NL East spring primer: New York Mets and Washington Nationals
With less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, here is a primer on the rest of the National League East.
With less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, here is a primer on the rest of the National League East. Thursday: Miami and Atlanta. Friday: New York and Washington.
New York Mets
2015 Record: 90-72
Additions: 2B Neil Walker, SS Asdrubal Cabrera, LHP Antonio Bastardo, OF Alejandro De Aza
Subtractions: 2B Daniel Murphy, LHP Jon Niese, OF Michael Cuddyer, IF Kelly Johnson
No team had a stranger offseason than the Mets, whose fans spent months spewing fury at the team's ownership for a perceived lack of spending, only for Yoenis Cespedes to fall in their lap. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart, but the Mets did not budge on free agents' contractual demands. So when Cespedes' market collapsed, and New York looked more and more like a suitable destination, the Mets re-signed him on their terms. Sort of.
The return of Cespedes removes pressure from every other hitter in the lineup. The Mets will have a full season of Michael Conforto, who impressed as a midseason call-up. The revamped infield of Walker and Cabrera, which will sacrifice defense for offense, looks formidable at the bottom of the lineup. Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson will be hard pressed to repeat their level of success from a season ago, but the deeper lineup can sustain slumps.
Oh, and the pitching. The Mets have pitching. They have Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, a full season of Steven Matz, and portly Bartolo Colon. Zack Wheeler is due back sometime during the summer. The Mets could employ a six-man rotation early in the season, with Logan Verrett as a suitable option.
This is a team with momentum after years of ineptitude.
Washington Nationals
2015 Record: 83-79
Additions: 2B Daniel Murphy, OF Ben Revere, LHP Oliver Perez, RHP Shawn Kelley, IF Stephen Drew
Subtractions: RHP Jordan Zimmermann, OF Denard Span, RHP Doug Fister, RHP Drew Storen, IF Yunel Escobar
The Nationals have averaged 90.8 wins over the last four seasons. They have won three postseason games and zero series.
It is staggering to think the Stephen Strasburg Era could end in Washington without a modicum of postseason success. Strasburg is a free agent after 2016. He was shut down before the postseason in 2012, with Nationals officials saying it was best for both the player and team. And, ever since then, it's as if the baseball gods have punished Washington for that hubris.
The Nationals have blamed their ongoing TV rights dispute with Baltimore and MASN for why their targeted free agents refused Washington's deferred money for better deals elsewhere. They settled for Murphy, the Mets' postseason hero, as their top addition.
A new manager, the Nationals hope, will stabilize the clubhouse melodrama of 2015. Dusty Baker must tame Jonathan Papelbon, who returns as the closer and crotch-grabbing teammate choker. Revere joins the cadre of former Phillies in Washington. The rotation must replace a mainstay in Zimmermann from within.
But Bryce Harper, the league's best player, is 23. Trea Turner, while he may start 2016 in the minors, is a budding infield star. Anthony Rendon has so much promise, if he could just stay on the field. Max Scherzer is insane, even as he nears the twilight of his prime years. Lucas Giolito could be the game's next great young pitcher.
The gods, though, are watching.