Ranking Phillies opponents in National League East
By John Town
No. 3: New York Mets
The Mets opened up this offseason with a bang when they acquired Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz from the Mariners. New general manager Brodie Van Wagenen showed he is ready to push the envelope and try to compete, but this roster may not have enough to stack up.
The obvious strength of the Mets is their rotation. They have the reigning NL Cy Young winner in Jacob deGrom. Noah Syndergaard is an ace-quality in the No. 2 spot of the rotation. Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler are more than capable mid-rotation starters. So long as this unit remains healthy, it is arguably the best in the division.
The lineup has gotten better thanks to the moves made in the offseason. Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto were the team’s best position players last year and should continue to be this year. Cano and Wilson Ramos should help make the top of the lineup pretty strong. Unfortunately for them, things aren’t as strong as you go further down, especially with injuries to Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie.
The bullpen has been a major concern in the last few years for the Mets, which they hoped to address with the additions of Diaz and Justin Wilson. They were able to keep Jeurys Familia around and Seth Lugo proved to be an effective long relief option. These four will all be leaned on heavily as the rest of the bullpen does not inspire that much confidence.
There is a lot of variance when looking at the Mets; they have a lot of upside but the bottom could fall out very quickly for them. Van Wagnen and the team are hoping the moves made can push the team back to the playoffs, but it remains to be seen if they will.