The New York Mets have been surprisingly active this offseason. Whether it’s been through trades or free agency signings, General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen has made it clear he wants the Mets to contend in 2019.
TheNew York Mets, based on what we have seen, are going for it this year and beyond.
While the Mets are coming off two terrible seasons, I see more of the 2015 Mets coming through, not the 2018 Mets.
To start, the Mets have always had the pitching talent to compete with anybody in baseball. Last season, the club posted a3.54 ERA for their starting rotation, good for 6th in all of baseball.
And while they have had some bright spots at the plate, the last couple of seasons have largely been marred by injury, which has led to under qualified players being inserted into the everyday lineup.
This sentiment is also echoed for the rotation too.
Over the last two seasons,Jacob deGrom,Noah Syndergaard,Zack Wheeler, andSteven Matzhave all been on the disabled list on numerous occasions.
So what makes the Mets squad going into 2019 any different from ones from previous years?
Well, it would be foolish of me to say this year’s team will be any less injury prone. Every team goes through injuries, it just seems to happen to the Mets more often than others.
The difference this year is that we now have the depth capable of combatting these inevitable injuries.
Van Wagenen has made a plethora of moves to bring in quality ball players to ensure we won’t have sub par players to fill in when players get hurt.
He brought in outfielder and defensive wizardKeon Broxtonfrom the Brewers. He traded forJ.D. Davisfrom the Astros and signed 2018 All-StarJed Lowrie, two players who can defensively can play all across the diamond.
There’s also the signing of another 2018 All-Star,Wilson Ramos, who will add depth to the Catcher position by moving the often injuredTravis d’Arnudto the bench.
Even the bullpen got upgrades to its depth, with the signings ofJeuyrs Familia,Luis Avilan, and thereported signing of Justin Wilson.
And, of course, we can’t forget about the trade that brought inEdwin DiazandRobinson Canofrom the Mariners.
All of these moves may seem like nonsense in the eye of some Mets fans. And I get that, considering the incompetence we’ve been dealing with for what seems like forever now.
However, I feel as if the franchise is turning a corner. The depth on this team is something we haven’t seen since the team made it to the World Series in 2015.
Overall, Mets fans should be encouraged by these moves, not the other way around.
We obviously still have been unable to pull in the biggest free agent names, likeManny MachadoandBryce Harper, and that mainly because of the owner’s unwillingness to spend a ton of money.
But we finally have a competent General Manager willing to make moves to improve the team as a whole, and I believe it will pay off in the near future.
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