I had a draft today and ended up with a bunch of Mets (Wright, Kaz, Pedro, Looper)...anyway, I was thinking about their recent woes (i.e., spending the dough but not winning) and I gotta say, I think the Mets can challenge the Marlins and Braves for the NL East.
Question marks: health of just about everyone, but namely Reyes, Floyd, Piazza and Pedro; defense in the middle infield (elsewhere it ranges from average to Gold Glove-winning); and the suspect bullpen.
Upside: all that speed! (I count five guys that could snag 20 bags or more), Beltran, and a deceptive amount of power: Wright will hit 20 and has untapped power beyond, Beltran can hit 40 - Shea be damned, I like Kaz to follow the other Matsui and enjoy a power spike in his second MLB season, and Floyd is an underrated hitter. As for the rotation, I think it all hinges on Pedro - having an ace to follow can take pressure off guys with a lot of it (Benson, Zambrano).
Pedro will be fantastic, and I think Benson will be good, too...Glavine and Zambrano aren't terrible...but they're just not good enough, in my opinion.
Where are you wrong?? > Ishii, Benson, Zambrano. As a Met fan, I was really ready to fire someone when they traded for Zambrano. I just don't see him doing all that well. Benson has only ever diasppointed and Ishii, who at least seems to be able to perform at times, will give you hearburn.
Their hitting could do well if healthy, but I think they really need to work more on pitching, incuding SP depth and RP. I DO think that Glavine will have a good year now that he will be #2 - I think this helps him hugely.
ukrneal wrote:Where are you wrong?? > Ishii, Benson, Zambrano. As a Met fan, I was really ready to fire someone when they traded for Zambrano. I just don't see him doing all that well. Benson has only ever diasppointed and Ishii, who at least seems to be able to perform at times, will give you hearburn.
Their hitting could do well if healthy, but I think they really need to work more on pitching, incuding SP depth and RP. I DO think that Glavine will have a good year now that he will be #2 - I think this helps him hugely.
Glavine historically will play up to the standard of his team, so if the Mets are in contention I bet he'll step it up. Benson is on the verge of a breakout and Pedro is Pedro.
I think it is a pretty good possibility that the Mets make the post season, but I don't know, the NL East looks really good this year.
"I'm going to meet the greatest umpire of all, and he knows I'm innocent."
The Marlins might just be constructed better than any team in baseball....dollar for dollar no doubt. They have a great lineup - speed at the top, power in the middle, decent depth. They have a young staff with two potential studs in Beckett and Burnett, a solid #3 and 4 in Willis and Leiter and well, a sucky #5. They have a good bullpen and Mota should be solid, but if not, they have Alfonseca to back him up. I see no real holes on that entire team.
Then you look at the Braves. A GREAT pitching staff. Not much needs to be said about their top 2 in Hudson and Smoltz. Nice depth with Hampton, Thomson and Ramirez and a couple of minor leaguers waiting to get their chance. They have a solid closer in Kolb with pretty good bullpen depth. They have question marks in their lineup, especially in the OF, but they have enough options there so we'll see what emerges.
Now let's look at the Mets in comparison. Like the Braves and Marlins, their lienup is constructed pretty well. I'd say it might even be the best of the 3 if healthy. I think their is less risk in the Marlins lineup with health and age though, so I'd take Florida's linuep. They have speed at the top with Reyes and Matsui, big pop in the middle with Beltran, Piazza and Floyd and great depth with Cameron, Wright, and well one hole at 1B in terms of production. Where they don't even come close to matching either the Marlins or Braves is in pitching. Pedro is a great ace. Glavine and Benson make a decent but not spectacular 2,3 (I'd easily take Smoltz and Hampton and Burnett and Willis over them). What the Mets really lack is rotation depth though. The Trachsel injury really hurts them. Their bullpen will be below average if they are lucky. Looper is an ok closer but they have nothing to set him up. The Mets will lose plenty of games in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings. Are the Mets better? Yes, MUCH better. They are in a tough division though. The moves they made in the offseason only helped them move into the 3rd spot in the NL east for now, IMO.
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by matdemos » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:30 am 
