After falling short in the playoffs last year by suffering a wild-card loss to the Padres, The New York Mets and the city of New York were left demoralized. 

Expectations were high this year and unlike in past years, the Mets were considered competitive. To add insult to injury, many Mets were expected to leave the team in the offseason. Now the 2023 MLB season is only two months away, and the New York Mets have some huge aspirations for this upcoming year. 

With their huge pickups in free agency this offseason, along with their top prospects expected to make it to the major leagues this year, they could have the potential to bring a World Series back to New York.

A huge reason why this was so hard to take in was that many beloved Mets went on to sign with different organizations in baseball. For example, starting pitchers for the Mets last year (which was their biggest strength) like Taijuan Walker, Chris Bassitt, and most importantly Jacob Degrom. Even though Walker and Bassit both had relatively short stints with the Mets, they still went on to sign with other teams. Walker signed with the division rivals, Philadelphia Phillies, for 4 years and $72 million. While Chris Bassit went up north to Canada to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays for 3 years $63 million. Yet none were compared to Degrom’s departure from the Mets. Degrom had been in this organization since 2013. Unlike the Mets, Degrom was consistently good. He had been a key part of this team for so long and a fan favorite among Mets fans and baseball fans. Unfortunately, he finally left New York to sign with the Texas Ranger for 5 years $185 million this offseason. This left Mets fans hopeless as they would most likely not be in the playoffs again for a while because of their weaknesses in their pitching among other weak positions in their team. 

Yet there is still hope for the future. After losing key pieces in the off-season for the Mets, Steve Cohen (Mets Owner) and Billy Eppler (Mets General Manager) sought to become a very competitive team again by spending an unfathomable amount of money to pick up other free agents. Some of these signees were starting pitchers Justin Verlander the 3X Cy Young Winner, Jose Quintana who had finished with a sub 3.00 era, and a pitching star from overseas in the Japanese leagues named Kodai Senga. In addition, the Mets made other pickups this year like signing veteran outfielder Tommy Pham for 1 year at $6 million, and Catcher Omar Narvaez for 2 years at $15 million. Although, most importantly the Mets re-signed most of their star players back. Star outfielder Brandon Nimmo for 8 years for $162 million, (pitching) Reliever of The Year Edwin Diaz for 5 years for $102 million, and All-Star second baseman Jeff Mcneil for 4 years for $50 million. Along with some other rather minor pickups and acquisitions through trades that were made as well, Mets fans are once again very excited and hopeful for this season. 

As well as the new free agents that went to the Mets this off-season, their top prospects are very close and ready to take their talent to the majors finally. According to MLB.com’s top 100 prospects, the top catcher in the minor leagues is Fransico Alvarez. The Mets also have the 2nd highest-rated third-base prospect, Brett Baty. These two positions last year defensively weren’t bad as both players who played Third base and Catcher were average players, yet they were left lacking on offense. Alvarez’s power as well as Baty’s high average and offensive output will help the Mets monumentally next year. Last year the Mets ranked very below average for home runs and power. It will also add a spark of youth to an old team with many players at least over the age of 30. It is safe to say that if given the right opportunities to showcase what they can do and constantly get better, they will show the league and their team how great they are and will be. 

So instead of Mets fans mourning their loss of very key players in the off-season, they should look to the next season. This current team has the potential to do some great things for New York and possibly bring a World Series back to the Mets for the first time since 1986.