Mets lament end to crazy ride after NLCS defeat

LOS ANGELES — The visitor’s clubhouse at Dodger Stadium might be the smallest clubhouse in baseball. It’s a tight squeeze, the kind of place you want to escape as soon as possible to get some space, which is why players typically tend to hang out in the adjacent kitchen when coming through Los Angeles.

But Sunday night, no one left until they had to. The Mets, eliminated from the postseason after losing Game 6 of the NLCS to the Dodgers, weren’t ready for the ride to end. They cried. They embraced. They gathered around Adam Ottavino’s lockers to drink beers as they all came to the realization that the group would never be together again.

“We overcame so much adversity,” said first baseman Pete Alonso. “The amount of fight, the high character and just the connectedness of the group, it’s really special. This is no doubt a really special team.”

This loss could mark the end of Alonso’s tenure in Queens. The homegrown first baseman that energized a fanbase with his enthusiasm and his home runs is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the World Series. The Mets will need to completely revamp their starting rotation as well, with Luis Severino and Jose Quintana heading toward free agency as well. Sean Manaea has an opt out and will almost certainly exercise it to become a free agent, given that he posted some of the best numbers of his career this season.

But the loss of Alonso would hurt the most given how ingrained he is in the fabric of the Mets.

“Pete has done so much for this organization right from the get-go and he means a lot to the fanbase and to this team,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “We’d love to see him back here, but also going through that process, I understand that it is a business. He will end up doing what’s best for him and his family. He’s earned the right to get to this point.”

Nimmo, like Alonso, was drafted and developed by the Mets, and became a star with the Amazins’ as well. Two years ago, Nimmo and his agent, Scott Boras, explored options elsewhere in free agency, but ultimately he signed an eight-year contract to remain with the Mets. Alonso is also represented by Boras and owner Steve Cohen maintains a very close relationship with the super agent, which could be beneficial this winter.

There are a lot of questions about Alonso and the season he just had, but he answered some in the postseason, hitting .273 with a .999 OPS, four home runs and 10 RBI.

“I think this October has definitely topped it off,” Nimmo said. “He had great at-bats, came through in clutch situations and he was just vintage ‘Polar Bear’ Pete. I think Mets fans will remember that fondly regardless, but we’ll see what happens this offseason.”

Alonso continues to say that he loves the Mets, loves Queens and is grateful for the people in the organization that helped him become a four-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year and MVP candidate. When asked about free agency, he was at a loss for words.

“I’m just kind of shellshocked that the season is over,” Alonso said. “Once you get on this postseason run, you kind of don’t really think that it’s going to end ever because, like, we overcame so much, and we performed really well in big spots, so you really kind of don’t even have that in your mind.

“I never really had anything else other than winning the World Series with this group in my mind.”

Teammates and coaches have said Alonso would like to stay with the only team he’s ever known. Manaea also seems open to renegotiating with the Mets. Jesse Winker, a midseason trade acquisition who fit in immediately, said he would like to return.

Veteran slugger J.D. Martinez was more candid about the future of his career. When asked what’s next, the 37-year-old said “pickleball.” Understanding that he didn’t finish his 14th big league season with the best numbers, if the pending free agent doesn’t get a phone call this winter, he’ll retire at peace with the end of his career. But if the Mets call him again, he would return.

“How can you not want to come back after the year we’ve had?” he said. “I’ve been in a lot of clubhouses, but this clubhouse is different just because it felt like everybody was a family. It was different. We had our own singer. He did a great job and he did a whole concert for us and everything. I’ve never seen that in all my years. It was just a fun year.”

Martinez, it should be noted, is also a Boras client.

Alonso sat at his corner locker signing a bat for Martinez as the Mets slowly started to filter out of the bowels of Dodger Stadium. He thanked team staffers and league staffers. If this is the end for Alonso and the Mets, both parties can say they got far, but not as far as they hoped when he began his Mets career as a second-round pick out of the University of Florida in 2016.

The Polar Bear leaving without a World Series title isn’t how the story was supposed to end, but sometimes stories end on a cliffhanger.