Mets' playoff goal still right there for taking, but this week could make or break it

The Mets' 10-game, four-city, ridiculously scheduled (Los Angeles to St. Louis to Colorado to Seattle) road trip was going just fine over the first seven games.

New York was 4-3 and needed just one win against the Mariners to secure a .500 trip that took them through a different time zone against each team. But they couldn't hit in Seattle, suffering a three-game sweep that ended things on a very sour note.

Perhaps the Mets were exhausted at the end of their grueling odyssey. It's no excuse, of course. You simply have to play the games in front of you and power through. Or maybe their dry spell at the plate had nothing to do with the travel.

Either way, as the Mets return home to Citi Field following a day off Monday to recharge, they are about to begin a week that could define their season.

Before we look ahead, let's look back for a minute...

Following the Mets' measured offseason, a large swath of the fan base became fixated on their belief that New York was "punting" the 2024 season.

In effect, their hypothesis went something like this: Because the Mets, coming off a down year in 2023, did not land any stars during the offseason (despite making a big effort to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto), their offseason was a massive failure. And there is no reason to expect progress from any of the younger players or bounce back seasons from guys like Luis Severino or Sean Manaea, and no way the Mets will be in contention at the deadline, when they could add reinforcements. Beyond that, David Stearns has brought his small-market tendencies to New York, Max Scherzer was right about the Mets not planning to contend until 2025 or 2026, and everything is awful.

In reality, the "Mets are punting the season" hysteria never made any sense.

Yes, the offseason was tame by the normal Steve Cohen standards, but it was like that because of a combination of the lack of impact players on the market (beyond Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, who had no interest in coming to New York), a smart desire by the front office to not trade any of its best prospects, and a focus on going big this coming offseason, when the free agent class will be led by Juan Soto.

In any event, it turns out that Stearns and Co. knew what they were doing, because what they did was put together a contending team without mortgaging the future.

And this wasn't an accident.

Stearns maintained all offseason that the expectation was for the Mets to be a serious playoff contender. And that's exactly what they are entering play on Aug. 13, with a record of 61-57 and 1.0 game back of the Braves for the third Wild Card spot in the National League.

It should also be noted that when the Mets proved to have staying power, Stearns acted accordingly at the deadline, seriously bolstering the bullpen, rotation, and lineup.

Now, following their road trip from hell that only became so because of those forgettable three games in Seattle, it's all right there for the Mets' taking.

And they need to start it off by taking care of business against two very bad teams -- something they've had more success doing this season, but that they failed to do against the Angels recently.

First up? Three against the A's.

Oakland has played better ball of late, but their 50-69 record includes a 21-39 mark on the road.

After Oakland, the Mets draw the Marlins for a three-game set.

The Marlins have always been pests when playing the Mets, even when the teams are mismatched on paper. And Mets fans are rightly a bit traumatized by Miami.

However, this is a Marlins team that is 44-75 and has scored the second-fewest runs (440) in baseball -- better than only the 29-91 White Sox.

And an already-bad Marlins team watched as the front office wisely dealt a ton of players at the deadline in order to bolster the farm system.

The last time the Mets played the Marlins was when they lost two of three to them in Miami from July 19-21.

But this is not the same Marlins team. Gone via trade are Jazz Chisholm Jr., Tanner Scott, Bryan De La Cruz, Josh Bell, Trevor Rogers, A.J. Puk, Bryan Hoeing, and Huascar Brazoban (now with the Mets).

So the Mets need to do what they often struggle to do against the Marlins: crush them.

Following their six games against the A's and Marlins, the Mets welcome the Orioles in for a three-game series to wrap the homestand. That won't be easy.

But if the Mets can simply succeed against the A's and Marlins, they'll likely find themselves ahead of the Braves by next Monday. And, who knows, perhaps the Padres and/or Diamondbacks will decide to lose at some point, allowing New York to make up some ground on them.

Had someone told Mets fans before this season started that they would enter play on Aug. 13 just 1.0 game back of a playoff spot, I'd wager that every single fan would've been overjoyed.

Well, that's where they are.

Before the season started, I said that the 2024 campaign had 2005 vibes in a way -- a Mets team that should be in the mix for a playoff spot, would provide lots of fun moments, and could be building toward something even bigger.

The 2024 season, with Grimace, "OMG," Glizzy Dog, and all the immaculate vibes the Mets have had at times, has a chance to end better than 2005 -- when the Mets ran out of gas late. But if New York wants that happy ending, the time to put the hammer down is now.