MIAMI — The fate of the Mets season was decided Sept. 28, when they could not find a way to score on the Marlins.
But looming over the final day and the final weekend were the club’s actions on July 31.
In the series that decided the season, what had been clear became official: The Mets did not have a strong trade deadline.
Gregory Soto imploded Friday.
Ryan Helsley became a lower-leverage arm used late Sunday. Cedric Mullins was out of the starting lineup Saturday and Sunday.
Tyler Rogers, generally excellent since coming over from the Giants, could not stop the bleeding in the fourth inning of what became a 4-0, Game 162 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot Park.
President of baseball operations David Stearns received widespread praise throughout the industry for a deadline that sacrificed none of his blue-chip prospects and landed complementary players who all looked like they could help.
Not many did.
In his 27 games with the Mets, Rogers was a reliable, submarining arm who had a 2.00 ERA.
But in his season’s largest moment, he struggled to escape a jam that he inherited from Ryne Stanek.
In the fourth inning, Rogers entered after watching Stanek surrender a pair of doubles that put the Mets in a 2-0 hole.
That hole deepened: Javier Sanoja grounded a ball past Ronny Mauricio at third base for what became an RBI triple.
Xavier Edwards followed with a bloop single into center that scored Sanoja, providing the Marlins insurance in the only frame in which they scored.
It is difficult to blame Rogers, who had been strong and allowed well-placed contact.
It is easier to blame Soto, who was charged with two runs in 1 ¹/₃ innings in Friday’s loss, during which he showed an inability to hold runners on base.
Soto survived the eighth inning in the season finale, pitching around a pair of hits.
It is easier to blame Mullins, who arrived looking like the answer to the Mets center field problem but hit .182 after the trade, prompting manager Carlos Mendoza to start Tyrone Taylor for the season’s final two games.
Mullins entered as a defensive replacement Sunday and received a ninth-inning at-bat in which he flied out.
It is easier to blame Helsley, who eventually straightened out but still had a 7.20 ERA in 22 games with the Mets.
It is easiest to blame Stearns and the front office, who whiffed — and did not add a starting pitcher like Sandy Alcantara, who buzzed through the Mets lineup in Friday’s loss.
