New York Mets: Why July will be a bittersweet month for the fan base

Once again, the New York Mets derailed their entire season in June. However, there is no way of knowing if July will destroy the fan base just as much because July will be bittersweet for Mets fans.

Being a New York Mets fan is like a full-time job. The Mets provide so many sources of misery, but also some incredible feats. Watching them every night in the summer feels like hard work because things unraveled so quickly and there is still so much time left, very stressful. This is particularly true now because the Mets enter their first game of the month already nine games under .550.

Like, the Mets, are not a very good team, but once again, they are just not too far out to officially count them out. If they win 20 games in July instead of losing, then they will be rolling into August, if they can even get there.

To get to August, the Mets and their fans must get through July, the busiest month of the season. July opens with the Subway Series for the Mets, at home. They are followed by having the All-Star game and home run derby be a week later.

To end the month, the MLB Trade Deadline will hit. That always impacts the Mets.

However, no matter what is happening in terms of the Mets winning or losing, the early part of July should make their fans proud. Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Jacob deGrom will all be representing the Mets in the all-star game. Yes, the Mets have three all-stars but are in fourth place, again, the theme of the month, bittersweet.

Also, one of those all-stars, Pete Alonso, will be participating in the Home Run Derby, notch another point to the brand.

As a Mets fan, the MLB All-star game and that whole week leading up to it, is going to make me proud to be a fan. The Mets are doing some great things with the young talent and the best pitcher in baseball. It is nice to see those players rewarded and presented as big deals on a vast stage where they belong.

For Pete Alonso, win or lose the derby, it is helpful to see a Mets player in one again finally. The blue and orange will be represented well in Cleveland this mid-summer classic.

That is all at the beginning of the month, but by the end of the month, yikes, back to reality.

As proud as the all-star festivities and game will make me be a Mets fan/columnist, the Trade Deadline will immediately ruin that because what are the Mets going to do?

The easy answer is that the Mets are going to be sellers.

Usually, that is fine, get something juicy and see how it pans out. But this year, if they are selling what the point is? The Mets’ two best assets are probably going to be Todd Frazier and Zack Wheeler, both on expiring contracts, but what team is going to give up a plethora of assets for them?

Both of those guys could be dealt with for the sake of getting something for them. Even considering trading a pitcher like Jason Vargas, who hasn’t been utterly terrible this season, wouldn’t be all that special for other teams.

Of course, with how terrible the Mets are playing they could trade away some proven players not on expiring deals to spice up the returns they could get on players, but that is counter-intuitive.

So really, by the deadline, the Mets might be worse now, with the future not looking much better. I will once again not feel so great and could be very disappointed by them.

With the Mets right now, it is looking at the little things. With the bullpen as unreliable as it is, I don’t expect them to win any game; no lead is safe. That leaves me to look forward to only the little things, like the all-star weekend stuff.

But then, just a few a week later, I could be dreading the trade deadline and every move they make after that.

At the end of July, the Mets will still have nice things. They will always have McNeil, deGrom, and Alonso, and if for some odd, crazy, foolish, reason they do not have one of them, then this narrative changes from bittersweet to just bitter, but I digress.

After the deadline, the sweet things will outweigh what will be bitter in the long-term. The young core they have could be the staple of the franchise for years to come, but in the short-term, and we can only look so far ahead, we about to experience the highest of hi’s and lowest of low’s a fan base possibly can during the regular season.

In a perfect scenario, the Mets start winning baseball games again and do the impossible or at least being a stone’s throw away from the playoffs, but let’s be honest here; they are the Mets.

But let’s also be honest, a Pete Alonso home run derby win, or something, would make the lack of a playoff chase hurt just a tad less, for now.

The long-term plan is too far ahead to see, but there is a chance the Mets don’t even have any plan, they usually don’t so enjoy the small things and be miserable about them too, whichever applies.

Because the only constant with the Mets is the roller coaster ride, they take their fans on every single day. All of July will be a roller coaster, per usual.