Meet the Mets

The Mets won 90 games and the NL East last year, and rode a magic carpet to the World Series. Wilmer Flores even won our hearts with his tears.

The franchise re-signed Yoenis Cespedes, replaced Daniel Murphy with Neil Walker, and looks forward to full seasons from Michael Conforto, Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard. Yowzah, right?

So say most analysts, who've tabbed the Mets as favorites in the striated NL East.

Well. You might want to hold off on ordering those playoff tickets.

The Metropolitans are certainly an enticing squad, particularly on the hill. They should have high expectations. But before you Bobby Valentine all over yourself, let's consider the following:

1. They couldn't hit a lick last year and they have basically the same lineup. Cespedes injected a spark over the last 57 games, but he's not slugging .600 over a full season this year. Their offense has to be giving Terry Collins heartburn.
2. Cespedes is slated to handle center this season, for which he is clearly not equipped. That's a big drop off from Gold Glover Juan Lagares.
3. The Dark Knight is a health risk, having endured TJ surgery in 2014.
4. Zack Wheeler might be back mid-season. I might learn Sanskrit this year.
5. Thor and Steven Matz have yet to pass through the danger zone for pitchers. Research shows that hurlers are most likely to suffer serious injury before age 27; surviving that is evidence of the skill of health.
6.  Matz, upon whom one-quarter of high hopes rest, has made all of six Major League starts. They were potent performances, but this is the franchise of Isringhausen, Pulsipher and Wilson.
7. The Nationals made the bookies look like fanboys last season. Maybe they were just conserving their wins for this year.
8. Last year the Mets were upstarts. This year they are favorites. Let's see how they respond.
9. It's baseball: you just never know.

Can the Mets win the division this year? Sure, but so can the Nats and even the Marlins. Without big bats, the boys from Flushing have less margin for error than most partisans recognize.