It’s early. It’s still early in the 2026 Major League Baseball season.

That’s the mantra New York Mets fans must be repeating to themselves, considering what’s happened to baseball’s second most expensive team through the first three-plus weeks of the regular season.

The Mets started the season 7-4 through the first 11 games, taking three out of four from the San Francisco Giants. That series win came despite losing Juan Soto to a calf injury on April 3rd. Then they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks to win their fourth game in a row. That was April 7th. Since then, the wheels have come off.

And it’s culminated in a stunning 10-game losing streak, which got extended thanks to a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon.

They lost the final two games of the series against the Diamondbacks by a combined score of 14-3. Then they got swept by the Athletics at Citi Field, scoring just six runs in three games and getting shut out twice. New York then went to Los Angeles for a three-game series against the Dodgers. That went worse.

The Mets lost 4-0, 2-1, then saw their closer Devin Williams implode in an 8-2 defeat to finish out yet another sweep. After an off day, they went to Chicago to play the Cubs. And they’ve been outscored 16-6 en route to losing the series and extending the losing streak to 10 games.

New York even had a brief lead on Saturday, thanks to Mark Vientos’ solo home run to go up 1-0 in the second inning. Sure enough, the Cubs tied it right back in the bottom of the second. And then took the lead when Carson Kelly hit a three-run homer in the sixth.

Remember, this is a team that has a luxury tax payroll of roughly $381 million, plus a $126 million estimated tax bill, for total payout of $507 million. They are now 7-14, have lost 10 games in a row, find themselves in last place in the National League East, have the second worst run differential in the NL at -24, and are tied for dead last in all of Major League Baseball in runs scored.

It’s early. Right? Well, yes, to some extent, but the Mets’ brutal start has already severely impacted their probabilities for the rest of the season. Per Fangraphs projected playoff odds, the Mets peaked on March 27th with an 89% chance of playing postseason baseball. Just three weeks later, that number has fallen to 47.5%. 

There’s now a greater likelihood that the Mets miss the playoffs than there is of them reaching it. They’re 6.5 games behind the first place Atlanta Braves already, and 5.5 games out of what would be a wild card spot. Those deficits can be made up, but this hole they’ve put themselves in is getting serious in a hurry.

Almost nobody on the team is hitting. Top prospect Carson Benge is hitting .150 with a .217 slugging percentage. Big free agent signing Bo Bichette has struggled mightily. Jorge Polanco is hitting .179. Brett Baty has a .197 on base percentage. Marcus Semien, brought over for Brandon Nimmo, has just one home run and a .577 OPS. They’re so desperate for offense, they signed Tommy Pham. The Dodgers, as a team, have a 138 weighted runs created plus, 38% better than league average. New York? Entering Saturday, their team wRC+ was 81, 19% worse than league average.

They’ve scored 18 runs over the 10-game losing streak, just 1.8 per game. It’s ugly.

Yes, the Mets could recover and salvage their season, particularly with Soto expected back in the next 7-10 days. But this is a stark reminder than building a team isn’t an exact science, even with a gigantic payroll at or near the top of the league. The Dodgers make it look easy. The Mets make it look hard. Oh, and the funniest part? It’s all Zohran Mamdani’s fault. 

You’d think that an NBA legend like Shaquille O’Neal would constantly be trading texts with the current crop of NBA players.

I mean, he’s a legend. Who better to ask about navigating a career in the NBA than him?

But you’d be mistaken, and there’s a pretty simple reason why Shaq isn’t one to play digital pen-pals with current players.

In an interview with The New York Post, Shaq was asked who he keeps in touch with, and he didn’t hold back.

“None. I don’t like athletes or superstars because they’re a–holes,” he said. “I denounced myself from being a celebrity about 10 years ago because those people are weird. I’m not weird.”

I get that… but I didn’t realize you could denounce celebrity status or that Shaq had done this.

In fact, I was under the impression that he was still a celebrity.

I mean, the man has gummy candies in the shape of his head. They don’t just give those to anyone.

If they did, I’d have a giant sack of my own gummy heads sitting in my pantry right now.

I thought this was such an interesting take because it’s pretty common for former players — especially ones who have moved into a media role — but I find it weirdly refreshing to hear someone with the opposite approach.

In fact, that tells you that when Shaq gives an opinion on a current player or situation, he’s not couching it because he’ll have to face a barrage of angry text messages.

Nope, he can call balls and strikes with impunity.

Plus, he won’t have a–holes blowing up his phone, which is always nice.

Shaq also said that he just wants to be a regular guy, and that’s how he likes it when he shows up to the tech store tm:rw which he is a partner in.

“Whenever I come, it’s me and two guys. No entourage. There’s nothing but homeboys coming in,” he said. “We come in here, we take care of business… We sign autographs. We treat people with honor and respect… I want to be a regular guy.”

Dylan Sprouse stopped an alleged burglar from entering his home.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the 33-year-old “Suite Life of Zack and Cody” star and his wife, Victoria’s Secret model, Barbara Palvin called the police around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, when she saw an unknown man on their property.

After Palvin reported the attempted burglary, Dylan reportedly tackled the intruder to the ground and held him there until authorities arrived, per TMZ.

The LA Times reported that no one was hurt during the alleged incident and that the man, who was taken away by authorities that night and is in custody on outstanding warrants, did not enter the couple’s home.

DYLAN SPROUSE AND GIRLFRIEND BARBARA PALVIN SHARE SWEET KISS ON THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL RED CARPET

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Sprouse, but has not heard back.

Palvin and Dylan met for the first time in 2018, after first connecting on Instagram when the former Disney Channel star messaged her. They made their relationship Instagram official later that year in June, and got married in July 2023 in Palvin’s home country of Hungary.

During an interview with People in February 2025, Palvin and Dylan shared that they try to spend as much time together as possible, with Palvin traveling to see him when he’s on set, noting they have a rule that they are “not supposed to be away from each other longer than two, three weeks.”

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“It’s definitely easier, but also, the funny thing is, the kind of big secret about the acting industry that being on set’s actually really boring, so I always kind of feel bad,” Dylan said about having her on set. “I’m always like, I hope she’s having fun.”

He later added that when his wife is on set, he looks forward to “going back to the trailer, seeing Barbara, rehearsing lines, hanging out,” adding that it “makes the whole day a lot easier for me.”

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Dylan and his twin brother, Cole Sprouse, began their acting careers at a young age, often playing the same character in various movies and TV shows, including “Grace Under Fire” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

Their big break came in 2005, when they landed the role of twin boys who live in a hotel on the hit Disney Channel series, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” and later its spin-off, “The Suite Life on Deck.”

When it came to why they chose to leave the show, Dylan told Vulture it all came down to creative differences.

“I mean, we had a really awesome idea for where the show needed to go. We were 18,” he said. “If that isn’t old enough to know exactly what the show needs, then…well, I would beg to disagree.”

After the end of the show in 2011, both he and his brother took a break from acting to focus on their education, with Dylan graduating from NYU in 2015.

While Cole went on to star in another high-profile show, “Riverdale,” Dylan went another route, co-founding All-Wise Meadery in Brooklyn, New York, which specializes in brewing mead, and acting sporadically.