- A full year of Yoenis Cespedes anchoring the middle of the lineup. This was clearly a different offense once Cespedes came aboard. Even when he’s not red hot, his presence in the three or four spot allows hitters like Lucas Duda and David Wright to see more fastballs.
- Michael Conforto patrolling left field and thumping from the left side of the plate from day one. Imagine we began last season with the creaky kneed Michael Cuddyer hobbling around in left and getting overmatched by fastballs.
- Matt Harvey unleashed – no innings limits, no hesitation to throw that nasty slider.
- A full year of Steven Matz in the rotation, a more dominant lefty than Jon Niese.
- A sharper, more confident Noah Syndergaard. Anyone else notice how he’s been shaking off d’Arnaud in spring training games rather than nodding his head up and down like Nuke Laloosh?
- A stronger bench with starter caliber players like Juan Lagares, Wilmer Flores, Kevin Plawecki and Alejandro De Aza. We began last year with a bunch of hasbeens and quadruple A players who all got quickly exposed. Future Mets second baseman Dilson Herrera will be anxiously awaiting his call up from triple A Las Vegas too.
- Proven set up men from the get go in former closer Addison Reed and lefty Antonio Bastardo.
- A deeper bullpen with hard throwing Hansel Robles, lefties Jerry Blevins and Josh Edgin and righties, Erik Goeddel and Jim Henderson.
- Quality long men who can make spot starts in Logan Verrett and Sean Gilmartin. Either will be great in an extra inning game too.
- A weaker NL East. The Nats should be formidable and the Marlins, despite a horrific bullpen, should be competitive. However, the Braves and Phillies are both at rock bottom of their respective rebuilds.
- A more balanced lineup with the switch hitting Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera.
- A playoff tested team. Three rounds of playoffs gives players confidence and coaches wisdom. Jacob deGrom and Jeurys Familia grew up before our eyes and matured into star players under the spotlight.
- A healthy David Wright. Yes, his spinal stenosis will always make him a question mark, but for now, he’s ready to play.
- A luckier Travis d’Arnaud. Granted he spent a lot of time on the disabled list last season, but it was mainly due to unlikely injuries. When healthy, d’Arnaud adds another strong bat to the Mets’ lineup.
- Better infield depth. Having the versatile Flores off the bench will allow the Mets to rest Wright, split Walker, backup Cabrera and Duda. Eric Campbell and Matt Reynolds are ready to step in if needed.
- A better double play combo. Walker and Cabrera have zero gold gloves between them, but they are both veteran middle infielders who’ve been playing their respective positions for years. Fewer grounders will get through and more double plays will get turned.
- Better outfield depth. Outfield injuries are inevitable. Odds are, at least one of Cespedes, Conforto and Curtis Granderson will wind up on the DL. It’s comforting to know we have former starters Lagares and De Aza waiting in the wings.
- A bounce back year from Duda who was too streaky last season. With better lineup protection and some adjustments to his swing, Duda should be back to 2014 form.
- A boost in in the arm with the return of Zack Wheeler. Getting a frontline starter back in July is like a blockbuster midseason trade without having to give up the top prospects.
- A boost to the bullpen when Bartolo Colon changes roles. Colon could be a long man, spot starter, situational reliever or even a setup man. His 42-year-old arm is clearly made of rubber and he has the temperament to not get rattled in big spots.
Love the optimism, even if I have my fingers crossed on a few of these, most notably #7.
With the depth we have to pull from, Sandy and Terry should be able to adapt and make due until July when they can fortify with a trade. One key – Familia can not get hurt.
Editor’s Note – Capitals, really? C’mon, you know better than that.
Editor — The apparent complete ban on capital letters makes little sense. When even the occasional word capitalized merely for emphasis doesn’t get through, it’s like having a nanny in the room that goes around shushing everyone.
Not optimal, friend.
Am I nuts for thinking that #18 could be huge? If Duda can go from roughly a top 15 1B to a top 10 or better 1B, the lineup will be scary good.
He’s already a top 10 1b… probably an 8 or 9 if I had to choose a specific rank.
Yeah, 1B is a pretty weak position group.
Now, if Duda could remove 60 wRC+ months from his game…
Alderson has put together a better team than the one that went to the World Series. It also appears that the Wilpon’s have some money to spend in case there needs to be an in season adjustment. The game is played between the lines and anything can happen. The Nats look hungry. The Mets have prepared themselves to accept the challenge.
Metsense, what’s your gut feeling on the Nats? On the one hand they have a few veterans they can’t keep healthy, but they also have 3 stud prospects coming up. Dodgers are in this same boat. Rotation, Harper and what else? Murph? A bounce back for Rendon? Unless rookies step up the lineup looks weak. Bullpen is mediocre. Scherzer, Strasburg in a walk year, and GG with two solid back end guys and Lucas Giolito coming up. MVP in the lineup. I think we’re a little better on paper but maybe Dusty makes a difference for them?
The Nats are a strong team don’t kid yourself. Some reasons:
1. Baker has changed the outlook on the whole team.
2. They have some of the best pitching in the game with Scherzer, Stras, and Giolito…every bit as good as Harvey deGrom and Syndergaard
3. They have a game changer in Harper who is one of the top five players in the game and only getting better.
4. Rendon has the chance to be a monster again
5. That outfield is special.
6. Hate Papelbon as we all do, he’s an outstanding closer and their pen has improved.
I’d be surprised if we are not taking the division down to the last week.
And otherwise, the Marlins are not a real threat to the division, but certainly to the Mets. They play us hard and are staffed by a string of folks that cause us a ton of grief like Prado, Gordon, Yelich and others. Add in 180 IP by Fernandez and a healthy Stanton and we could easily lost 12 games to them.
Matty, Chris F has answered well for me. I would like to add that last year the Nats thought they could turn it on when they wanted to. That was a fatal flaw on their ruderless ship. Last year they erroneously thought they deseerved the pennant without playing the games. This year they have a purpose, that is to amend the 2015 season. It should be exciting but the Mets are up to the challenge of defending their pennant. LGM
Matt, great article. Disagree with #10 however, as I think aside from the Braves, most teams improved themselves. Would like to put wishful thinking for #18, and add one.
#21: Eight starting hitters and a super sub that can hit at least 15 HRs. Diversified lineup.
TexasGus, great point about the HRs. As I said elsewhere a team with this pitching staff that can hit 200+ homers is going to go far despite our not so great defense and speed.
As for #10 – i think the Phillies are going to be a rotten team this year. Ditto the Braves. The Mets need to beat up on these two because we may very well be looking at splits with the Nats and Marlins. I may not find many here in agreement with me but I actually think the Marlins are a solid team. The only thing holding them back is the bullpen. With their lineup and rotation, and all those games against the Phillies and Braves, there’s no reason they can’t be a .500 team.
I think you are right about the Marlins to a degree Matt. They are better than most give credit. While I think they end up in 3rd place, there will be some agonizing series between the Mets and Marlins and Marlins — Nats And Marlins. I’m about as afar as predicting the spread at the end of the year between first and second place will be within the Ws and Ls between these two for the Mets and Nats.
If Stanton is healthy all year and Fernandez picks up where he left off…it could be a very rude awakening for our beloved Orange and Blue.
As for all the HR we hope for. Don’t forget the Orioles from last year with 217 HR and finished with .500 record in 3rd place.
AL East doesn’t have two doormat teams and the Orioles haven’t had a pitching staff like the Mets since the early 70s.
Anyone care to speculate on what Harvey’s “non arm-related medical issue” might be? I’m guessing he’s not suffering from an inferiority complex.