AND WITH IT WINS AND LOSSES,
IS REMARKABLY ALMOST UPON US.
Casey Stengel, if he were alive today, might just ask,
"Hey, how will them Metsies do in 2021?"
A fine baseball site called Fangraphs projects 2021 MLB teams' winning %'s, and projected runs scored and runs surrendered by each team.
I am not sure how often it is updated, but it had the Yankees, Dodgers, and Padres as # 1 through # 3 in win %.
Not too far behind at number 4? Your NY Mets, at .564, which equals about 91 wins, the Braves at a close-by .550, the Nats at .512, the Phillies at .492, and Marlins well behind at .437. which is about 71 wins.
It also had the Mets scoring 4.87 runs per game, and allowing 4.25 runs per game, which equals a a +100 in total season scoring.
So, Casey asked me to ask you....Whaddya think?
Too soon. Too many unknowns.
ReplyDeleteI make that prediction at the end of Spring Training.
Jimmy
Right now, I'd put the Mets and Nats in a battle for third place. Braves still the top of the N.L. East.
ReplyDeleteMeant second place. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteJimmy, it sure is too early, but the bright side is that projected W-L % is far higher than 2020's actual.
ReplyDeleteBob W, I think right now it is Braves, Mets, Nats. Sandy needs to make more moves to make that Mets, Braves, Nats.
I agree with both Jimmy and Tom. The roster is not set yet, and where it is right now, the 2021 Mets are better than the 2020 Mets. I haven't yet figured out if the Braves are better than the Mets, or if the Nats are better than either, or ... As Jimmy says, that exercise will come about a week before opening day.
ReplyDeleteHow much better are the 2021 Mets than 2020?
ReplyDeleteI mean, before Stroman and Thor were lost for the season -- and before we knew that Matz would be horrible?
The 2021 pen seems marginally improved. May is a big plus. I thought and hoped we were going after another big late-inning arm when the Hand negotiations went deep. We lost Wilson and Schreve (who could give you two innings) and replaced them with a LOOGY. Are we counting on Benetiz and Familia? Or the fringe guys that we signed at around $1 million each to emerge and be awesome?
But of course, this was back when Sandy felt sure that Bauer was the play -- that we were going to blow it all on Bauer.
If no DH, it's the same outfield as last year, minus Marisnick.
McNeil at 2B over Cano, okay, but RC did hit extremely well in 2020.
So there are two big pieces: Lindor is way beyond Rosario/Gimenez. And we're hoping that McCann is at the right moment in his career to be the prime-time catcher and hold up across the full season. He's an improvement over Ramos, defensively, certainly.
I mean, it was argued by some people -- before the Lindor trade -- that the Mets could go with Gimenez glove at SS, hope the offense continues to develop -- and bring in Springer in CF as a RH bat. In 2-3 years, he shifts to corner. A far cheaper way to go. If we bring in Lindor and a no-hit glove in CF, have we improved the offense that much? At twice the price?
Is the bench better? I guess that's not finished yet. We're locked into Nido, Guillorme, and Almora.
So, yes, the team is better. Carrasco, even post-cancer, at age 34, looks like a very fine addition.
Of course, no one is hurt yet, and (in our minds) they are all playing up to expectations. In that respect, the 2021 team will always have an advantage over the 2020 team.
I'm happy about the Cleveland trade, mostly, though we are in a position now where we absolutely must give Lindor some kind of 12/$340 type deal or watch him walk. We gave up quite a bit for that privilege. Look at the Arenado deal.
In any of those deals -- May, Lindor, McCann -- did Sandy really do anything remarkable. He opened Steve's checkbook.
Solid pickups. Some good shopping. So far.
Jimmy
Yep, Jimmy...they still have astute shopping to do.
ReplyDelete