Pitchers and Catchers Report Today!
mfpark said:
The long winter of our discontent is coming to a close.
To be made glorious summer by these Mets of New York?
(As for my team: A horse! A horse! My rotation needs a horse!)
Ah, two bats I'd love in the order: Richard Allen third, Henry Aaron fifth.
Last season was an awesome ride for we Mets fans. I don't expect the same this year but I like the look of the team and I think it will be a competitive season for them.
I'll be looking forward to the season opener this year more than I have in many years!
NL Predictions (I dunno nuttin' about the AL)
NL East Mets
NL Central Cubs
NL West Giants
NL Wild Card Cardinals
I know that's pretty mainstream but it's hard not to put your money on those teams. Mets and Cubs are going to be scary good.
jeffl said:
NL Predictions (I dunno nuttin' about the AL)
NL East Mets
NL Central Cubs
NL West Giants
NL Wild Card Cardinals
I know that's pretty mainstream but it's hard not to put your money on those teams. Mets and Cubs are going to be scary good.
Thanks for jinxing them both.
I think the Nationals will win the NL East this year,
Mets get the wc.
These days it all depends on injuries. Between the nats and the Mets whoever stays healthy will win.
mikescott said:
I think the Nationals will win the NL East this year,
Mets get the wc.
why do you think Nationals will win division?
Eh. I prefer the 1980 Astros series (though Mr. Scott was elsewhere at the time).
DaveSchmidt said:
Eh. I prefer the 1980 Astros series (though Mr. Scott was elsewhere at the time).
Both LCS were fun.
In NL, Phils and Astros evenly matched. If you were a Phillies fan, by 7th inning game 5 you were wondering if you would even bother watching the series. Ryan was nearly unhittable.
In AL, Mets fans and Yankee haters in general watched the Royals beat them 3 straight. Highlight for me is Brett's homer off Gossage.
Nationals have pitching, hitting and a new manager.
Just a gut feeling. Everyone expected them to win last year and they imploded. This year people are picking the mets....
Nats can throw out 3 quality starters (arguably 2). Mets have six with Wheeler. Nats have crappy infield outside Rendon. If anyone competes with the Mets, it's Donnie Baseball's Fish.
Mets infield is nothing to brag about. mets bullpen is so-so. and met's outfield is average defensively.
with this lineup, the Nats better pitch:
http://rotochamp.com/baseball/TeamPage.aspx?TeamID=WAS
I'm a Mets fan, so I don't get overconfident. But I just don't see the Nats being better than last year unless some guys play over their heads. The ceiling on some of their veteran guys like Werth, Zimmerman, and Ramos is pretty much what they did last year. Maybe they can recapture their youth and have better seasons, but that's not what any team should be counting on.
The Mets OTOH, aren't counting on guys to recapture past glory. If their lineup gives them what they did in '15, they'll be fine. And if someone like Wright or Granderson drops off a lot, they can give more ABs to Conforto and Flores.
All that said, it will indeed come down to injuries more than likely. Neither the Mets nor the Nats have enough depth to withstand too many guys on the DL for extended periods.
mets depend a lot on Cespeddes and he is inconsistent. Grandy still strikes out too often for a number 2 hitter and Wright needs to stay healthy for a full season.
But agreed about the lack of depth on both teams.
I said basically it was just a gut feeling the Nats would have a good season.
on the contrary the mets infield is something to brag about. Wright, Cabrera/Flores, Walker, Duda and D'Arnaud. Not forgetting about Plawecki, Tejada and a rising Dilson Herrera. although the Mets should have gone out and got a true 3B back up for Wright.
The Outfield is a top notch N.L. offensive outfield if Conforto's numbers last year bear out over a full season. and not sure how anyone could reasonably categorize Cespedes as inconsistent. the only truly inconsistent thing about him is the uniform on his back. the guy has 2 straight 100 rbi seasons, would have likely had 4 straight had he not played in Oakland.
only their bullpen shows a weakness and not a big one.
looking at this thing dispassionately, odds are the Mets are a 100 win team barring injury.
mikescott said:
mets depend a lot on Cespeddes and he is inconsistent. Grandy still strikes out too often for a number 2 hitter and Wright needs to stay healthy for a full season.
But agreed about the lack of depth on both teams.
I said basically it was just a gut feeling the Nats would have a good season.
The lineup the Mets have now is the one that pulled the team up from 15th in the NL in scoring at the end of July to 7th in the NL in scoring by the end of the season.
Again, I'm not crazy enough to pull a Bryce Harper "where's my ring?" But I do know that the Mets need only get average years out of their lineup to score a decent amount of runs. The Nats need 2-3 key guys to turn back the clock and have better years than their last couple. It could happen that the Mets' hitters have terrible years and the Nats veterans rebound. But anyone who was going to put money on what they thought was going to happen probably wouldn't bet on it.
The Mets can suffer some injuries to their pitching staff and still throw 3 aces out there. No other team has that pitching depth.
jeffl said:
The Mets can suffer some injuries to their pitching staff and still throw 3 aces out there. No other team has that pitching depth.
Well, in fairness the Royals just signed Dillon Gee.
Ok, let me get the obvious out of the way. David Wright is a great guy, a team leader, still a decent line drive hitter when he is healthy, and a lock for eventual manager of the Mets.
But he is damaged goods and has lost most of his range and power. My guess is the Mets acquire a one-year rental third baseman sooner than later. 2017 Free Agents at 3B include Justin Turner, Mark Reynolds, Juan Uribe, Adrian Beltre, Martin Prado, and Chris Johnson. Expect to see one of these wearing a Mets uniform before the trading deadline.
mfpark said:
Ok, let me get the obvious out of the way. David Wright is a great guy, a team leader, still a decent line drive hitter when he is healthy, and a lock for eventual manager of the Mets.
But he is damaged goods and has lost most of his range and power. My guess is the Mets acquire a one-year rental third baseman sooner than later. 2017 Free Agents at 3B include Justin Turner, Mark Reynolds, Juan Uribe, Adrian Beltre, Martin Prado, and Chris Johnson. Expect to see one of these wearing a Mets uniform before the trading deadline.
I suspect that if David Wright can't play at least 120 games this season at a reasonably high level he will retire after 2016. I'm not sure that they won't just turn the position over to Wilmer Flores if he can develop into a 25 HR a year guy. He hit a hr every 30 AB last year, so it's not out of the question.
there is no way Wright will do 120+ games. Zero chance. Let's hope Walker can play a good 3B b/c as much as I love Flores, he just ain;t the answer at 3B.
At 24 years of age, Wilmer could very well improve given the opportunity.
The long winter of our discontent is coming to a close.