MLB’s No. 2 payroll club is in a historic freefall, but they’re hardly alone as four other top-spenders are similarly struggling, upending the league’s normal order and putting several managers on an early hot seat.
The Mets fell to the Cubs, 2–1 in 10 innings, on Sunday, dropping their 11th straight game to represent their longest losing streak since 2004. The Steve Cohen-owned club entered the season with a big budget, as their luxury-tax outlay now stands at $381.7 million, and even loftier ambitions as it chases the two-time defending champion Dodgers. New York, however, has been stymied in the season’s early going by a series of factors including a leaky bullpen and an anemic offense.
The team’s 7–15 record is tied with Kansas City for MLB’s worst mark, and even trails the long-struggling Rockies by two games. The odds are increasingly stacked against the Mets as only four MLB teams with at least a 10-game losing streak reached the postseason that same year. Last year’s Guardians are part of that group, but the Mets’ playoff probability, according to Fangraphs, has been cut nearly in half compared to Opening Day and now stands at 41.6%.
“In big situations, we haven’t come through. Sometimes baseball is on your side, and sometimes baseball is not on your side,” star shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to bring it.”
Earlier in the losing streak, Cohen tried to put a brave face on the struggles, saying in a social-media post that he saw “green shoots” of progress. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns similarly said Friday that, “Urgency is not the problem here. There’s plenty of urgency. There’s plenty of want, and sometimes that can lead to things like a higher chase rate [by batters] unfortunately.”
We’ve Got Company
For all the Mets’ on-field problems, though, several other top-spending franchises are having their own issues in the early part of the 2026 season. Among them:
- Phillies (No. 4 luxury-tax payroll, $314.2 million): Philadelphia was just swept at Citizens Bank Park by the Braves to complete a 2–7 homestand, the club’s worst nine-game run at home since 2009. The Phillies are now 8–13, just ahead of the Mets. “You’ve got to take the emotion out of it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “This isn’t football, it’s not hockey, where emotion can help you. In this sport, over-emotion can often hurt you. You’ve got to take it out.”
- Blue Jays (No. 5 luxury-tax payroll, $309.5 million): After last-year’s dramatic run to Game 7 of the World Series and large-scale ambitions under owner Rogers Communications, injuries and underperformance have created a hangover for the 8–13 club. A 10–4 rout in Phoenix of the Diamondbacks on Sunday, fueled by an eight-run first inning, suggests a potential turnaround, though. “That was the Blue Jays that everyone saw [in 2025],” Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes said. “That’s what we were missing. We’ve just got to take it with us moving forward.”
- Red Sox (No. 6 luxury-tax payroll, $266.1 million): After starting a woeful 2–8 and raising the ire of local fans, Boston has since improved somewhat to an 8–13 mark but the club’s uphill climb continues. A critical series at Fenway Park against archrival Yankees begins Tuesday.
- Astros (No. 11 luxury-tax payroll, $236.5 million): After missing the postseason last year for the first time since 2016, Houston has faded even further from its prior dominance and now stands in last place in the AL West division. “We definitely have to look at each other in the mirror and see what things we can do better,” Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said.
As a result, the job security of several managers is now a rising question, with public scrutiny particularly rising around the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza, the Phillies’ Thomson, and the Astros’ Joe Espada.
Those struggles by big-market clubs, meanwhile, have been countered by several low-spending clubs that are confounding expectations in the season’s first month. Despite a No. 28 luxury-tax payroll at $108.3 million, the 12–9 Rays are a half-game out of first place in the AL East division. The Cardinals, the No. 26 spender at $111.6 million, are showing early fruits in their extended rebuilding process with a 13–8 record, fifth best in the National League.
Though it’s still definitely early in the six-month regular season, these situations could also become part of the upcoming labor negotiations between MLB players and owners. Those talks are expected to be fractious and could lead to a management lockout this offseason.
