The Mets need 1 of this, 2 of those, and at least 3 of these to compete for a World Series

Like kids in candy stores, New York Mets fans are ready to ask for one of this, two of those, and at least three of those other things hidden behind the counter high up on a shelf. In order to compete for a World Series next season, the Mets will need more than chocolate covered pretzels, salt water taffy, and fudge. They’ll need the front office to get to work making improvements in three areas.

In order to have any shot at a championship, the Mets need to have at least one of this, two of those, and at minimum three of these other delectable treats.

The Mets need one major bat

The Mets offense was more cold than awful in 2023. Pete Alonso is the perfect representation of it. He had a monster season but was often streaky. The same goes for Francisco Lindor. The two were awesome and yet it's hard to ignore the lackluster batting averages and OBPs. The Mets depended on the pair to drive in runs with regularity even with some ugliness on their own stat sheets.

Depending on the Baby Mets to suddenly get real good won't cut it for the team next season. Those key roster spots, likely to belong to the catcher and third base at minimum, are works in progress. For any chance at success, the Mets need one big bat.

Fortunately, the position doesn't matter too much because of the glaring hole at DH. Something as simple as signing a weak defender who can rake might be enough to significantly improve the lineup. The Mets could certainly use more than one big bat. Choose correctly and the rest of the pieces could fall into place.

The Mets need two starting pitchers

The starting rotation currently consists of Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, and a bunch of fringe major leaguers who’ll fight it out in the spring. One of them could earn the fifth starter spot with the rest falling into place as a reliever or depth. However it is the Mets want to label them, they clearly need two starting pitcher additions this offseason.

Senga showed he is good enough to be an ace in this league while Quintana should probably be thought of as something closer to a number four starter while hoping for a number three performance. This means the Mets should be looking for an equal or greater pitcher in comparison to Senga and someone better than Quintana.

There is a long list of starting pitchers who fit into this category. From overseas, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the starting pitcher candidate many Mets fans have fastened themselves to. Behind him, there are other free agents like Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell to kick the tires on.

Along with those names, a trade seems reasonable for the Mets to make. That list is a bit of a mystery and is more out of their control. It will depend on which teams are adding pitchers to the block and who’s going to hold onto their assets.