Every fan has unrealistic expectations for their favorite team — even NBA superstars.
Star Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who’s made no secret of his Mets fandom, was of the many fans disappointed by the team’s selloff, which signaled they will likely not be gunning for a championship in 2024.
Mitchell first tweeted a photoshopped picture of two-way sensation — and upcoming free agent — Shohei Ohtani donning a Mets uniform, captioning the image, “Soon,” and adding a laughing emoji and exclamation mark.
Then, Mitchell realized he needed to change course, responding to a quote from Max Scherzer that detailed the Mets’ shifting competitive strategy in which they will focus on 2025 and 2026.
“Please excuse my last tweet,” he backtracked, adding some more laughing emojis for good measure.
Perhaps no team had a more impactful trade deadline than the Mets, who have fully committed to selling off talent this year in dealing future Hall-of-Fame aces Scherzer and Justin Verlander along with David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Mark Canha and Dominic Leone.
Despite the team’s record $348 million payroll, recent reporting has suggested there’s no coming back for the 50-55 Mets, who will now focus on using their recently acquired prospect depth to supplement a core of Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Alvarez and Pete Alonso.
“Because of where everybody is at within their contract situation, age, everything, Billy and Steve had to do a different vision now. The math changed on them. They wanted to be able to flip guys for prospects and so they were willing to — I assume they still are looking to be able to trade guys off the roster to try to get more players that are going to be with them in those seasons in 2025 and 2026 that can help them win then,” Scherzer told reporters in Texas on Tuesday.
Mets owner Steve Cohen explained to The Post’s Jon Heyman on Tuesday that the team likely will have a better chance to make a run in 2025 and 2026, which seemed to confirm Scherzer’s comments.
“We will be competitive in ’24 but I think 25-26 is when our young talent makes an impact,” Cohen wrote. “Lots of pitching in free agency in ’24. More payroll flexibility in ’25. Got a lot of dead money in ’24.”