The Mets Need to Strengthen Weaknesses Without Weakening Strengths

It seems that that New York sportswriters are panicking much more than is Mets management, those sportswriters screaming for the team to give away prospects in the hopes of getting someone who might make a difference. The problem is that unless that "someone" is Mike Trout or a comparable player, the team will just be patching a dike with holes: The problem is the whole "center" of the team: catcher, shortstop, second base, centerfield. With D'arnaud AGAIN recuperating from an injury, the Mets are not getting much offense from their catching position. Their starting catcher, Kevin Plawecki, is hitting .239. And their starting shortstop, Ruben Tejada, is hitting .254, their secondbaseman, Wilmer Flores, is hitting, .252, and their starting centerfielder, Juan Lagares, is hitting .255. Add to that the fact that their corner infielders, who are supposed to add punch to a lineup, are hitting .239 and .256. More significant, in the National League the Mets have the lowest OPS (.660), the lowest slugging percentage (.390), the lowest batting average (.235). Because of the scope of the team's weaknesses, they cannot afford to trade away their current "Nolan Ryans" in the hope that weakening a strength will strengthen a weakness. Trades need to be based on something more substantive than hope.