A pitcher on the New York Mets won a Cy Young in 2012. Unfortunately for Mets fans, he’s no longer on the team. R.A. Dickey was shipped to Toronto for “hopefully” the Mets future franchise catcher, Travis d’Arnaud.
Will the Mets survive without R.A. Dickey anchoring their rotation?
Is the Mets financial woes still occurring or is the team still looking to dump more salary?
Here is the 2013 MLB season preview for the New York Mets.
2012 Win/Loss Record: 74-88
Key Additions: C John Buck, C Travis d’Arnaud, P Shaun Marcum, P Brandon Lyon, P Scott Atchison, OF Corey Patteron, OF Marlon Byrd, P LaTroy Hawkins, P Pedro Feliciano, P Aaron Laffey, OF Colin Cowgill, 2B Brandon Hicks
Key Losses: P R.A. Dickey, C Kelly Shoppach, OF Jason Bay, OF Scott Hairston, C Josh Thole, P Jon Rauch, SS Ronny Cedeno, P Mike Pelfrey, P Chris Young, P Ramon Ramirez
Interleague Schedule: AL Central + New York Yankees
Projected Starters: John Buck, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter
Projected Starting Rotation: Johan Santana, Jonathon Niese, Shaun Marcum, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee
Closer: Frank Francisco
Fantasy Sleeper: RP Bobby Parnell – Parnell had moments last season when he was lights out. He filled in as closer a few times and did did a fine job. Frank Francisco is the currently the closer, but with his $6 million dollar salary, common sense tells me that he could be traded to shed even more off their team salary. Parnell would be the beneficiary from that move. If you’re in a fantasy baseball league with “Holds” as a category, he’s great. Also, he would already be on your bench if Parnell gets the closer job.
Team Analysis: The Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme affecting the New York Mets for the worse. They’ve had to trade players away in order to shed salary and didn’t have the money to re-sign Jose Reyes after the 2011 season. After glancing over the Mets roster, it could be much worse. Ike Davis is bound for a breakout season, Lucas Duda has shown signs of being a good player (even with his poor 2012 season). The big “what if” in the air is the Mets could trade David Wright at some point this season. A trade of that magnitude would fill the Mets farm system with many top-tier prospects. If he is traded to the Boston Red Sox (hypothetical), a deal would have to include SS Xander Bogaerts or OF Jackie Bradley…or both. That trade would fill a big need for the Mets. Let’s look at the Mets pitching staff. I love the Shaun Marcum signing. The deal is a base salary of $4 million with incentives that could double that. I also think Jonathan Niese and Matt Harvey are in line for a good season. The Mets bullpen is one of the top-8 in the Majors. Bobby Parnell and Brandon Lyon are great set-up pitchers in front of Frank Francisco. The bullpen will keep them in games, but sadly their offense won’t help them a lot. They didn’t do much in the offense to add runs. Factor that and the loss of Dickey, this team is four losses down from last season.
Sportsbook.ag’s 2013 Wins Over/Under Line: 74.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2013 Projected Win/Loss Record: 70-92 (4th in NL East)