How does a team construct a World Series winning roster in MLB? It's one of the most difficult things to do in all of sports. Teams simply cannot sign a couple of superstars and automatically emerge as Fall Classic contenders. The New York Mets and San Diego Padres went all in on adding talent from outside the organization prior to the 2023 season and it's safe to say the strategy hasn't paid off for either ball club so far.

The Mets signed veteran starting pitchers such as Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Rumors of friction between the two recently surfaced after both pitchers were traded prior to the deadline. Meanwhile, Padres star Juan Soto has even called out his own ball club amid their 2023 inconsistency. Still, it's almost unbelievable to think about both the Padres and Mets potentially missing the playoffs despite clearly trying to win.

So why have the Mets and Padres big spending experiments failed miserably?

Mets, Padres must learn from recent history

Let's take a look at World Series recent history. We can start in 2015, when the Kansas City Royals defeated a talented Mets team in the World Series. Kansas City is a small market and the organization did not go out in free agency and add superstar after superstar. Instead, they developed talent within the organization and built stars of their own.

The Royals also seemed to have a quality clubhouse dynamic, something that has reportedly lacked for both the 2023 Padres and Mets. Chemistry is key in baseball. Developing players who've been on the field together in the minor leagues and truly want to win for one another is incredibly important in baseball.

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Guardians (then Cleveland Indians) in the World Series. Both teams had previously rebuilt their rosters and featured cores of either homegrown stars, or prospects who were acquired in trades. Again, neither team spent heavily in free agency.

Say what you want about the 2017 Houston Astros, and they do deserve backlash for the sign-stealing scandal, but the front office did a tremendous job of building a strong core of players. They didn't go out and sign a bunch of overpaid veteran stars like the Mets, but Houston leaned on a young group of players to lead the way.

These teams still made necessary free agency acquisitions and trades, but they did so after already building a foundation of players. They didn't build their teams around free agency.

The 2018 Boston Red Sox and 2019 Washington Nationals both followed fairly similar strategies. The 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers, despite being known for playing in a big market, featured an impressive core of players as well. Sure, they traded for superstar Mookie Betts, but LA surprisingly didn't lean on free agency all that much.

Finally, the same can be said for the 2021 Atlanta Braves and 2022 Houston Astros.

So, should teams not spend heavily in free agency?

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with spending heavily in free agency. But taking a look at the Padres and Mets core of players, many of their stars weren't homegrown. MLB teams simply can't sign a bunch of players and expect them all to immediately mesh with one another.

A perfect example of doing things the right way is the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore has rebuilt over the past few seasons and developed one of the best farm systems in baseball. Now, it seems like every week the O's are promoting another top-tier prospect. The good news is that each of those prospects likely feels comfortable since many of their minor league teammates are on the Orioles now.

What's the key to winning a World Series in MLB?

Build a core of players first.

Some teams are afraid to enter a complete rebuild and end up staying in mediocrity as a result (Los Angeles Angels!) The best teams in MLB right now have previously rebuilt or re-tooled. The Orioles and Astros were both two of the worst teams in baseball before finding recent success.

Again, I'm not an MLB GM but the formula has proven to work. It isn't often that these MLB super-teams actually win the World Series.

Perhaps the Mets and Padres can take notes.