The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the World Series, fighting for the right to be called champions for the first time in 22 years.
Nobody expected them to be here.
On the other hand, the New York Mets fell out of contention and decided to sell around the deadline.
To the contrary of what happened with the D-Backs, a lot of people thought the Mets were going to compete for the trophy.
You could say that the two organizations are living two different realities in which they weren’t supposed to be.
Tommy Pham, currently part of the D-Backs roster, was acquired via trade from the Mets.
Asked to compare both organizations, he was brutally honest, per SNY Mets.
Tommy Pham compares the Diamondbacks to the Mets ahead of the World Series:
"[The Mets are] more talented than [the Diamondbacks.] Let's be honest here. What makes this team different, everyone is still trying to reach their max potential.
That drive wasn’t there. And that… pic.twitter.com/zulixDLyLY
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) October 27, 2023
While he started acknowledging the Mets are “more talented” than the Diamondbacks, he said that what makes the latter different is that: “everyone is still trying to reach their max potential. That drive wasn’t there. And that drive is here. It’s what separates this team from most teams. You have guys that are still trying to get better. Every day. I do feel like there’s a level of expectations and preparation and work ethic going into the game, and I was very honest – I just didn’t feel like it was being met as a whole.”
Would the Mets have made the postseason, or be in a much better position, if some of their players just had better work ethic?
It’s impossible to know, but judging by Pham’s words, that might be the case.
He did say that he doesn’t see the Mets struggling for long because some of the guys there do show that hunger, including their owner.
Still, we can imagine it’s not something Mets fans liked to hear because they had the largest payroll in baseball only to achieve fourth place in the NL East.
NEXT: The Mets Continue To Refresh The Front Office
