On November 6, 2009, the Mets declined to exercise relief pitcher J. J. Putz's 2010 team option, who subsequently signed with the Chicago White Sox.

[4] The Mets signed right-handed pitcher Josh Fogg to a minor league deal on January 29, 2010, extending him an invitation to Spring training.

After a shaky 4–8 start and questions surrounding the lineup, they called up highly touted prospect Ike Davis.

The call-up and the surprising emergence of starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey who ended the month 4–0, with a NL leading 0.69 ERA along with the rest of the pitching staff, resulted in positive momentum for the Mets.

However, after starting the month 6–14, the team's fortunes appeared to turn around beginning with a 5–3 victory over their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, on May 22.

The Mets' resurgence was due in part to R. A. Dickey, Hisanori Takahashi and Jon Niese bolstering the starting rotation as well as José Reyes and David Wright emerging from their early season struggles to lead the team's offense.

They never recovered, struggling for the rest of July, culminating with a 2-9 West Coast road trip, including a sweep at the hands of the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks.

Their season spiraled downward further when in August, Francisco Rodriguez beat up his father-in-law in front of the other players' family.

As a result, the Mets began the process of trying to void his contract, and placed him on the disqualified list, not paying him for the remainder of the season.