Ernest Dove - Can power and pitching carry Mets to 81+ wins ?

Last time I checked, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy were still on the Mets. With that being said, let's break down the CURRENT Mets, and wonder if this team can finally break .500.

If you go strictly by numbers, and positions, things don't seem that great. Basically, at this point in the winter, The Mets have seemingly replaced Marlon Byrd with Curtis Granderson, EY Jr. in the starting lineup with Chris Young, and the great Matt Harvey with Bartolo Colon. (I'll wait while all Mets fans burst out in anger). But, what do we really have here? What we seem to still have is power. Power arms, and power hitting. Whoever eventually rounds out the rotation for the Mets in April, the ultimate summer plan is to inject more life into it by inserting either Rafael Montero, Noah Sydergaard, or both. So, what you basically have is more youthful, and powerful arms, to go with Niese, Wheeler, Colon, Mejia and a steady Gee.

Depending on health (like alot of questions on this team), the Mets would conceivably have plenty more heat in the bullpen, headed by Parnell, Black, Edgin, and Familia. Bottom line is that the Mets can have a lot of 90 plus heat coming off the rubber. As for the hitting, it's lookin like the Mets may be going with the Atlanta Braves approach. A lot of 'swing and a miss', mixed with 'ITS OUTTA HERE' (in Gary Cohen voice).

Look, say what you want about the Curtis Granderson signing. Fact is that, in 2012, he hit 43 homers (yeah yeah yeah, Yankees....short porch in right....blah blah blah). Last time I checked, Ike Davis belted 32 homers while playing home games at Citi Field. And yes, Granderson is coming off a few freak injuries. Meanwhile, when Marlon Byrd was signed to this team, his last double digit homer season was back in 2010, when he it 12. Same goes for Chris Young. His batting average is terrible, but he is also a guy who has had double digit homers every year of his career (minus a rookie year in which he only appeared in 30 games).

We all love EY Jr. spunk, and energy, but he was playing the outfield, and he has 7 homers...... in his career. So hear me out. Daniel Murphy can hit 10+ homers. David Wright can hit 20+ homers. Granderson can hit 20+ homers. Young can hit 15+ homers. Duda/Davis can hit 20+ homers. d'Arnoud projects out to 15+ homers. It all adds up to a lot more homers in 2014. And, let me get back to David Wright for a second. Check the stats, David Wright's best statistical year was in 2008. The guy hitting behind David Wright that year was Carlos Beltran. Now, I'm not saying that Curtis Granderson is Beltran. But, give the guy some credit for being a threat at the plate. With that being said, I'm hereby declaring that David Wright, currently playing in the prime of his career, without any hassles over contract issues, will have an MVP season in 2014.

Whether its Curtis Granderson, a resurgent Davis/Duda, or some steal Sandy Alderson gets from a team from now until April, I am predicting a cleanup hitter will have enough power to help David Wright put up monster numbers. With an MVP candidate, a lineup filled with 'potential' 15-30+ homer guys, combined with a steady Niese, quality start throwing Gee, The GUY who was projected to be better then Harvey (Wheeler), the starting pitcher version of Latroy Hawkins (Colon), Rafeal Montero, and THOR adding to the good problem of too much pitching, the Mets are poised to be more then 'that other' New York team with cheap owners in 2014. Even if you subtract the power of Murphy, and insert the powerless option of EY Jr. at second, that would hopefully have resulted in a new shortstop, with more pop then Tejada, anyway in a trade. Consider this my most optimistic post of the summer.

The Mets will not be a punchline in 2014. Zack Wheeler will be the real deal as a full time starter. Sydnergaard will pitch his way onto the mound, and win games. David Wright at least top 5 in MVP voting. d'Arnoud will be the hitter everyone expected him to be. At least one of the two (Mejia/Familia) will be healthy all season, and produce a lot of outs. The Mets will win at least 82 games...... Thank you for coming out, God bless you and good night (drops the mic).