The 2023 Mets Prediction Is In!
The time has come once again when I predict what the upcoming Mets season will be like. Will all of the money they spent result in a parade down the Canyon of Heroes on a chilly early November morning? Or will this team be a $400 million (or wherever the payroll ends up) disappointment?
Well, before we look ahead, let’s look back. The 2022 Mets won 101 games, which was pretty impressive (the last week of the season and the Wild Card series against the Padres was less so). But they did it with solid years from virtually every player. What are the odds that happens again, what with everyone a year older (and the Mets have a lot of key guys in their mid-30s and beyond)?
Can Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar repeat their 2022 performances? They’d better, because the lineup is virtually unchanged from last season, except for the still baffling signing of Omar Narvaez. Is he really an upgrade over James McCann? Considering the Mets are paying $11 million of McCann’s salary with the Orioles. they are spending $19 million on a starting catcher. That’s a lot of money for likely not a lot of production. I expect Tomas Nido to seize the starting job at some point, unless Francisco Alvarez pushes the issue with a hot start in AAA.
I’ve been saying for years that the Mets are one bat short. They seemed to fill that void with Carlos Correa. but we all know how that worked out. Unless Alvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos or Ronny Mauricio come up and set the world on fire, the Mets will still be one bat short. And that will leave them short of the division title, regardless of how good the pitching is.
Speaking of that, how good will the pitching be? Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are obviously first-ballot Hall of Famers coming off excellent years, but age will catch up with them eventually. Let’s hope it’s not this season. Kodai Senga is a wild card — he can be the Rookie of the Year or a bust. The rest of the rotation just needs to be respectable.
The bullpen looked to be a strength with some pretty good offseason pickups, but of course, Edwin Diaz is now gone. The impact of everyone moving up a slot will not be known until the season begins.
So the big question is this — are the Mets better than the team that won 101 last season? I say it is pretty much the same, with some very real possibilities of being worse. Still, I think they are good enough for 95 or so wins. However, the Braves and Phillies improved their teams more than the Mets, so I think they will both finish ahead of them in what promises to be a dogfight in the NL East. Put me down for Braves on top, the Phillies second with the Mets close behind. Both the Phillies and Mets will be Wild Card teams.
As far as the rest of the league, I think the Brewers and Padres will win their respective divisions, with the Marlins being the surprise team, taking the third Wild Card. That’s right, no Dodgers — their reign of terror is over!
Over in the AL, the stupid Yankees, Twins and Mariners will win their respective divisions, with the Astros, Blue Jays and Angels nabbing Wild Card berths (I pick the Angels every year and am always wrong, so I fear not picking them and this will be their year!).
I think given the top of their rotation, the Mets are a threat in a short series, so let’s put them in the World Series against, say, the Mariners. And the Mets win it all! Do I really believe this? Sure, why not.