

NEW YORK -- It ended with something close to the ideal. Eight runs in a win over the Astros and 10 hits. Lucas Duda clubbing his 30th home run of the year. Even plucky Ruben Tejada hitting one too.

But often enough this season, the Mets had offensive troubles, unable to support a stout pitching staff. It will be a point of emphasis this offseason, which began tonight.

General manager Sandy Alderson has already set a threshold to reach next season: A 10-12 win improvement and to do that the Mets' lineup must get better too.

Alderson seemed bullish it could happen. Despite troubles this season, he noted the Mets finished eighth in the National League in runs scored. They tied for ninth in home runs. And despite a batting average that was third worst in the league, they were ninth in on-base percentage.

“If we’re going to be one of the top five teams we’ve got to be in the top five with run production, we’ve got to be in the top five pitching-wise," Alderson said. "Do I think we can get from eight to five with what we have? I think it’s possible but that doesn’t mean we’ll rely on what we have. But I do think we need to get better in that regard, but we don’t have to get a lot better. If we can go from, like I said, middle of the pack – I think we’re eight or something like that – if we can get up to three or four we’ll be in great shape.”

He cited progress from Travis d'Arnaud and Juan Lagares and Matt den Dekker, and believed that no hitter -- not even Duda -- had a career year.

But improvement may still come externally, Alderson seemed to hint. And where ever the source, the Mets offense needs to be upgraded.

"Offensively, we need to score some more runs and a couple of places in the batting order and in the field where we probably need to take a look at things," Alderson said. "At the same time, we’ve seen a lot of progress."

Mike Vorkunov may be reached at mvorkunov@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mike_Vorkunov. Find NJ.com Mets on Facebook.