NY Mets offseason makeover might be a simple “She’s All That” situation

The New York Mets are getting a makeover this winter. It might not take a whole Queer Eye for the Straight Guy crew to make them prom king either.

The Mets seemingly still have a strong roster in place. Traveling back in time a couple of years, removing a pair of glasses and letting their hair flow down might be all it will take.

A “She’s All That” makeover might be all the Mets need

Hollywood ran out of original ideas a couple of years ago. Occasionally, we’re treated to something special. Unfortunately, that’s incredibly rare and we get He’s All That as a modern twist on the cheesy late 1990s teen romantic She’s All That which was already a modern adaptation of a George Bernard Shaw play and 1964 film called My Fair Lady.

All you really need to know about She’s All That is that it’s about an already beautiful person looking frumpy who suddenly becomes hot stuff because they removed their glasses and ponytail. It’s a tale as old as time. If only we could all go from geek to chic with some simple changes and not months of dieting, medicine cabinets full of acne cream, and some good genetics.

She’s All That is one of those iconic films from that era because of how campy it was. Parodied heavily, particularly in Not Another Teen Movie, it was an implausible story about a high school bet to turn a nerdy girl into the prom queen.

I know this might seem like it has very little to do with the Mets. I assure you, it does. The Mets aren’t so far away from becoming the belle of the ball either. A free agent signing here, a savvy trade there, and suddenly they’re the ones walking down the stairs in a red dress while “Kiss Me” plays.

Things might not be so beautiful on the inside for the Mets as a franchise. They have a whole front office to overhaul and a lot of coaches to hire. Even Freddie Prinze Jr. in his prime would have some trouble to figure out this mess in time for prom night.

But the Mets do have a not-so-secret weapon. Owner Steve Cohen is actively trying to make the Mets a better organization. Even if you’re not the biggest fan of his, you have to agree his ego will drive the team in the right direction.

A dash of this, a spoonful of that, and the Mets are in pretty good shape

You could make the argument that, while disappointing, the Mets would be capable of fielding a competitive team in 2022 without making a single addition to the franchise. They have enough players still under contract that could possibly push them to a repeat of their 77-85 season in 2021.

This isn’t good enough. This is like Laney Boggs showing up to prom in her childish overalls with paint splatter on them. Rachel Leigh Cook is still pretty behind this disguise yet we all know she can be a whole lot more—that?

After the 2017 season, the Mets needed a much bigger overhaul than they do right now. The club made a couple of mistakes. Very few of the additions they made between the end of 2017 and start of 2018 were effective.

The theme of missing in the offseason has been a regular one of the Mets. Last winter’s major transactions backfired in a variety of ways. Even while arguing in favor of moves like the Francisco Lindor trade or anything else you can see the upside on, plenty didn’t work out in their favor. Lucky for them, behind their lack of fashion sense and cold demeanor probably more closely akin to Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You (yet another romantic teen comedy from the same era based on something else), sits a team closer to winning the division than finishing in last place.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of these types of movies. It’s not reasonable to believe you can completely turn a person’s appearance around with a little bit of makeup and a slight attitude adjustment.

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The same goes for the Mets. There’s work to be done. But it’s not a complete overhaul. They don’t need major surgery. Behind the year-long 2021 slumps and doubts we may have is a team that is a few common sense moves away from being better.