Phillies Nick Castellanos Takes Massive Swipe at NY Mets and Juan Soto After Failing to Qualify for 2025 Postseason

The 2025 season is one the New York Mets fans will not like to look back on. After landing Juan Soto on the biggest contract in MLB history in the offseason last year, the Mets failed to reach the postseason. Philadelphia Phillies star Nick Castellanos took a massive swipe at them after their failure.

Soto would become a free agent after the conclusion of the 2024 season. After spending one year in the Bronx with the New York Yankees, the Dominican international would eventually choose the Mets as their next team and pen down a 15-year $765 million deal.

This became the biggest contract offered to any player in MLB history. It broke the record for the largest deal of Shohei Ohtani, which was set just a year ago. The two-way star joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 10-year $700 million deal.

After the acquisition of Soto, the Mets were heavy World Series favorites this year. The team did reach the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in 2024, giving the fans hope that with Soto, the team could go all the way.

The Mets also started off strong and held the best record in MLB on June 12th at 45-24. After that, things would go downhill for them.

Their offense would cool down, and their defense imploded. The team went on several losing runs leading to Soto and his teammates receiving huge flak from the supporters.

They eventually lost the division title to the Phillies and needed a win on the final day with other results going their way to qualify. While the Cincinnati Reds lost against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Mets lost 4-0 against the Miami Marlins, which eliminated them from playoff contention.

🚨 METS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM POSTSEASON CONTENTION pic.twitter.com/DiTxOYna9E

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 28, 2025

The Reds, who took the final wild card spot ahead of the Mets, eventually got swept by the Dodgers in the Wild Card Series. This led many to wonder what would have happened if the Mets faced the LA-based side instead.

Ahead of the National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Dodgers, Phillies’ Nick Castellanos threw a shade at the Mets and their $765 million man for missing the playoffs.

You’re always a little bit surprised when a team goes out and spends $765 million on one player and doesn’t make the playoffs. Am I surprised? I don’t know, because baseball is very hard. Not talking s*** or anything, but when an acquisition like that is made, a team does better than when they did in the past.

Nick Castellanos said on Foul Territory podcast

Nick Castellanos says it's always a little surprising when a team [Mets] goes out and spends $765M on one player and doesn't make the playoffs.

"Not talking sh*t or anything, but usually when an acquisition like that is made, a team does better than when they did in the past." pic.twitter.com/3WAZmao4pi

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) October 2, 2025

Despite the inconsistent performances, Soto put up good numbers in his first season with the Mets. The 4-time All-Star hit 43 home runs, the most he has in a single season, and drove in 105 runs while batting with a .263 batting average.

Juan Soto calls 2025 season a “failure” after Mets miss playoffs on final day

With the way things were going, it seemed qualification for the playoffs would be a mere formality for the New York Mets. However, their train would go off the tracks, and they ended up missing the postseason on the final day. Juan Soto would later label the 2025 season as a “failure.”

The Mets went from a 45-24 record to finishing the campaign with an 83-79 record. They would go 38-55 in their last 93 games.

While speaking with the reporters after their 4-0 loss in Game 162, Soto expressed that the team will look at this season as a failure and try to bounce back next season.

It’s a failure. Anytime you don’t make it to the playoffs or win a championship, it’s a failure. That’s how we’re going to look at it, and that’s how we’re going to go through things in the offseason.

Juan Soto told the reporters

Juan Soto categorizes his first season with the Mets as a "failure" because the team did not make the postseason pic.twitter.com/9h99C2Tv5u

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 28, 2025

Mets’ team owner Steve Cohen would also issue a statement. He would apologize to the fans for the team’s performance and express his gratitude towards their support throughout the season.

Mets fans everywhere. I owe you an apology . You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn’t do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn’t perform up to your and my expectations
We are all feeling…

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) September 29, 2025

Despite the shortcomings, the team has expressed confidence in manager Carlos Mendoza. As per the team’s President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns, Mendoza will be back for the 2026 season and manage the team again.

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