A “failure,” said Brandon Nimmo. “Unacceptable,” said owner Steve Cohen. “Tremendously disappointing,” said president of baseball operations David Stearns .

While 12 teams prepared for a playoff run, the Mets instead busted open the metaphorical thesaurus for the various ways to describe one of the worst collapses in franchise history.

And Monday, less than 24 hours removed from failing to clinch a playoff berth , Stearns faced the media at Citi Field for what amounted to a 30-plus minute mea culpa.

“I’m the architect of the team [and] I’m responsible for it,” Stearns said before fielding a single question. “We came into this year with deservedly high expectations, and we didn’t come close to meeting them and I’m keenly aware of that…We’re going to work really hard to fix that going

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