Francisco Lindor issues challenge to Mets players after NLCS defeat

The New York Mets’ unexpected playoff run came to an end via Sunday night’s 10-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. 

While speaking with reporters shortly after what he called “an amazing roller-coaster” ride of a season finished without a trip to the World Series, star shortstop Francisco Lindor issued somewhat of a challenge to others in the Mets clubhouse regarding how the team can build on all that it accomplished from the early days of June through October.

“You have to come in next year and can’t take anything for granted,” Lindor said, as shared by John Flanigan of SNY. “That’s one of the things that this group did. We held each other accountable and we pushed each other to our limits. If we do that next year, we’ll see where that ends up.”

The Mets completed what many outsiders viewed as an uninspiring offseason before they started the 2024 campaign with five consecutive losses under first-year manager Carlos Mendoza. Lindor then famously called a players-only meeting that featured individuals “holding each other accountable” when the Mets fell to 22-33 on May 29. New York began June 3 at 24-35 before the club started to turn things around thanks largely to Lindor emerging as an unofficial team captain and an NL Most Valuable Player Award candidate. 

Lindor ultimately hit what will go down as two of the most clutch home runs in franchise history to help the Mets get to within two victories of the Fall Classic. As SNY’s Danny Abriano and others have pointed out, the franchise now faces plenty of uncertainty with All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso, multiple starting pitchers and others set to reach free agency next month. 

“We’re going to miss each other,” Lindor said about those associated with the 2024 Mets. “But we accomplished a lot as a team, as individuals, and we became a family. We overcame a lot of things and we stuck together. I truly believe that there’s something good happening here.” 

There will soon come numerous conversations about who Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns should target to add to Lindor’s baseball family this offseason. Just about everybody in the MLB community expects Mets owner Steve Cohen will take a big swing at signing New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto once free agency opens. 

Lindor understandably had other things on his mind on Sunday night.

“It doesn’t feel good to lose,” Lindor acknowledged. “This is going to sit with me for a while. I wanted it for this group. I wanted it for myself. I wanted it for the organization. I wanted it for the city of New York. I wanted it for everybody, and everybody felt and feels the same way.”

Many assume the Mets’ future is bright thanks to Cohen’s financial power coupled with Stearns’ team-building capabilities, but it’s worth noting that expectations for next year’s squad are higher today than what many thought they’d be only a handful of months ago. How Lindor and others handle such pressure will go a long way in determining if this season was a sign of things to come for the organization or little more than a blip on the radar.