Jorge Lopez blames media after getting DFA'd by 'worst team in the league'

Jorge Lopez, the New York Mets reliever who imploded on Wednesday by getting ejected and then tossing his glove into the stands, has blamed the media after he was DFA'ed by the organization.

Lopez was interviewed in the locker room by SNY's Steve Gelbs after the game, and though many reports quoted him as saying, "I've been on the worst team in the whole ******* MLB," Lopez took to Instagram to clarify what he actually said was that he's been "the worst teammate in the whole ******* MLB."

English is Lopez's second language, and he was speaking without an interpreter at his locker. Watching the clip, it's clear that either interpretation is certainly possible, so we should be willing to give Lopez the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what he said.

That's not why Lopez was DFA'ed though, and to blame just that one quote would be ignoring how embarrassing his actions were on the field and in the locker room afterward. Keep in mind that everything he said on camera was after a team meeting, so he had plenty of time to measure his words. This is the major leagues, and you just can't act that way. MLB.com's Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo summed it up pretty well.

Even for a franchise that is no stranger to embarrassment, Jorge Lopez's actions crossed a line for the Mets

Are the Mets the worst team in the league? As a Mets fan, it honestly does feel that way these days, as every day seems to bring about a new and more despondency-inducing way to lose. Even though they're extremely flawed, though, and unlikely to turn things around in order to make a playoff push, you have to understand where the Mets are at organizationally to see why DFA'ing Lopez was the only move they could make.

The Mets have been a laughingstock for years, and though that was supposed to change when Steve Cohen took over majority ownership from the reviled Fred and Jeff Wilpon, the unfortunate reality is that even with Cohen's sizeable checkbook, every season has brought a new body blow to a franchise that has already been staggered for decades.

In 2022, the Mets lost a 10.5-game lead in the NL East to the Braves before ultimately being knocked out of the Wild Card round of the playoffs by the Giants. Expectations were high last year thanks to the acquisition of Justin Verlander and Cohen shelling out for the highest payroll in MLB history, but the Mets became sellers at the trade deadline after a brutal first half of the year that saw star closer Edwin Diaz suffer a fluke knee injury in March that the team was never able to overcome.

This year was seen by most as a rebuilding year, but with new president of baseball operations David Stearns aboard, hope sprang eternal that the future was in good hands after years of front office embarrassments. All that hope has been shoved to the side in the midst of a stretch this month that has seen the Mets go 4-15 in their last 19 games, with blown leads, pathetic offensive efforts, and bullpen implosions too numerous to count. A sweep at home at the hands of the Dodgers, who came to New York having lost five straight themselves, was just the cherry on top.

Lopez's meltdown undoubtedly came about in large part due to the frustrations he and all his teammates have been feeling about their recent performance. Nobody likes to lose, and nobody likes to be embarrassed, let alone when you play in the largest media market in the world. That doesn't give you the license to make it worse, though. Make fun of the Mets all you like, but something had to be done to hold people accountable, and this was the most obvious place to start. Lopez can blame the media if he wants, but he brought this upon himself.