2008 Preview - New York Mets, Part II

Written by Colin on February 20, 2008 – 8:21 am

We’ve all heard it.  The Mets traded for Johan Santana and they no longer have any flaws.  They’re the strongest team in baseball.  In fact, the Mets could put on skates and beat the 1980 Olympic USSR hockey team, according to some Mets blogs.  You are all also familiar with my stance - Santana is a fine fix for now, but is not a blanket solution for every issue they face as a team.  But, since they traded for Johan Santana after I wrote my initial Mets 2008 Preview, I have to redo this along with my pre-season division predictions.

The Offense:  This is the same as before, so skip it if you read last time.  Still not impressed with the age we see from some of the players.  Not impressed with Ryan Church or Brian Schneider.  But they do have some heat down the core of the lineup.  Here’s what I wrote last time around.

The Mets have a strong backbone offensively consisting of Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Jose Reyes. Both powerful and efficient, they were second in the NL in batting average and fourth in runs scored in 2007. We won’t see any major changes going into 2008, save the loss of Lastings Milledge and the addition of Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. Schneider and Church are average players - nothing that will seriously bolster the lineup. In fact, Schneider may be the weakest spot in this lineup, ranking 24th out of 29 catchers (with over 300 plate appearances) in batting average and home runs. The loss of Milledge won’t be evident next season, but may be in a few years. We’ll likely see similar offensive production from the Mets next year - not quite at the top of the heap, but more potent than the average lineup.

The Defense:  Same as before.  Not gonna rehash it.  Visit the initial writeup if you want.

Starting Pitching:  Johan Santana impacted this, sure.  They’re no longer relying on an aging Pedro Martinez (who had what, 5 starts last year?) as their #1 starter.  He’s now their number 2.  They swear up and down he’s the best #2 in the NL East (Yeah, right.  That’s like us saying Hampton is the best #4 in the NL East - aging guys returning from injuries shouldn’t be lauded as “the best” anything in any city).  Pedro is not a guarantee - last 20 season win was in the year 2002 with Boston.  Santana will be good as he makes a successful transition to the National League.  I think he’ll provide help to the Mets and solidify their rotation, because John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Orlando Hernandez aren’t quite the epitome of stability and consistency.  I’ll give their upgraded rotation a 4 out of 5.  No, Santana isn’t worth 12 stars all by himself, fanboys.

Relief Pitching: As from last time…

Billy Wagner anchors the bullpen as the closer, and he’s every bit as effective as he has been over the past few years - definitely one of the elite closers in all of baseball. That’s about where the bright spot ends for the Mets - they have a couple decent arms in Scott Schoeneweis (who makes $3.6 mil a year??) and the recently acquired Matt Wise, but there are overall ERA issues. The bullpen posted a 4.03 ERA in 2007 - worse than the 3.28 in 2006. This is another area that is not particularly strong for the Mets, but they have potential.

Coaching:  Randolph has to show he can recover from last year’s collapse.  That was ugly.

Recap:  So the Mets upgraded their rotation and it now includes Johan Santana.  They’ve got offensive tools, and now they have a good rotation to back it up.  Their bullpen needs a bit of work, but if the back end of their rotation holds together, that’ll help.  The Mets are a dangerous team this year - they worry me along with the Phillies.  But the addition of Santana, for me, doesn’t elevate the Mets above the Phils and the Braves.  Three team race going into September, guys.

Tags: 2008 Preview, Johan Santana, New York Mets
Posted in League Analysis |