METS ACE ARMS RACE
Adding Verlander was huge but lineup could have used a boost
three-time AL Cy Young Award winner and 2011 MVP will be entering his age-40 season but he hasn’t shown many indications of decline. His winning pedigree is invaluable and if he competes with Max Scherzer, as the two did back in their Detroit Tigers days, it will make the rotation even better.
Quintana was signed during the winter meetings to give the Mets a left-handed veteran on the back end and picked up the option on another veteran backend starter in Carlos Carrasco. The big acquisition in the middle was Japanese righty Kodai Senga.
But no one truly knows how Senga will adapt to playing in North America, which is Quintana and Carrasco are so important to the overall starting depth. Right-hander Tylor Megill and left-hander David Peterson are around in case the Mets decide they want to use a six-man rotation to get Senga acclimated or to take starts in case of injuries.
The Mets played this perfectly.
There is depth, leadership, a couple of fireballers and some guys who know how to mix pitches, exploit hitters and get outs, even if they aren’t flashy about it. Age is a concern with so many pitchers over 30, but Megill and Peterson provide plenty of insurance.
BULLPEN: B
Losses: Williams, RHP Trevor May, RHP Seth Lugo, LHP Joely Rodriguez, RHP Mychal Givens
Additions: LHP Brooks Raley, RHP David Robertson, righthander Elieser Hernandez, righthander Zach Greene, RHP Jeff Brigham, LHP Stephen Ridings
Retained: RHP Adam Ottavino, RHP Edwin Diaz, LHP Joey Lucchesi, RHP Tommy Hunter
The biggest bullpen move of the winter was the first. The Mets signed Edwin Diaz to a five-year contract – a record of its kind for a reliever – shortly after the conclusion of the World Series. Diaz was arguably the best closer in baseball last season and the Mets didn’t want him going anywhere.
A five-year deal for a reliever is risky, but the Mets value him as one of the faces of the franchise.
The club put a great deal of emphasis on roster flexibility when it came to the bullpen, using the waiver wire and the Rule 5 draft to grab cost-efficient arms with options. But they did smartly supplement that with a proven high-leverage stopper in David Robertson and added an established left-hander in Raley. They also brought back Ottavino, who was a stalwart down the stretch for the Mets in 2022.
They also have Lucchesi, a swingman, making his return from Tommy John surgery and Megill and Peterson will factor into the bullpen plans in some capacity as well.
The 2023 bullpen looks a lot like the 2023 bullpen with a few more left-handed options. That bullpen had the 10th-best ERA in baseball (3.55 ERA) but it wasn’t without its struggles, especially late in the season.
Running the same bullpen back isn’t terrible, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mets make some upgrades throughout the season.
LINEUP: C+
Additions: C Omar Narvaez, reserve OF Tommy Pham
This is where the Mets are really running it back. The roster construction will be debated all season with the biggest question being whether or not the Mets need more power in the lineup.
Eppler likes athletes up and down the lineup who can get on base and hit for contact. The GM put together a lineup full of them last season and just about everyone from that lineup will return in 2023. That’s not bad, considering the Mets did have the thirdbest OPS+ last season (116). The lineup produced runs, but it also fizzled late in the season.
Correa wouldn’t necessarily have added a ton of home runs but he would have been a longterm solution at third base, a position the Mets have struggled to fill since David Wright’s injuries took him out of the game. Offensively, he would have been an upgrade over Eduardo Escobar. However, the Mets are still in good shape with Escobar lower in the order.
Catchers Narvaez and Nido hit well in from the No. 9 spot enough but aren’t exactly sluggers. Francisco Alvarez, one of the top prospects in baseball, could be a solution to the slugging problem but it’s unclear what his workload will be like next season. He could start the season in Triple-A.
Pham and DH Darin Ruf will see time against left-handers if the 21-year-old Alvarez isn’t used as a DH. If Ruf doesn’t bounce back, then the Mets might have to go in another direction to get production against lefties.
Eppler likes hitters who can beat pitchers in a myriad of ways. This Mets lineup can do that, but will it be enough in a division that features the homer-heavy Atlanta braves?