In discussing the impact that the Braves acquisition of Justin Upton will have on the Mets, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes:
“It makes for a particularly tricky situation in Flushing, where the Mets are concentrating on a long-term plan built around Wheeler, Harvey, Travis d’Arnaud and the rest of their vastly improved farm system. Tricky because the Nationals and Braves, perhaps already the two best teams in the division, are also built to last.”
DiComo hits on the very first thing I wrote on Twitter immediately after the deal went down:
“The Braves just got significantly stronger and younger, not with minor league talent, but at the major league level.”
The Braves are building for the short and long term. They always have. They don’t always rely on their prospects to win, they often use them to get the players they need to win.
As I wrote in a post last week, the Nationals and Braves are set up for a decade long run of dominance with more elite prospects still on the way. They are built to dominate now, and to sustain that dominance for a long time.
Additionally, the Braves and Nationals always make their drafts count and never leave the best player available on the table even if they have to overpay or hand out record breaking bonuses to keep them.
The National League East is and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with regardless of how things pan out for the Mets.
That’s an undeniable fact.
Sooner or later the Mets are going to have to bring in some MLB talent that can take the team to the next level. That may cost us either a lot of money or some of our better prospects. But until that happens we’re pretty much just standing on the sidelines while our division rivals are in the dynasty-building business.
