If I could ask for anything more from the three batters you listed it would be fewer errors. Not Beltran (3 in 2008.) Wright (16) and Reyes (17) could stand to make fewer mistakes. But that’s about it.

Between the three of them they scored something like 340 runs, and drove in nearly 300. If Chruch and Delgado (or whoever is playing 1B) can have solid years (i’m not asking for MVP numbers, just reliability) those raw numbers could be much higher.

i wouldnt call them untouchable but theyre in the next tier. young, pretty good, under contract.

also can we just get it over with and start calling it shiti field? i feel like if we as fans start calling it that first, then dumb ass yankee fans et al wont be so inclined to use and think theyre being hilarious. its only a matter of time. plus we can say in the voice of the south park ‘city wok’ guy.

But isn’t it true that “the current core can’t get it done” if by “it” you mean winning the world series or going to the playoffs? By definition, they have not got it done, and I can’t see how they could have had better individual seasons numberwise.

None of the core sucks. Individually they had great seasons. Yet the team did not have success. Baseball is a team sport so presenting “tangible areas these players are lacking " won’t really answer fully the question in front of us: what do the mets need to do to get into the playoffs/get to the world series?” For three seasons, these three guys have put up great numbers. Will they get it done next season without any help? I am not optimistic.

To rule out of bounds that the problem is with the core before even discussing is to rule some arguments irrational by fiat. What kind of arguments?

Well, my first argument would be in fact they need another core offensive contributor, to take the pressure off of the big three guys. The moment that is burnt into my synapses when David flailed at ball four with the Irish Hammer on third, and our season was thrown into what turned out to be a death spiral. He was under pressure and pressing. I think he has said so in the press. Is pressure “intangible”? Maybe.

I am loathe to suggest entering free agent sweepstakes and I am embarrassed to bring up Manny or Teixeira as examples since they are so obvious, but I think its come to that. The Mets need another big bat—perhaps a younger one than these two—to take the pressure off the “big three.” I would think pursuing Manny would be very popular among statheads. Sure he is older and expensive, but I don’t see why he can’t be maneuvered into a “reasonable” contract, seeing as the Yanks and other big spenders might be distracted with Krod and Sabathia. Without Yankee interest, there is only one way to NY for him. He always produces and his antics (muted at the beginning but likely increasingly distracting) would certainly take the pressure off Wright, Reyes, and Beltran. And we have the best CF in baseball so I am not overly concerned with what we lose in left. Plus we just played a season with NO competent left fielder.

Of course I’d prefer a younger less established big righty bat, but those do not come cheap in terms of prospects and treasure. Maybe you guys could come up with some better names. Either way, landing a free agent plays to Omar’s strengths as a general manager.

Of course there are other, maybe better, arguments, but short of TRADING the core which REALLY isn’t an option, I think all and any ideas should be thrown against the wall.

whenever the mets disappoint, i find being able to hurl a few trucks into traffic quite cathartic.

I have no major disagreements, just a question of emphasis; i guess I’m looking for a way to parse intangibles that doesn’t fall for “moxy or grit or intestinal fortitude.” I feel that there are some teamwide failures under pressure. Like a contagion.

I’m not pining for the drastic days of Steve Phillips, rotisserie GM. But damned if I don’t feel a need to shake these guys up a bit, since the front office is content to pretend they “overachieved” and reward the management with new contracts. It may be the case that its just a question of waiting till the cookie crumbles our way after 3 surprising exits with the same core. Somehow taking pressure off the big 3 is one way to imagine getting a more successful result. And I feel more than a little stress at the thought that Omar is penciling Delgado in at first and in the lineup for another year.

to hear the good people of Amazin avenue consider the Manny option. Sure, the Mets don’t have a DH position open, but I wonder if there is any merit to signing the dude for 3 years if he’d do that.

Put it this way: our seasons can’t get any more maddening but they could be more entertaining!

I’m not sure. I don’t expect any moves involving any of the aforementioned players or moves involving other guys under 25, but there is that Milledge deal. I mean, I’m not trying to bring this up before he becomes a better hitter than Church, let alone the fact that Church/Milledge is probably a wash as late as two years from now, but Schneider did not start in our final game. I think that alone makes this deal already a bad one.
Meh, I will vent about that one for years. Just get used to it.