An MMO Fan Shot by Bryan S.
The question on everyone’s minds is, will the Mets get back to the World Series this season? Well, there’s no doubt that they’ll be a better ball club in 2016. They’ve improved at second base, they’ll have all-star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes for a full season this time around, and their young pitching rotation now has World Series seasoning under their belts. Long story short, their success shouldn’t have to wait till the trade deadline this time around. It should come early and it should come often.
So how did Chicago get such a jump on New York? Well, let’s break this down.
The Cubs decided to take the addition route to bolster their already stellar lineup. The team added four marquee names to their 97-win roster, while losing Starlin Castro, Dexter Fowler and Chris Denorfia in the process. The Cubs also stripped a pair of marquee additions away from their primary division rival St. Louis Cardinals.
First and foremost, is two-time World Series champion and former All-Star starting pitcher John Lackey. At 37, he should have a few years left in the tank. The right hander is coming off a 13-win season and should slot in behind Jon Lester at the three spot. Meanwhile, three-time defending Gold Glove winner Jason Heyward also came over from the Cards. The team also added Ben Zobrist to take over for Castro at second, along with Adam Warren to help cement the bullpen.
The Mets, on the other hand, took a more steady approach to the offseason. They decided to lock up some key pieces and fill in the necessary holes without rocking the boat too much.
They lost 12 players this past winter to free agency, most notably of which was Daniel Murphy at second base. Murphy went looking for dollars and found just that in Washington. He signed a three-year $37.5 million dollar deal with the NL East rival Nats. After the Mets lost out in the Ben Zobrist sweepstakes to Chicago, they acted fast. They brought in 2B Neil Walker from Pittsburgh in a trade and then quickly locked up SS Asdrubal Cabrera to a two-year deal.
Their biggest move though came in the form of Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets were able to stealthily work out a three-year $75 million dollar deal with Yoenis, despite the Nationals reportedly peddling out five-years and $100 million although much of that was reportedly deferred. So without adding too many pieces, the Mets solidified their infield and outfield for the 2016 season.
The Mets also significantly upgraded their bullpen compared to what they trotted out last opening day and manager Terry Collins now has some veteran arms he can rely upon besides his elite closer Jeurys Familia. And really, that’s nothing to sneeze at, considering they have a rotation armed with four of the hardest throwers in the game in Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz. They’ll also (hopefully) welcome back Zack Wheeler from Tommy John surgery to round out the rotation in early July.
From top to bottom, the Mets have all of the pieces and tools to get back to the big dance and quite frankly, another monster year should easily be in the cards only this time with a much happier ending.
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