The Mets were somewhat of a surprise last season as they made a run at being the best that baseball has to offer. Their style of dominating with their starting pitchers and clutch hitting gave them a chance to win last year and there appears to be no reason why they can’t do it again. After deciding to keep the MVP for the second half of the season Yoenis Cespedes on the team for a price, they have made themselves the favorites to with the NL East again.
Listen to Tyler's interview with Sal Musto about the Mets.
Key Additions
Neil Walker
Asdrubal Cabrera
Antonio Bastardo
Alejandro De Aza
Jim Henderson
Marc Krauss
Duane Below
Andrew Barbosa
Stolmy Pimentel
Ty Kelly
Nevin Ashley
Key Subtractions
Jenrry Mejia
Michael Cuddyer
Daniel Murphy
Tyler Clippard
Eric O’Flaherty
Bobby Parnell
Anthony Recker
Kirk Niuewenhuis
Juan Uribe
Kelly Johnson
Eric Young Jr.
Wilfredo Tova
Biggest Strength - Starting Pitching
This could very easily be the best group of starting pitchers in baseball this year, and the majority of these guys are home grown.
From top to bottom, you got top of the line, young starters ready to produce with the best of them in the league. On top of that, Bartolo Colon got signed another year to insure depth if an injury happens.
Speaking of injury, don’t sleep on Zack Wheeler who should come back sometime in May after missing last year from Tommy John surgery. It’s possible that the top three starters on this team (deGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard) compete for a Cy Young award this season.
Biggest Weakness - Offense
This isn’t as big of a weakness as it could have been. Picking up Yoenis Cespedes was much needed and he proved his value down the stretch last season. Another X-factor for this offense is Michael Conforto. He could be one of the better offensive players on this team if he is in fact ready to be in the bigs for good. Walker and Duda are also good, but the team as a whole is average to below average offensively. With that said, they had enough offense to get to the World Series last season and yours truly see an improvement here.
Something to keep an eye on - Michael Conforto
As yours truly just mentioned, Conforto looks like he has the ability to be one of the better offensive players for the Mets this season. He will be someone to watch over the course of the year because it will be exciting to see if he can be a young position player the Mets can rely on for years to come. New York has clearly had no trouble bringing up stud pitching prospects, and it would be a breath of fresh air to find that they have found a legitimate stud to play in the field in their system as well.
Projected Lineup… Lefties*… Switch Hitters^
Neil Walker^ - 2B
Curtis Granderson* - RF
Yoenis Cespedes - CF
Lucas Duda* - 1B
Travis d’Arnaud - C
Michael Conforto* - LF
David Wright - 3B
Asdrubal Cabrera^ - SS
Projected Bench
Wilmer Flores
Kevin Plawecki
Ruben Tejada
Alejandro De Aza
Juan Lugares
Projected Rotation… Lefties*
Jacob deGrom
Matt Harvey
Noah Syndergaard
Steven Matz*
Bartolo Colo
Projected Bullpen
Jeurys Familia - Closer
Addison Reed
Antonio Bastardo*
Jerry Blevins*
Erik Goeddel
Sean Gilmartin*
Logan Verrett
Injured
Zack Wheeler
Josh Edgin
Fantasy Bargain - Neil Walker
Walker could get overlooked this year by ‘sexier’ options at the position. Plus, he’s entering uncharted territory because he’s brand new on this team. Fact of the matter with Neil is that he has consistently posted fairly good on base and power numbers compared to others at the position. While you might not feel like you’re shooting for the stars with him, he is a good pick for real production from second base.
Overrated Fantasy Option - David Wright
This entire team might be a little overvalued based on the fact that everyone got to watch them a week longer than everyone else.
Sometimes during deep playoff runs, people put too much fantasy stake into a clutch play that wins a big game. Although many players could be taken too early in fantasy drafts from the Mets, one that this columnist for sure will not own is David Wright. He was the 39th best third baseman last season and it sounds like he just has permanent back problems now. In addition, he’s getting older and his power was already dwindling. He might not play half a season this year. Steer clear.
Conclusion
These Mets look like they could be even better than the Mets that surprised us last year. They have the best pitching staff in the league and they get a full year from Cespedes.
Prediction: They win 95 games and win the NL East.