Mets Continue To Slide In Power Rankings Despite Playing Winning Baseball In May

The 2026 season hasn’t been kind to the New York Mets. After two months of action, the Mets still find themselves in last place in the National League East despite lofty expectations heading into the campaign.

At one point in the season, they had been swept in four of their last five series and had tied their franchise record for their worst start in the first 28 games. While still not great, things have undoubtedly been much better as of late, with four series wins in the month of May.

As of Tuesday morning, they’re currently on another skid, however, losing their last four games, including a sweep by the Miami Marlins and a loss to the Cincinnati Reds in the first of three games on Monday.

Mets fans will be hoping the leak gets plugged soon, as they were finally getting to enjoy some winning baseball in Queens for the first time this season. Whether or not they can find their identity, the first couple of months for the Mets have been a disaster.

For this, New York has found itself sliding in The Athletic’s recent power rankings. Previously ranked at No. 18, the Mets have fallen all the way to No. 24.

For a team with the highest payroll in baseball at $334 million, being 10 games under .500 this far along into the season is inexcusable – especially after the offseason they had.

New York completely retooled their roster this offseason after a collapse in the late stages of the 2025 season. With the departures of key players like Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, and Jeff McNeil, the president of baseball operations, David Stearns, brought in several star-level players to bring new life to Citi Field.

Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, and Jorge Polanco were all brought in to flood the field with new talent, while Luis Robert Jr. filled a key hole in the outfield, and the arms of Freddy Peralta and Devin Williams bolstered their pitching staff.

As evident by their record, it hasn’t exactly worked out to plan for the Mets so far, but they do seem to be past the worst of it. If they can continue to trend upwards, it would be difficult to count a team with as much talent as the Mets fully out of it.

For that reason, the Athletic also predicts Stearns to go for it this season. Perhaps a late-season push, such as what happened in 2024, could be enough to make up for the woeful start to 2026.