NY Mets Monday Morning GM: The only 3 directions to go with the current core

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New York Mets fans are, for the most part, more interested in the future of the team than the present. Beating up on the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend was enjoyable. Fans will still show up to see the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers this month. Some will stick around for the Seattle Mariners series, too. September should also feature enough filled seats as long as the weather cooperates.

The current core of the Mets roster is made up of mostly position players who've been here for a while. That’s how most cores work. Rookie Francisco Alvarez has joined the likes of Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo. Pitchers Kodai Senga and Edwin Diaz belong lumped in there, too with the numbers of years tallied on their contracts.

Recent social media debates regarding the Mets have included discussion about the core. Many are convinced it’s good enough if the pieces around them are improved. This offseason might be a time to think hard about what they do with or around those core members. Only three real options exist. Which is best?

1) NY Mets can keep the core together and build around it with temporary pieces

This model of roster planning would fit with repeating what the team has done regularly in recent years. Keeping the core together was a goal for the Mets over the winter. It required new deals for Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo. Both felt tough to replace. Rather than risk it, the Mets brought both back.

There aren't the same notable free agents on the roster this season. Pete Alonso and his last year of arbitration eligibility is the closest for the Mets to begin thinking about. It’s creeping up quickly and talks of an extension should highlight the offseason hot stove.

Keeping the core together is an easy plan. What to do around them is different.

Temporary pieces are always necessary. However, the Mets have shied away from lengthier deals. From outside the organization Francisco Lindor and Kodai Senga are the only two they've added with a new deal extending to a fifth year or longer. Everyone else only made a pit stop.

An abundance of short term players doesn't fit the scheme any longer. The Mets should think bigger or go with this very different approach only the most beaten-down fan would accept.

2) NY Mets can dismantle the core and start anew

The core won't be ripped completely apart. However, Jeff McNeil is increasingly expendable. Would the team seriously trade Pete Alonso in the offseason? Sadder things have happened.

Disassembling the core, even somewhat, isn't the worst plan for the Mets. Starting anew has its benefits. Ask everyone who told their boss how they really felt about them only to land a cushier job later on. Also ask those same bosses who went on a firing rampage and found much better employees.

A tear down already began at this year's trade deadline. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander weren't going to be in New York forever, but all of us expected to at least have them on the roster for 2024. Despite their importance, the label of “core” didn’t belong to them.

Stack the odds against the Mets going this route. Because Lindor and Nimmo are already on contracts they'd be hard pressed to move anyway, a large chunk of the core will remain. Enough starting and stopping has taken place in the last three years in the front office, dugout, and just about everywhere else. Keeping the parts that work together feels like a must. It’s too much of a step backward after so many made forward.

This leaves the team with one other direction. It’s a personal favorite.

3) NY Mets can keep the core together and add more long term pieces around it

Long term in the baseball world varies. For the sake of the Mets, let's accept four or five years. The team has a couple already under contract or team control for that span. They could really use more big leaguers whose free agency doesn’t come and go in a flash.

One spot the Mets should seriously consider an upgrade to the core is in the rotation. We can cross our fingers and hope some of those exciting pitching prospects in the minors tune out okay. Or the Mets can swing a deal.

It's not easy or cheap to afford a younger pitcher of the caliber the Mets need. Their abundance of infield prospects and even the growing population of outfielders can help create the type of package the Mets should go out and get. It’s getting crowded at the plate with some big holes on the mound.

Here's where the scouting becomes essential. The Mets need to find a guy on a bad team yet to reach his peak. Gerrit Cole and Joe Musgrove, oddly enough traded for one another, are two examples of Pittsburgh Pirates starters who took off after leaving the Steel City. Mitch Keller is probably the next.

Those young up-and-coming starting pitchers are costly. Worse is putting all of your hope into the farm system winning you a championship. Other than Senga, the Mets have gone after pitchers whose stay was short-lived. A trade and extension is the most practical approach. Don't rule out taking a chance on someone with talent who has yet to blossom. Often those trades end up favoring the team that gets the big leaguers over the prospects.

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