Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, ranked which teams had the best offseason and had the Angels ranked first followed by the Yankees, Rangers, Cardinals and Tigers rounding out the top five. The Mets were ranked 27th.
27. METS – They lost their most exciting player (Reyes) and their best hitter (Beltran), so established players like David Wright and Jason Bay have to bounce back. They dealt Pagan to the Giants for outfielder Andres Torres, and added bullpen pieces in Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, and Ramon Ramirez. Johan Santana returns from a major shoulder injury, but what are you getting?
Cafardo had the Padres, Athletics and Astros as the only teams ranked worse than the Mets.
The Mets are banking on healthy returns from key players such as Johan Santana and Ike Davis, and comeback seasons from Mike Pelfrey, Jason Bay and David Wright who are each coming off the worst seasons of their careers.
As far as new additions go, they have replaced Frankie Rodriguez and Jason Isringhausen with Frank Francisco and Ramon Ramirez, and Andres Torres will replace Angel Pagan in centerfield and most likely Jose Reyes in the leadoff spot. Jon Rauch was also added to the bullpen, while Ronny Cedeno, Omar Quintanilla and a few other minor league signings will help fill bench roles.
