The New York Mets’ addition of right-handed reliever Dellin Betances on Christmas Eve was a pleasant surprise and should bode well for the Metsies’ relief corps, but general manager Brodie Van Wagenen still has a number of items to cross off his offseason to-do list before the Mets attempt to dethrone the Washington Nationals.
With a bullpen littered with closer-level arms in Betances, Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, and Jeurys Familia, one of the Mets’ glaring weaknesses in 2019 could be a reinforced pillar of stability in 2020.
The Mets positional lineup, as it stands today and fresh off a 104 team wRC+ last season — second in the National League — has an inside track to do some damage as the young core continues to come into their own.
Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso, each of identical 143 wRC+ ratings in 2019 and 4.8 and 4.6 wins above replacement (FanGraphs), respectively, are primed to lead the way.
Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, and J.D. Davis should provide plenty of offense. And hey, if Yoenis Cespedes contributes anything at all, that’s a win, too.
The Mets’ starting rotation took a hit with the loss of Zack Wheeler, but the reigning two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, Jacob deGrom, followed by Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, and a combination of Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha has the underlying potential to pick up close to where that group left off.
Though, Van Wagenen can’t stop here and expect to usurp the also-reinforced Nats, Phillies, and Braves.
Adding a defensive-minded complement behind the plate to offset Wilson Ramos’ deficiencies back there would be wise. With Jason Castro is still lingering on the market, Brodie should very much be exploring his options.
The Starling Marte trade ship may have sailed, but another, more offensively adept center field option to shift Jake Marisnick into a true fourth outfielder role couldn’t hurt either.
But for a team that was the cream of the game’s crop over the second half of 2019 (46-26), the value fallout from last year’s departures shouldn’t leave the Mets’ talent deficit in the NL East insurmountable in 2020.
There’s more than enough talent here to compete. A few more cogs to reinforce the bottom line could be all this roster needs.
