Mets' ugly moments fly in the face of offseason plans

The New York Mets made a big deal about it in the offseason.

This was going to be an improved team on defense -- and to be fair, it mostly has been.

That goal was at least part of the reason Pete Alonso was allowed to sign elsewhere in free agency.

It's also at least part of the reason they traded Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers for Marcus Semien.

All that said, Tuesday night was not their best work. On consecutive plays, they gifted the Mariners the lead with odd miscues.

The first featured both a drop and then a wild throw, right in sequence with one another. And the second was just another odd failure to catch the baseball:

Run Prevention rears its head again, as the Mariners take the lead on these two consecutive plays: pic.twitter.com/6JiT1R2UQ1

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Defense is one of those things that can look different in the short run compared to the long haul.

The Mets likely are an improved defensive team in a bunch of ways this season, but on Tuesday night, in a small sample size, defense cost them.

The game was tied 2-2 before those two plays gave Seattle the lead. The Mets went on to lose, 8-3.

On a different night, maybe the Mets make both those plays and send the game toward a different result, or maybe the Mariners still win anyway.

It was just a pair of mishaps that were quite ironic given the offseason gameplan.

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