NL Silver Slugger finalists perfectly sum up NY Mets' biggest issue

When it comes to representation in the 2025 Silver Slugger voting, the New York Mets definitely haven't been left in the cold. The club's biggest stars are all on the ballot, with Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso all vying for honors. Some may even be considered frontrunners for their positions.

That might make you think that the lineup was a fearsome unit that gave pitchers fits, but when looking at the team component, the Mets are nowhere to be found. Instead, you find powerhouses you'd expect, like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, but even the Arizona Diamondbacks got the nod over the boys from Flushing.

And with that, the biggest issue with New York's offense becomes abundantly clear. It was way too top-heavy to truly compete.

A top heavy lineup was a primary factor that drove the Mets collapse

It wasn't Juan Soto's disappointing season (by his standards, not those that apply to mere mortals) that doomed the Mets, nor was Francisco Lindor's prolonged slump that knocked the train off the tracks. Even if those two developments stung at points, they were easily offset by Pete Alonso's best campaign since 2022.

No, instead it was a lack of contributions from the other guys that left the team adrift, unable to reach an October port. The list of disappointments in the lineup is long and varied.

For example, no one expected Tyrone Taylor to carry the offense, but a 70 wRC+ was far off the mark for him. Even so, it's fine to have even a black hole in the lineup if those surrounding him pick up the slack.

Unfortunately, the regression monster came hard after Mark Vientos, who succumbed to the savage beast for a large swath of the season. It took a demotion to finally snap Francisco Alvarez out of his funk, just for an injury to quickly knock him out, just as things were starting to look up.

Elsewhere, Brett Baty finally showed signs of life, but inconsistency tampered down a year that could have led him to finally realize his potential. There was nothing wrong with Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte, per se, but Father Time's clutches didn't allow them to be the impact difference makers to complement the three key sluggers in the lineup.

As for the youngsters, opportunities were plentiful for Luisangel Acuña and Ronny Mauricio, but rather than seize the day, both fell flat.

At the end, what you were left with were three very good hitters, surrounded by a couple of steady veterans, some youngsters who proved they didn't belong, and a plethora of guys whose contributions you couldn't count on from one day to the next.

All of that coalesced into an offense that was good, but not great. The Mets finished 10th in runs scored (766), 14th in batting average (.249), and eighth in slugging (.427). All of those numbers are average or better, but they aren't truly elite.

Given the injuries that ravaged the pitching staff, the Mets needed an elite offense, and given preseason expectations, they believed they had one.

Instead, it was merely good, and just good wasn't going to be good enough to get them into the playoffs, given everything else that was going on with the team.