The 2026 Mets have already given fans plenty to roll their eyes at, and the schedule is about to hand Steve Cohen and David Stearns a few more headaches.
The biggest gripe has been the club’s decision to hold off on selling tickets for the final stretch of the season. By late April, fans were already talking about the fact that they couldn’t buy seats for the last three months.
The expectation was obvious: the Mets would use dynamic pricing and jack up the cost depending on the opponent and the moment. Instead, the move drew plenty of ridicule, especially with the team already stuck in a 12-game losing streak and short on memorable moments.
But the loudest backlash may not come from the front office decision-makers behind the scenes. It’s Cohen and Stearns who are likely to catch the heat when these three dates arrive.
August 19 brings a Freddy Peralta replica jersey giveaway against the San Diego Padres, and the timing is awkward at best. Peralta is likely to be long gone by then, which raises the obvious question of why the Mets waited so late.
The best explanation seems to be that the team was worried about a random preseason injury if they handed it out earlier. Still, there’s at least a chance Peralta is in the ballpark, since the Padres have scouted him.
Even sooner is the July 25 Peralta bobblehead, when he should at least still be around for the promotion.
Then comes the one that will actually pull fans through the gates: Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field from September 14-16. The timing couldn’t be much worse.
It lands in the middle of the week, when the ballpark would usually be close to empty, though this one should draw a bigger crowd for reasons that have nothing to do with Baltimore Orioles fans showing up. Alonso’s return will bring people out specifically to see him again, and the chants will follow.
The tricky part comes when he’s facing a pitcher who is more than a rental. Are fans really going to root for him against Nolan McLean?
They illogically will and that’s their right, especially for showing up in September.
The final date on the list is the one the Mets probably should have handled differently: Carlos Beltran’s number retirement on September 19. That’s a Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies, and the setup is rough.
A lost season might give attendance a small bump, but not enough to avoid the bad optics of a day that could end with visiting fans celebrating a playoff berth. Beltran already carries a complicated Mets history, and with him heading into Cooperstown in late July, the team likely should have picked a date before school was back in session.
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