$358.4 Million Buys the Mets Their First Last-Place Finish Since 2003

No team has ever started a season with a bigger payroll than this year's Mets, at $358.4 million. They'll finish last.

It became official Friday night in a 7-6 loss to the Nationals. At 73-87, New York can't climb out of the bottom of the NL East, something that hasn't happened since 2003, after a 66-95 season in 2002.

The final out came from an unlikely source. Josiah Gray, a 2023 All-Star who had Tommy John surgery the next year and only got back to the majors last week, was pitching at Nationals Park for the first time since April 2024. He walked Juan Soto with two outs in the ninth, then got Bo Bichette to tap one back to him for the first save of his career.

Washington is 76-84 and has won nine of 12, which is enough for fourth place. Dylan Crews homered. The Nationals have finished fourth or fifth every year since winning the 2019 World Series.

The Mets' one piece of good news was rookie Carson Benge, who homered and became the first Met ever to go 20-20 as a rookie. Bichette also homered in the loss.