Outlined below are the notable events and highlights for each upcoming month in 2024
January
This month will see a lot of the Mets’ remaining roster development completed, including their ongoing search for a starting pitcher, an outfielder, and more bullpen support. Also pay attention to January 12. That’s when teams and players who qualify for arbitration have to communicate wage information; if Pete Alonso’s extension is imminent, there may be more buzz about it at that time. If nothing else, after earning $14.5 million in revenue last year, Alonso is expected to win an attractive one-year contract through arbitration.
February
Mid-February is when pitchers and catchers are expected to report to Port St. Lucie, Fla. It will be the first time fans have seen the new roster. The formal report date for the Mets is usually around the second full week of February, however they have not yet made it public.
March
This March, in addition to the customary spring games, there will be the inaugural Spring Breakout, a Futures Game-style competition between teams of league prospects. On March 15 at Clover Park, players from the Mets’ Top 30 Prospects list will face their Nationals rivals.
Oh, and Citi Field’s Opening Day game against the Brewers is scheduled for March 28. Put those dates in the calendars.
April
The Mets must play better in Atlanta if they hope to make the playoffs in 2024. Their first opportunity will come early in the season when they play the six-time defending NL East champion Braves from in a four-game series at Truist Park.
April 8–11.
The Mets will travel to California a week later to face San Francisco and Los Angeles, which traditionally present a formidable challenge with players like Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto. This month ought to create a precedent.
May
Has anyone mentioned gauntlets? The Mets have 29 games planned from May 3 through June 2. Nine of those will be against the always dangerous Cardinals, Giants, and Guardians clubs, who all plan to contend. Twenty of those match them up against teams who advanced to the postseason the previous season. (St. Louis and Cleveland are only a year away from winning their respective division crowns.)
The Mets’ early schedule, which includes series at Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, is terrific.
June
The London Series, which will take place at London Stadium from June 8–9, is slated to be historic for the Mets organization as it will mark its debut in European competition. Since the Mets and Cubs split their season-opening series in Tokyo in 2000, the team has not traveled outside of the United States. The two London Series games versus the Phillies are already much anticipated; but, FOX and ESPN will be available for viewing domestically for anyone unable to travel.
June also features two home Subway Series games against the Yankees on June 25 and 26, as well as a trip to Texas to take on the defending World Series champion Rangers (though Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will probably still be recovering from injuries at that point).
July
The Mets will go to Yankee Stadium for the second half of the Subway Series on July 23–24, in addition to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby in Texas (do you really think Alonso is going to skip this one?). Of course, the Trade Deadline will fall between July 28 and August 3, with the exact day to be disclosed.
August
In August, there will definitely be fallout from Deadline, but perhaps not to the same extent as it did last year. If the Mets do well in the early going, they will have no reason to think about trading Alonso; if they perform really well, they might even be enticed to use some of their prospect money in the hopes of contending for the postseason. In any case, Steve Cohen’s Mets are constantly involved at Deadline.
September
September is set aside as the conclusion of the regular season for the first time since 2020. The Mets’ final road trip of the season will take them to Atlanta and Milwaukee, of course. They have six more games versus the Phillies left, which might have an impact on both teams’ chances of making the playoffs.
October
For the optimistic ones among you, I’ll leave this month open.
November
Alonso, Luis Severino, José Quintana, Adrian Houser, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Joey Wendle, and Omar Narváez are among the Mets who might become unrestricted free agents in November. It’s never too early to begin thinking about the possible outcomes.
December
The Mets’ next offseason looks to be much hectic than this one, regardless of what transpires in 2024. Alonso will become one of the main plots of the winter if he doesn’t sign a deal before then.
With players like Juan Soto, Alex Bregman, and Zack Wheeler possibly available, the Mets will most likely be more active in free agency than they have been this season. The Mets intend to keep 2025 as the start of their main window of contention, thus they should mark December 1st, 2025, on their calendar.