According to the New York Daily News, Sandy Alderson believes that the New York Mets will win 90 games this season. 90 wins--even 80--is a lofty expectation for a baseball club that hasn't reached the playoffs since 2006 and hasn't had a winning record since 2008.
Still, coming off of back-to-back 74-88 finishes in the National League East, the Mets general manager told team personnel a couple of days ago that he believes the 2014 New York Mets will win 90 games.
When asked if the speculation was true, Alderson backed off a bit.
"All I'll say is we have higher expectations than we've had in the past," Alderson told the Daily News.
The Mets payroll will reach just $87 million heading into this season, and the team is coming into it with question marks at several positions and without their ace starter in Matt Harvey, who will likely miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October.
Aside from David Wright at third base, the Mets infield is full of question marks right out of the gate. Their first base situation is anything but ideal as the team has two sluggish lefties battling it out for the starting job. After the Mets had all but given up on Ike Davis and made it clear they were trying to trade the struggling first baseman, the team had to do an about-face after it couldn't find a partner this offseason.
That's not to say it's a lock that Davis will make the Opening Day roster, as a trade could still happen. After hitting just .203 in 2013 and even enduring a stint in the minors, it's unlikely that Davis will show the flashes of hitting 32 homers and racking up 92 RBIs as he did in 2012 with a strong second half.
Lucas Duda isn't a much better option as he hit just .223 and struck out 102 times in 318 at-bats last year.
Daniel Murphy is a solid hitter at second base, though his defense needs improvement. Ruben Tejada, who the team seemingly wanted to leave in the past, returned to camp from an off-season conditioning stint in "unimpressive" shape according to a team source who believed he looked the same. Tejada hit just .202 in 57 games last season before being sent down.
Wright is the captain and back bone of the team but needs to stay healthy as he's missed significant time two out of the last three seasons and if the Mets were to ever win 90 games they'd need their captain in the lineup. Wright hit .307 with 18 homers and 58 RBIs in 2013.
Behind the plate, Travis d'Arnaud has had just 99 big-league at-bats and will need to show improvement with his bat if he's to help the team reach such a lofty goal.
The team looked to improve the outfield by bringing in Curtis Granderson from the crosstown Yankees. Granderson sustained two freak injuries last year but should be healthy enough this year to make a difference. Still, it's doubtful that he'll put up the same home run numbers in spacious Citi Field that he put up in the Bronx bandbox. The team will hope that he'll go back to his mindset with the Detroit Tigers when he found the gaps with relative ease for extra base hits.
The Chris Young signing is a head scratcher considering that Nelson Cruz just signed a one-year $8 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles while the Mets signed Young--who was injured last year and hasn't hit above .257 in his entire career, to a $7.25 million pact. Alderson could get a pass on missing Cruz due to the fact that no one predicted such a low market to be attached to him, but winning 90 games seems a lot easier with Cruz in the lineup than Young.
The absence of a true leadoff hitter could drive Eric Young Jr. into the lineup if the team thinks he can raise his on-base percentage, possibly at the expense of Juan Lagares who has a solid arm and is strong all-around defensively while his bat is stagnant.
One place the Mets will shine in is pitching as even without Harvey the team has a formidable rotation with Zack Wheeler, Dillon Gee, Jonathon Niese and Bartolo Colon while a fifth starter is yet to be determined.
Wheeler will look to emerge this season now that he has some more MLB experience under his belt while Colon fills the veteran presence the team needs and the Mets will hope that at 40-years-old he can do what he did last year with the Athletics where he went 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA-which might be a lot to ask for.
Niese is being evaluated for shoulder discomfort which would be a big blow for the team, but at least it has young arms in Noah Syndegaard and Rafael Montero waiting in the wings.
With so many holes and question marks, the Mets would be lucky to finish better than the 74-88 mark they've had the last two years, let alone win 90 games.
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