Ok guys. Spring Training is in the books. deGrom has been extended. Wright is retired and his spot is cleared. Many of what we wanted to see happen this offseason happened. I think BVW has been a great hire and he's made many intelligent front office hires. A lot of good players were brought in and a lot of holes were patched up. We certainly had a busy offseason.
The last two years have been a bummer. We've been riddled with devastating injuries to our some of our top players and I also feel last year was a bit of a transition year in the lineup.
But here we are. This year might ring hollow with 2 sub par years leading up to this but I love this team. We've really addressed the depth with our position players and many of the things we needed to see happen with our youth and starting pitching happened last year (Wheeler and Matz turn in full seasons, Nimmo breakout, Rosario strong finish, Conforto recover from the shoulder, etc.) There's a lot more meat on the bones this year in terms of reliability and what we can forecast.
Im going 90 with upside for more (If Cespedes returns second half, etc.). That's one more than FG. My 90 prediction, as always, is predicated on reasonable health, especially to our top players. Its going to be a dog fight in this division but I like our upside more than anybody's. I think if this team hits it's apex they could be the scariest team in baseball. Problem is Murphy's Law and the Mets are best friends.
My not so bold prediction is that Alonso will win Rookie of the Year.
What say you? Win total? Any bold predictions or breakouts?
Jeff McNeil will lead the NL in hitting
Mets will have two pitchers in the top 8 in Cy Young voting.
Team wins the NL East at 95-67
1.) Nimmo CF
2.) Cespedes LF
3.) Cano 2B
4.) Alonso 1B
5.) Conforto RF
6.) Ramos C
7.) Lowrie/McNeil 3B
8.) Rosario SS
I like what BVW has done with the lineup a lot, don't love the D but it should be a lot better than the last few years. I don't see any huge negatives like Reyes/Cabrera/Bruce, except maybe Alonso. I like the Broxton addition and the rest of the depth - though I hope McNeil is kept in a role where he can thrive every day. If he's doing great at 3B I hope they don't move him around too much. I'm optimistic the new situational approach will help with RISP, it can't hurt. Cano and Conforto both seem poised for huge years.
On the pitching staff I think they have 5 potential all stars and then not a lot behind them. If 4 out of those 5 to stay healthy heading into October they are going to be a really tough out. In a really tough division the biggest question is if they have enough depth to get there. The Phillies, Braves, and Nats are all going to score their share of runs. Philly and Atlanta can't pitch as well as we can 1-3 but they could be better with their back end guys and the 4&5 guys still start 40% of the games. And the 6-10 depth guys will pitch a bunch of games over the course of the season too. In short series our top 3 are a huge edge, over a long season not as much. I really wish they'd just signed someone like Miley/Bucholz/Gio for depth.
This is a big year for BVW and he wants to win now. He didn't leave his cushy agent job to take a pay cut to do anything but to make the Mets a contender immediately and at least for now, he seems to have the support and backing of the Wilpons. He'll tinker and make adjustments as the year goes along and he probably adds more at the deadline if we are in it. The hard work is done IMO however. The things most of us wants (better 7th bullpen option, better 5th OF, better 6th and 7th SP) are stuff that should be readily available for cheap. Just. Stay. Healthy.
Cano and Conforto finish in the top 15 in MVP voting.
Syndergaard finished top 5 in the Cy Young Award balloting.
Alonso finishes top 3 for Rookie of the Year.
A couple things with Gio. He can make up to 12 million this year in incentives. He also saw an opening on the Yankees in early April with Severino out. Once the Yankees add him its no longer a minor league deal. They cant send him to the minors once he's rostered. I think it was strategic on Gio's part and the Mets probably did offer something similar but told him he would have to compete with Vargas, etc. and that wasn't as attractive.
Conforto leads the team in home runs and rbi's.
DeGrom and Wheeler are in the thick of the Cy Young voting.
Cespedes returns in August and can't shake the rust.
I think there is something special about this group, I think they are going to come together.
Alonso will be the top rookie. I'm going to predict the Mets lead the NL in runs scored. I'm also predicting deGrom gets his 2nd straight Cy Young...this time with more than 20 wins.
#LGM
win total = 88
The pitching depth is really thin so an injury or two there could really torpedo things but the position players have more depth than we've seen in a little while, so I'm optimistic enough that they'll remain in the mix.
But the guy I'm really looking forward to seeing is McNeil. I've got a huge (totally platonic) man-crush on this guy. He lives and breathes baseball. Hearing him in the batting circle asking the coaching staff about the last pitch IN SPRING TRAINING! The ball just jumps off his bat, I don't see, barring injury, how he isn't a very good player.