<\/p>\n
Optimism starts small; will the Mets improve on 2011’s record? \u00a0Are they a better team? \u00a0Will they perform better?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m leaning towards yes. \u00a0 Losing Reyes, Pagan and Beltran is a big hit, but the Mets offense is still pretty strong. \u00a0Lucas Duda<\/a><\/strong> looks like a solid player. \u00a0Andres Torres<\/a><\/strong> may not be great, but even if he’s not good the Mets have high hopes for Kirk Nieuwenhuis<\/a><\/strong> coming up pretty quickly. \u00a0David Wright<\/a><\/strong> and Ike Davis<\/a><\/strong> are healthy, and Daniel Murphy<\/a><\/strong> should get some more playing time as well. \u00a0Josh Thole<\/a><\/strong> and Ruben Tejada<\/a><\/strong> may not be the best, but they’re pretty good at not making out and keeping the line moving. \u00a0This team won’t have problems scoring runs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bullpen is clearly slated to be better. \u00a0Francisco Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong> will not be here, but the Mets added Frank Francisco<\/a>,\u00a0Ramon Ramirez<\/a><\/strong>, and Jon Rauch<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0Some injury concerns, but the bullpen has some pretty good depth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The starters are where the big questions come in. \u00a0The Mets lost Chris Capuano<\/a><\/strong>, who did a pretty good job for them. \u00a0Good job aside, his eminently replaceable 1.7 rWAR is not going to handicap them much. \u00a0Johan Santana<\/a><\/strong> is slated to take that spot, provided he does not have a setback during Spring Training. \u00a0Despite this serious possibility I have faith Santana can at least approach the 1.7 rWAR Capuano gave the Mets. \u00a0Even if he’s somewhat diminished, he’s a smart competitor that should be able to get by with somewhat reduced ability. \u00a0 \u00a0With luck bouncing a little more in Pelfrey’s favor this season, and Jon Niese’s\u00a0peripherals\u00a0leading to a better ERA, it’s possible the Mets starters will be better too. \u00a0It probably hinges most on health, but that’s an argument and concern for every team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So there’s a very high-level argument for the Mets being better. \u00a0We can worry about how much better another time, particularly as it pertains to the other NL East teams and their records. \u00a0Specifically, it’ll be decided on the field with the games being played, not on a blog or newspaper somewhere before the season even starts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Optimism starts small; will the Mets improve on 2011’s record? \u00a0Are they a better team? \u00a0Will they perform better? I’m leaning towards yes. \u00a0 Losing Reyes, Pagan and Beltran is a big hit, but the Mets offense is still pretty strong. \u00a0Lucas Duda looks like a solid player. \u00a0Andres Torres may not be great, … <\/p>\n