The 2025 regular season has come to an end, but it felt over long before that for a lot of Atlanta Braves fans. The Braves got off to a historically terrible start and after a host of injuries and players not living up to expectations, Atlanta wasn't not even remotely close to being in the playoff conversation for months. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't some positives to take away from how the season ended.
Drake Baldwin was a revelation from start to finish and is almost certainly going to finish in the top two of NL ROY voting if not win it outright. Trading for Tyler Kinley is looking like a stroke of genius from what was otherwise a disappointing trade deadline. Chris Sale still looks great now that his rib has healed up. Ronald Acuña Jr. looks like he is in a great spot heading into what should be a normal offseason for him.
Oh, and the Mets collapsed in the season's final weeks and missed the playoffs on the last day of the season. Having that happen along with the subsequent reactions from Mets fans has been absolutely delightful.
Walk 732 Frank Was Right pic.twitter.com/VTUBmf5cj4
— Frank Walks (@FrankTheTankHQ) September 29, 2025
Braves fans can take solace in the fact that Mets fans somehow had a worse ending to the 2025 season
Yes, the Braves finished lower in the standings than the Mets and that is sad, but Atlanta fans have had a long time to come to grips with that fact. When you lose your entire starting rotation, your starting third baseman gets hurt, you don't have Acuña Jr. for half the season, and you don't have a real starting shortstop until Ha-Seong Kim got claimed off of waivers, it is going to be hard to win games.
However, the Mets were chirping about making the playoffs until very recently and had different sorts of expectations upon them after they started the season hot. The Cohen-funded operations went out and signed Juan Soto for like a gazillion dollars, brought back Pete Alonso, and then forgot to assemble a decent starting rotation. New York's passivity with their starting staff ended up costing them dearly in the end.
Once we get a bit further past the end of the season and into the playoffs more, the 2025 regular season will be treated like a distant memory and most of the baseball news will be forward-looking and about the various rumors of the day. However, watching Mets fans like Frank the Tank absolutely melt down after everyone was anointing New York before the season does help make the disappointment go down a little smoother.