Mack asked –
This
is the time of the pre-season where I have normally written a post on my
prediction for the Mets, number of wins, final standing in the NL East, and
playoff results.
This year, I've turned it into the Q and A question.
What are your thoughts on this?
Eddie Corona says –
The 2018 Met's, what can we expect. We have 2 Aces on the staff and that
alone should be enough to be excited for the season.
We have a MVP caliber player with the potential of 40 plus
home runs and over 100 RBI's who has already lead this team to the Playoffs
twice. We have a young SS with the upside to take baseball by storm. So why
shouldn't we be excited about this team? Well because it’s not very good. The
rest of the pitching staff is filled with if's and maybe's. The Best player on
the team is coming back from an injury resulted from a swing and miss. There is
no leadership in the room and a collection of average players are well,
AVERAGE.
The best you can say about this team is they have the
Marlins, Phillies and the Braves in
their division except if the Braves No 1 farm system is ready to perform.
So with trying to look at this team through rose color
glasses, This team has the same look of last year’s team without the hope for a
Rosario and Smith (maybe Alonzo?) on the Horizon.
I see 78-84.
Reese Kaplan says –
Despite
the horrific Spring the New York Mets are mostly healthy (compared to 2017) and
should see more production from many of their key players. As a result, I see a quantum leap forward
from the Collins Catastrophe but I do expect some growing pains for Mickey Callaway as well. He's repeating some of his predecessor's
mistakes, such as not giving Jose Reyes reps in
the outfield, so there is the potential for weaknesses to be exposed.
The catching tandem is clearly better than how they started
the year with Rene Rivera inexplicably getting
way too many ABs. Adrian Gonzalez is a low cost gamble. Thus far he's not looked like he has much
left in the tank, but he has until Michael Conforto returns
to prove what he can do.
At that time the Mets may decide to play Brandon Nimmo semi regularly and push Jay Bruce to
1B. Then there's the possibility they
could promote Dominic Smith, too.
Asdrubal Cabrera is what he is. You have a full year of flashy defense and
speed from Amed Rosario. You have power and defense from Todd Frazier.
I'm still not fully convinced Matt
Harvey, Steve Matz or Zack Wheeler are
100% ready, but with Jason Vargas, Seth Lugo and
Robert Gsellman, there is some backup
available.
Anthony Swarzak and the returning bullpen components suggest the middle and
late inning firemen are not spraying gasoline.
My prediction is 84-78
which is a 14 game swing in the right direction, but not enough to take the
division and likely not enough to make the playoffs. Health and a solid season from one of the
three unstable starters could push them a little further. I think that will take 2nd place in the division.
Mike Friere says –
Usually
around this time of the year, most fans think that their team is going to be
better then they usually end up by season’s end. Overly optimistic, or looking at things
through rose colored glasses, perhaps?
After all, everyone is tied for first place on Opening Day.
With that said, I am no different when it come to the
Mets. In addition to my general
optimistic outlook on life, I tend to expect good things for my favorites
sports teams, prior to the start of their respective season(s).
Instead of trying to guess an exact record, which is tough to
do, I try to estimate a general range of wins for all of the teams in MLB. This range is sort of a “best case to worst
case” continuum and it is usually pretty accurate, since lots of things can
happen during a 162 game schedule.
Now the “smart ass” answer would be a range of 0 to 162 wins,
so that you have every last contingency covered. That is not what I am describing here. Instead, I try to put together a moderate
range that normally is anywhere from 5 to 10 games wide, so to speak. So without further adieu, here is my guess
for the NL East (to include our very own Mets);
Washington 95 to 100 wins
New York (N) 80 to 85 wins
Philadelphia 75 to 80
wins
Atlanta 75 to 80 wins
Miami 60 to 65 wins
This doesn’t mean that teams cannot exceed or underachieve
the listed totals. But, it is what I
think is most likely.
Second place and an outside shot at a WC spot, is my guess
for the Mets.
Mack says –
Boy,
this is a tough one for me this year because I don’t believe that this team
will end this season looking like it does when the season starts.
As
a ‘workout artist’, I took over a fair amount of failed businesses and I was
given the task of turning them profitable. You can’t do this overnight, especially when you have problems up and down the halls.
You
also can’t run for Fan of the Year. Some of your decisions will be tough and
your employees are not going to invite you to dinner after you make them.
This
team can make it to the playoffs, but only if they recognize they aren’t done
here yet.
We
all agree that good health, especially with the rotation, is tantamount to the
success of this team. The Fab 5 are all reaching the 6-inning level this week
and their pitch counts are close to 90 without an incident. I’m telling you…
collectively, they are capable of a 3.00-ERA and 60 wins without blinking. That being said, I would start the season with Swth Lugo replacing Zack Wheeler in the rotation and I'd let Wheeler try to solve his WHIP problem in the April-May pen.
I
believe the secret to success here is the removal of both the dead wood and the
past on this team. I would show Robles, Montero (after his TJS healing), Vargas (yeah, I know, he was
just ‘hired’… well, that doesn’t make it the right decision), Lobaton,
Gonzalez, Reyes, Kelly, and yes, David Wright the door.
Then,
and only then, would I stand a chance of instilling a new attitude with the
‘kids’ (plus Cabrera) left on the team.
Look at last night. The bats finally woke up, all from the guys you want on this team. What a perfect time to shake off the hitting rust.
Look at last night. The bats finally woke up, all from the guys you want on this team. What a perfect time to shake off the hitting rust.
“My
team’ would win the Wild Card, but I’m dreaming. No one on the Mets will do
what I would do.
My
prediction: 80-82 2nd Place Miss Playoffs
3 comments:
I like what I see from Cespedes, Conforto, Jake, Thor, Matt and Matz. That said, I am projecting around 90 wins, give or take.
I agree with the 90, but not because of the ST #s. Everyone is relatively healthy, and we have a better team than the one that was generally predicted to be in the P-S last season until the injuries hit.
Even Reese (despite his disabling OCD)is more optimistic than Mack, Mike and Eddie. Will wonders never cease?
Boy, lots of pessimism in the column but I'll agree with the commenters above, how about 90 wins and stealing the NL East by 2 games.
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