u/Daytime-mechE

Full acknowledgement that this season is dreadful. However I present 3 fanbases of large markets. Basically, it could be worse, you could be a fan of the:

Angels- you'd still be wasting a hall of famer's career (actually you squandered at least 3 in the last decade in LAA). But you'd also have an owner who says you don't actually care about winning in order to justify his actual lack of desire for winning. Plus watching Ohtani dominate with the Dodgers would be akin to watching Pete mash for the Yankees.

Phillies- Similar record to the Mets but with 3 long term deals that cripple your roster flexibility instead of 2. Plus you'd have to go to games in Philly AND your savior from firing your manager is Don Mattingly? Hard pass.

Giants - regardless of how you feel about Stearns's roster construction this year, it doesn't cripple your roster for the rest of the decade nearly as much as what Buster Posey's done to the Giants. Willy Adames is a defensive liability at shortstop, you can't move him to 3rd because Chapman (who's also regressed defensively) is there and Devers has the longest contract of the trip who all have OPS values under .625.

I understand the frustration with the Mets. But even if this season flames out spectacularly, 80-90% of this roster can be completely swapped out for new pieces to pair with Soto and Lindor. There's very few rosters that have the ability to do that.

My wife and I timed the market right back in 2019. Bought the house, refinanced during COVID in 2020 and nabbed solar panels when they were still giving out the federal credit in 2021.

Recently, the opportunity has presented itself to acquire a piece of land and build our forever home. I think the low interest rate on our home has allowed us to rent our house toward the top of the market in our current neighborhood, but the finances are going to be a little tricky.

Total income with my wife: $180k.

Monthly mortgage (with insurance, taxes, trash): $1850.

Other utilities (sewer and water): about $110 per month.

Solar panel payment (we got the tax credit and then financed it at like 1.9%): $200 per month.

Childcare: $3k per month during the school year only (we splurged for a nanny who we'll be phasing out next year).

Retirement/401k: $100k (my wife gets a teachers pension as well).

Savings: $35k.

529 for son: $25k

No other debt.

Reasonably confident I can get enough in rent to cover all costs, less so about accounting for a management and maintenance fund.

The new place would be an estimated mortgage of about $5k per month with insurance and taxes and we're doing a lease to buy option for solar and geothermal that we plan on buying outright in 5 years. Math shows it'll be about 5400 for total operating costs of the house. A big chunk of the mortgage is property/municipal taxes of about $1200 per month (it's a premium school district and really great area to live/walk/enjoy). We'll be reducing our childcare to like 1600-1800 per month after we move and our son will be off to kindergarten 2 years after.

My parents have offered to fund the lot acquisiton which we'd then use as collateral to finance a construction loan with a builder of our choice.

Additional info: we're both 32. Jobs are both stable, I get a normal cost of living adjustment every year. I've been researching surrounding areas for a while and the consensus is the majority of land is getting picked up by private builders/developers which marks up the overall cost of the project and it appears that land will be more scarce as time goes on. I understand it'd be a high DTI to take on but the idea of having an appreciating asset covered by a tenant that can supplement our retirement fund is really enticing.

All advice appreciated. Hope I provided enough info.

I remember when the Mets started taking off in 2024, it was because they shifted Lindor into the leadoff spot. It surprised me that Showalter never tried that during his tenure.

This season, 7 of the 21 losses were by 1 run. With the offense being as anemic as it is why wouldn't you not only have your best on-base guy lead the game off but also maximize the number of at-bats he gets in a game? Like what do you even have to lose at this point if you're Mendoza?

EDIT: I get the "ok but what about spots 2-9?" But Bichette's OPS when there's at least one runner on is 125 points higher over his career, Alvarez is 30 points, Semien is about 80 points better. Yes, the entire lineup isn't performing but the pitching is keeping us within striking distance for most of these losses. Statistically getting Soto an extra at bat per game and giving the rest of the lineup a chance to have a man on will help the offense.