Remind Me Why The Mets Suck, Again?

Seriously. Why do people talk about the Mets as a team whose upside is .500? They were only two wins shy of breaking even last year, and since last year they have dispatched with Jeff Francoeur, Alex Cora, John Maine, Gary Mathews Jr., and probably at least Oliver Perez as well if not Luis Castillo. What are the problems with this team? Oh, second base is a bit of a mess. Yeah, no kidding. But the thing is, that's one position. Out of eight. And the thing is, we have some pretty good people playing the other seven. Okay, Beltran's unlikely to be contributing his usual All-Star/MVP-caliber play. Maybe he won't be playing every day, maybe he won't be there on Opening Day. But it's not like we're starved for outfield depth, and there's nothing magical about Opening Day (indeed, since the Mets seem to be charmed on Opening Days, one could say there's no need to worry!). Beltran is quite likely to play well if not great. And as for the pitching, honestly, we have five starters lined up whom I would expect to give basically solid seasons, and a bullpen that I don't think can be worse than average. So what's our problem again? I just don't get it. Hell, I don't see why, given that the Phillies do seem to be a wee bit injury-prone so far, we couldn't contend to win the division, with a little bit of luck. I just don't get all the pessimism.