Exit Interviews- The Mets Come Up Short

The New York Mets probably punched the furthest over their weight this season of any team in baseball. At best I thought they'd hang around and be relevant in the Wild Card race, and instead they lost the World Series in game five last night. That's some serious over-achieving.

The good news for Mets fans is that they are super young. None of their top four starting pitchers had reached arbitration eligibility yet, two were rookies, and three were second year or less experienced arms. The Mets have a surplus of major league starters that should help them be good for years, especially as they start trading some to fill other holes. They have a dominant young closer. They have a couple of young talents in their line-up.

Don't mistake that for a prediction of prolonged dominance. David Wright's back could go wrong, Cespedes and Murphy are likely to be gone, shortstop is still an issue, and Granderson isn't getting younger in that line-up. Really only d'Arnaud and Conforto are set in that line-up. Their set-up man situation is brutal. They have Matt Harvey clearly wanting an extension. The Mets have some hurdles out ahead.

The first thing they should do is commit to Terry Collins as manager and Sandy Alderson as GM moving forward, as they've taken a bad situation to good. Then they should attempt to settle the Harvey situation. Getting a big bat to stick in their line-up would help, as would a solid set-up option.

Mets fans should not assume "many" more opportunities like 2015. The Nationals were there in 2012, and the Phillies in 2009, and even the Mets themselves in 2006. Windows open and close quickly. You have to win when the opportunity is there. The 2016 Mets will be expected to both have the opportunity and seize it.