In the last three weeks, the conversation has largely shifted from if the Mets make the postseason to when. The question still remaining however, is whether this is a team capable of playing deep into October or not.
Bobby Valentine, who knows a thing or two about quality Mets baseball, believes this year’s club could win it all.
“I think they could win a World Series,” Valentine told me Saturday while I was covering the Mets game for WSOU–Seton Hall’s student radio station. “Those guys are healthy and they’re out there pitching. No one wants to play the New York Mets.
In addition to the pitching staff that are “compared to none,” Valentine said the 2015 Mets just have the right formula for postseason success.
“When you get really good talent and then you get really good health you have a chance of being more than competitive down the stretch, I think you have a chance of winning it,” he said.
The flurry of deadline deals, highlighted by the acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes, not only drastically improved an offense that was in dire need of assistance, but made a statement that the Mets were ready to play relevant baseball into the final weeks of the season. Valentine, who’s 1998 team benefited from the midseason trade for Mike Piazza, said it is a major confidence booster for a ball club when a front office chooses to buy at the deadline.
“It just changes the attitude,” he said. “Once the attitude changes, life is good. Guys go up there now feeling good about themselves.”
It is that attitude alteration, particularly on offense, that Valentine said puts the Mets over the top.
“They didn’t have enough confidence, now they have enough confidence on offense,” he said. “So they’re the team to beat.”
