I actually half agree with you.
A big part of the problem with these "balance" issues is actually community driven. For some reason, casual to midcore players seem to want to toss meta / world first preferences into their casual/midcore runs.
However that being said, in its current state MNK is "stronger" than SAM, and brings more to the table. The argument is why bring a SAM when you can just take a MNK?
I think it's a valid point, because currently MNK is just flat out better in every way..
