envisioned Doval, Bednar, former closer Luke Weaver and Williams vanquishing hitters in the late innings. Instead, the team is experimenting with different roles while trying to fix what is ailing Williams.
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After three consecutive seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA in Milwaukee, Williams has endured a nightmare opening season in the Bronx, which has seen him lose the closer job before regaining it, only to lose it again after surrendering runs in five consecutive outings over July and August. In 140 innings pitched from 2022-2024, Williams allowed 26 total earned runs and seven home runs. In 47 1/3 innings this season, he has allowed 28 earned runs and five homers. Whether his issues are mechanical or psychological, Williams has not been the pitcher that the Yankees thought they were acquiring this offseason.
And then there is the defense. Since their notoriously bad performance in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, the Yankees’ defense is more scrutinized than any other team in baseball. They might not be as bad as some people say – Volpe is a Gold Glove-quality shortstop, Paul Goldschmidt remains a reliable first baseman and Bellinger is one of baseball’s best defensive outfielders – but some embarrassing blunders have kept that conversation alive. Ultimately, it isn’t a trustworthy unit.
The Yankees offense is so good, though, that it’s unlikely they’ll miss the playoffs. The American League is a much weaker overall group than the National League this season, which means the Yankees may very well find their way to a second consecutive pennant. But they’ll need to shore up their pitching and defense if they expect to return to the World Series.
