Let's Go Mets

Did I miss something major in this baseball offseason? Was the entire Mets roster swapped with the Pittsburgh Pirates' during the winter meetings?

Jimmy Rollins said recently that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East. He said, and I quote, "The Mets had a chance last year to go to the World Series...Congratulations, but last year is over." And, being more pointed, Rollins says, "We're the team to beat. I can't put it any other way."

Many analysts and experts have picked the Phillies to overtake the Mets in the standings this year. I can't understand why this is. The Phillies finished 12 games out of first place. Twelve. A full dozen back. It wasn't even that close. The Mets were on cruise control for the second half of the season. Maybe the Phillies had a huge offseason, got a couple of big-name veteran players that will cause them to make up 12 games. Oh wait, they did...they got Freddy Garcia in free agency. That's right, Freddy Garcia, former White Sox pitcher, and catcher Rod Barajas. Garcia's pretty good (he went 17-9 with a 4.54 ERA last season), but Barajas is an adequate catcher at best. The only way these two make a 12-game difference is if the Mets got a whole lot worse during the offseason.

In my opinion, the Mets haven't done anything to make themselves a lesser team during the offseason. Sure, they have a couple of questions in the starting rotation, but they won 97 games (tied for most in the majors) last season with a patchwork pitching staff. Alay Soler (bet you haven't heard of him), Brian Bannister (now a Kansas City Royal) and Jose Lima (JOSE FRIGGIN LIMA) all started games for the Mets last year. GM Omar Minaya has added many candidates to take the mound behind Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez, including John Maine and Oliver Perez, both of whom shined during the NLCS last year. Also, their prized pitching prospects, Phil Humber and Mike Pelfrey, are expected to be ready to contribute relatively quickly. The bullpen, although tweaked, remains the best in all of baseball, with Duaner Sanchez returning, along with Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner anchoring an area of great consistency. Their batting lineup, which has been called an "American League" lineup because of its potency, has only gotten better with the acquisition of Moises Alou to replace the injury-prone Cliff Floyd.

So I don't see how the Phillies are going to overtake the Mets this year, I really don't. In addition to the inferior lineup and bullpen, the Phillies play in Citizens Bank Ballpark, which is about as big as a softball field and plays as such. I think the Mets are going to absolutely run away with the division, and the race will be over by early July.