This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Mets’ inability to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto may have made for a sour end to 2023, but it shouldn’t color the entirety of the New Year. To the contrary, there’s plenty for the Mets to anticipate, beginning almost immediately.

Here are some of the highlights of each upcoming month in 2024:

January 
Much of the Mets’ remaining roster construction will take place this month, including the continued pursuit of a starting pitcher, an outfielder and additional bullpen help. Keep an eye also on Jan. 12. That’s the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange salary figures; if an extension for Pete Alonso is in the offing, rumors could increase in intensity around that time. If nothing else, Alonso figures to land a lucrative one-year deal through the arbitration process after making $14.5 million last year.

February 
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Port St. Lucie, Fla., in mid-February. For fans, it’ll be the first look at a new roster. The Mets have yet to publicize their official report date, but it typically falls during the second full week of February.

March 
In addition to the usual spring games, this March will feature the first edition of Spring Breakout, a Futures Game-style matchup between teams of prospects around the league. Members of the Mets’ Top 30 Prospects list will match up against their Nationals counterparts on March 15 at Clover Park.

Oh, and Opening Day is set for March 28 against the Brewers at Citi Field. Mark those calendars.

April 
If the Mets want to be a playoff team in 2024, they’ll need to play better in Atlanta. Their first chance will come early in the season, when they’ll travel to Truist Park for a four-game series against the six-time defending NL East champion Braves from April 8-11.

A week later, the Mets will fly to California for the always-difficult gauntlet of Los Angeles -- featuring Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto -- and San Francisco. It should be a tone-setter of a month.

May
Did someone say gauntlet? From May 3 through June 2, the Mets are scheduled to play 29 games. Twenty of those will pit them against teams that made the postseason last year, and the nine exceptions will come against perennially dangerous Cardinals, Giants and Guardians clubs that all expect to contend. (St. Louis and Cleveland are just one year removed from division titles themselves.)

It’s an excellent early test for the Mets, including series at Tampa Bay and Philadelphia.

June 
The London Series is scheduled for June 8-9 at London Stadium and should be historic for a Mets franchise that will play its first games on European soil. The Mets have not played outside United States territory since 2000, when they split a season-opening series with the Cubs in Tokyo. The two London Series games against the Phillies are already a hot ticket, but those who can’t go will be able to watch stateside on FOX and ESPN.

June also brings a trip to Texas to face the reigning World Series champion Rangers (although Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will still likely be rehabbing their injuries at that point), as well as a pair of Subway Series home games against the Yankees on the 25th and 26th.

July 
In addition to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby in Texas (do you really think Alonso is going to sit this one out?), the Mets will head to Yankee Stadium for the second half of the Subway Series on July 23-24. And of course the Trade Deadline will be on a date to be announced between July 28 and Aug. 3.

August 
Expect plenty of Deadline fallout in August, though probably not the sort of drama that unfolded this past year. Playing well early will give the Mets incentive not to consider a trade of Alonso; playing extremely well could even tempt them to dip into some of their prospect capital in hopes of making a playoff push. Either way, the Mets under Steve Cohen are always active at the Deadline.

September 
For the first time since 2020, the regular season is scheduled to end in September. The Mets will close out their campaign with a road trip to -- where else? -- Atlanta and Milwaukee. Six of their final 15 games will also come against the Phillies, with potential playoff implications for both teams.

October 
I’ll leave this month open for the optimists among you.

November 
Among the Mets who can become free agents in November are Alonso, Luis Severino, José Quintana, Adrian Houser, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Joey Wendle and Omar Narváez. It’s never too early to start considering the implications.

December 
No matter what happens over the course of 2024, next offseason promises to be even busier than this one for the Mets. If Alonso doesn’t sign an extension before that time, he’ll become one of the dominant storylines of the winter.

Either way, the Mets will almost certainly be more aggressive in free agency than they’ve been this year, with players like Juan Soto, Alex Bregman and Zack Wheeler potentially available. The Mets continue to target 2025 as the opening of their prime window of contention, making the Winter Meetings next December an event to circle on the calendar.