NY Mets: Key areas for the franchise to focus on moving forward

The New York Mets are nearing the end of the August schedule, with a vastly fading playoff hope, we look far and forward into the future of the Mets, from prospects, draft picks and free agency.

September is creeping up to Queens with tremendous speed; although Javier Baez has returned in fashion, the fate of the Mets screams “spoiler team”.  The Mets spent 70+ days this season, sitting on the throne of the National League East.  “1st place Mets” sounded amazing in New York City.  Fast forward to post-All-Star break, we’ve awoken from that dream.  To date, the New York Mets sit 3rd place in the NL East, 6.5 games back of the 1st place Atlanta Braves, while 2.5 games out of 2nd place, which is currently occupied by Philly.  Wild card hopes? We are sitting in the 6th spot for wild card contention; 7.0 games back of the 2nd spot, occupied by Cincinnati.

There are a  ton of things that will be pinpointed this offseason, from now until the winter meetings; free agency will be big, along with the general market within clubs and key decision making in-house.  Needless to say, hope is fading for meaningful September baseball.  With that being said, what do we focus on moving forward? What are the front runner-takeaways on locker clean-out day?

New York Mets future focuses

Jacob deGrom

Jacob deGrom was sidelined in early July due to an apparent forearm injury, being placed on the 60-day injured list.  Despite his absence, he’s still a strong consideration for a CY Young award winner.  The Mets ace-arm will be an offseason focus, with hopes of a strong recovery.  Baseball development will want to monitor his bounce-back.

Mets Prospect Advancement

In 2022, the New York Mets may see the Major League arrival of various organizational prospects.  Names which include but not limited to Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, and Francisco Alvarez.  These prospects are the future of the franchise; their performance during the spring will be crucial and one to watch from a developmental standpoint.  There may be an opportunity for some of these players to crack an opening day roster.

Draft Prospect Development

The organization has had a successful 2021 Amateur draft and have finalized all signing except for their round 1 pick.  They’ve selected some key pieces, 11 of the picks being pitchers. The placement and development of these prospects will be crucial and exciting.  There will be more to come on the remaining draft picks, from a scouting perspective.