SAN FRANCISCO — This was supposed to be the Year of Progress and the Year of Prospects.
Instead, this is the Year of Being Put on Notice.
Everyone connected with the Mets is on the hot seat, from general manager Sandy Alderson on down.
The way this team is performing, the direction the organization is going is down. Terry Collins knows his neck is on the line, that is the life of a manager on a losing club, and it has been that way for awhile.
After being swept by one of the NL’s worst, the Cubs, the Mets were swept away by the best, the Giants, on Sunday at AT&T Park, losing 6-4. The Mets (28-35) have dropped six straight.
The Mets claim there is too much “negativity’’ around the club. They fail to realize they create that negativity by their cycle of losing.
Along the way Sunday, they wasted a pair of home runs by Curtis Granderson against Tim Lincecum.
David Wright did not start as he was given a rest by Collins. Wright was used as a pinch hitter in the seventh against Juan Gutierrez. Representing the go-ahead run, Wright struck out swinging.
Wright hit .155 on the trip and has not hit a home run on the road all season.
Yes, the Mets will tell you they are only five games out of first place in the weak NL East.
Here’s the reality, not the fantasy spin: The Astros have as many wins as the Mets.
The grand plan was for 90 wins. It’s looking like another Citi Dump.
The Mets were pathetic again with runners in scoring position (0-for-6), a theme this season with both New York City teams. In these six losses, the Mets hit .143 with RISP. Chris Young continues to be a bust, flying out with the potential tying run at third in the eighth.
The prospects have not panned out for Alderson and this is a huge problem. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud was sent back to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, a lost hitting soul with a .180 batting average. This has been a strange year for Noah Syndergaard as well, and he is out with a sprained left (non-throwing) shoulder.
Both came in the R.A. Dickey trade. Dickey and the Blue Jays are in first place in the AL East.
Zack Wheeler (2-6) has shown flashes of brilliance, but Sunday was the shortest start of his career as he could not make it through the fourth inning. Wheeler is vital to the Mets’ success with Matt Harvey out.
It’s all a house of cards for the Mets right now.
Where is the progress? The Mets continue to make mistakes that cost games.
Saturday night, the Mets let a ninth-inning lead get away. Sunday, they led 2-0 after the first-inning home run by Granderson, a shot to center on a 3-0 pitch from Lincecum, who survived six innings and left with a 4-3 lead.
Wright, of course, is the face of the franchise.
Which brings us to the idea of trading Wright. Paul Lo Duca, his former teammate, said the Mets should trade the third baseman. Wright told The Post he wants no part of being traded.
“I knew that when I signed my extension, I knew that things were not going to be easy,’’ Wright said. “If I wanted the easy way out, I would have signed somewhere else. The challenge of it, the loyalty to the organization, the direction I think we’re going, yes, we’ve gone through some rough stretches these last couple of years and the last few days have not been easy, but this is the process. I love Paulie. He was one of my favorite teammates, but that is a reflection of his thoughts. That’s not what I’m thinking.’’
Wright said he is still “100 percent’’ committed to the Mets.
You have to admire Wright’s persistence, but the Mets were supposed to be in a new world of prospects this season.
But once again, they are in an old world of hurt.