MLB Insider Believes Mets Potentially Missing 2025 Postseason Will Be More Embarrassing Than Tigers Blowing AL Central Lead

The New York Mets are out of playoff positions due to the Cincinnati Reds holding the tiebreaker, and could end up missing the postseason.

MLB Insider Believes Mets Potentially Missing 2025 Postseason Will Be More Embarrassing Than Tigers Blowing AL Central Lead

Carlos Mendoza (Image via Imago)

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In the final regular week of the 2025 season, the spotlight is firmly on 2 teams, the New York Mets and the Detroit Tigers. Both teams find themselves in a tough situation and could end up missing the playoffs. An MLB insider believes that the Mets missing the postseason would be more embarrassing than the Tigers blowing the lead in the AL Central division.

The Tigers could soon end up on the wrong side of history. The team once had a 15.5-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians this season. However, in the past few weeks, things have drastically changed for the two division rivals.

While the Tigers continue to spiral down, the Guardians are on the rise. The Guardians, who are the reigning AL Central champions, have won 15 of their last 17 games which includes a 3-game sweep of the Tigers in Detroit.

Meanwhile, the Tigers have lost 9 of their last 10 games. This has seen the Guardians trim down the lead in the division to 1 game.

With the two sides set to face in a 3-game series in Cleveland, the hosts could end up winning the division from an improbable position and knock out the Tigers entirely. If it does happen, it would be the largest gap a team has overcome since 1969 to win the division.

Despite this, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes the Mets’ missing the playoffs entirely will be more embarrassing than this setback of the Tigers.

Just like the Tigers, the Mets were in firm control of their division at once stage. They would then suffer a major slump which saw the Philadelphia Phillies win the title. The loss against the Washington Nationals on Sunday put the New York side out of a wild card spot.

The insider spoke on the season of the Mets and how they went from having a league-best 45-24 record to going 35-53 since then. He later claimed that it would be one of the more embarrassing episodes in franchise history.

They have essentially collapsed, and not like they did in 2007 when they blew a seven-game lead with 17 games to play, this has been a slow-burn; it’s really been three months now of inadequate play… It’s a stumble that will be one of the more embarrassing episodes in franchise history if it indeed ends up with this team obviously missing the playoffs, if it ends up with this team getting knocked out early. The Mets are not simply in a good place.

Ken Rosenthal said on Fair Territory podcast

In 2007, the Mets had a 7-game lead in the NL East with 17 games left. They ended up losing 12 of those 17 games and finished with an 88-74 record. This saw them miss the postseason from a position where it seemed likely that they would play October baseball.

Mets’ playoff destiny is no longer in their hands

As the New York Mets continued to stumble, they still had a good lead in the National League Wild Card standings. However, since the loss against the Washington Nationals, their playoff destiny is no longer in their own hands.

New York Mets' Juan Soto
Juan Soto (Image via Bleacher Report)

Their 3-2 loss on Sunday was followed up with a 1-0 win of the Cincinnati Reds over the Chicago Cubs. The Reds ended up completing a 4-game sweep of the Cubs and matched the 80-76 record of the Mets.

However, the Reds own the tiebreaker over the Mets. So if both teams finish the 2025 regular season with the same record, the Reds would take the final wild card spot in the National League and knock out the Mets in the process.

So, even if the Mets win all their remaining games, chances are the Reds could match that and head to the playoffs. The Arizona Diamondbacks currently sit 1 game behind both these teams and could make a push in the final week.

The Mets will be on the road for the final 6 games and take on the Chicago Cubs and the Miami Marlins. Meanwhile, the Reds will take part in a 3-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates before going on the road to take on the Milwaukee Brewers for the final series of the season.

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