New York Mets lament early postseason exit after 101-win season

NEW YORK — Baseball's biggest spenders looked spent.

The New York Mets enjoyed 175 days in first place, boosted by their billionaire new owner, confident Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer would lead them to glory, certain Buck Showalter would make all the right moves.

All that blood, toil, tears and sweat ended not with bubbly and rings but in a one-hit shutout defeat before a stunned crowd short of a sellout and Showalter prodding umpires to search the other team's starter for secret sticky substances.

«To be honest, it hurts. It really hurts,» Pete Alonso said after Sunday night's 6-0 loss to San Diego ended the Mets' postseason return just three games after it began.

«It's not just the losing. It's kind of the disbanding of the group because every single guy in this clubhouse is really awesome. And it just sucks that it's not going to be the same group next year because you have free agency, trade possibilities,» he said.

A day before the loss in the wild-card round, pitcher Chris Bassitt thought about Gotham's glare.

«There isn't a harder city in our country to play a sport,» he said. «New York is an absolute just gauntlet every night.»

And now the Mets are on the firing line, entering a winter of constant questions of fight, fortitude and free agency — the group that can go free includes deGrom, Edwin Díaz, Brandon Nimmo, Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino and Trevor May, and perhaps Bassitt and Taijuan Walker.

In his second season since buying the long-underfunded team, owner Steve Cohen joined with new general manager Billy Eppler to boost payroll to $274 million, the Mets' first time as baseball's biggest spender since 1989. They hired Showalter as manager to change a clubhouse culture long tolerant of immaturity and