Back to Drawing Board For Mets

Now that the World Series is over (with a favorable result for Mets fans), the Mets can get started on retooling the team. And it is back to the drawing board as they prepare for 2023, because the 2022 blueprint clearly did not work.

That blueprint was actually quite simple — in a short series, the Mets would overwhelm their opponent with the one-two punch of Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom. Well, when the chips were down, that failed not once but twice — against the Braves towards the end of the regular season and in the Wild Card series against the Padres.

That can still be part of the plan, but it must be supplemented with more offense. Despite winning 101 games, the Mets were always short on power. They won with a solid rotation and timely hitting, which disappeared towards the end of the season. The Mets need at least one more really big bat. Maybe one or more of their vaunted prospects will fill that role. But they shouldn’t count on that, so they must go out and get a power hitter. A big time DH would be nice; they got nothing out of that spot this past season.

The Mets have a lot of work to do — they obviously have to shore up the rotation and rebuild the bullpen. But they have to address the power shortage in the lineup. Otherwise, they will be headed for another early October exit next year.