The age-old question in baseball has always been what the correct way is to assemble a championship roster. Is it to accumulate a slew of top draft picks like the Baltimore Orioles have in recent years? They’ve produced the likes of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson with Jackson Holliday not far behind. Then there are teams like the Dodgers and Braves that rarely have the luxury of high draft picks. However, they have wisely been ahead of the game in player development and technology than many other teams.

In recent years, the Mets have found themselves lacking in the latter, but are slowly catching up. They recently opened a new pitching lab, a department they were years behind i. In addition, reports indicate conversations are progressing between the Mets and their most lauded free agent, executive David Stearns. However, with all these improvements, the Mets’ new focus for a sustained future must lie in focusing on their core youth and continuing to develop them.

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IS THE FUTURE HERE?

During the September 5 game against the Washington Nationals, The Baby Mets, comprising of Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos, finally started a game together. Since rosters expanded on September 1 and Mauricio made his debut, there has been chatter about whether this new core of homegrown players can soon emulate what teams like Atlanta and Los Angeles have done with their players. Each rookie has made their case offensively and defensively about why they belong in Queens, and now it’s time to see if everything can click together in the final month.

While this quartet has seen only a limited amount of playing time except for Álvarez, Mauricio has come out of the gates hot, going 8-for-19 in his first five games with three stolen bases. Finally seeing consistent playing time, Vientos is 7-for-18 in his last five games with two clutch home runs. Baty, meanwhile, has made strides defensively since returning to the Mets after spending some time in Syracuse. As for Álvarez, he just snapped his month-long home run drought with a three-run bomb in Washington.

WHAT ELSE THE FUTURE HOLDS…

This offseason will be crucial to see how Steve Cohen builds around this new young core. With Francisco Lindor, Kodai Senga, and Brandon Nimmo penciled in for the foreseeable future and a Pete Alonso extension up in the air, the Mets can create a strong core in Queens. Then there’s the incoming flux of prospects Luisangel Acuña, Drew Gilbert, Blade Tidwell, and others to consider.

All that said, the Mets have plenty of work to do. While they have started to clean house to lure in Stearns, a young core doesn’t automatically lead to sustained success. Support systems need to be implemented to aid players in achieving their full potential on and off the field. The Mets are starting with their pitching lab, but Cohen knows it is just the beginning.