Nothing Has Changed for the Mets

Before the 2017 season started, I noted that the Mets had the widest array of possible outcomes in 2017 of any team in baseball. 

I mean, no one was projecting the Padres to win their division, or the Indians to finish last. We knew more or less what the Reds were, and the Twins too. And while we missed by a mile on the Twins, they still won only 85 games, not 95. That would have shocked us more than passage of a coherent tax code.

But the Mets, they were such a wild card. They had the most intriguing starting staff in baseball, six deep, but their health was a major question. They had some real assets at the plate, to the point where all the talk in Spring Training was which valuable outfielder was going to sit on the bench.

But they also had a suspect bullpen, a dearth of team speed and a pile of iron gloves. And then, the arms all fell off, Matt Harvey's psyche imploded, Cespedes got hurt again and the Mets were mathematically eliminated by the trade deadline (if you use that new math.)

So now what for 2018? With the late season sell-off, the roster is holier than the Pope and the rotation is a big guess. The young players mostly haven't panned out -- but still could. There's even uncertainty at the skipper's post. The one constant -- David Wright -- doesn't move the needle on the field in either direction.

There are plenty of bad teams in baseball, but few worse owners than the Wilpons or worse training staffs than the Mets, evidently. Sandy Alderson will be severely tested this off-season.

The bottom line, at least this early in the process, is that the Mets are right back where they were -- a total wild card. If the starting rotation gets healthy, Conforto and Cespedes can play, a couple of useful free agents join the team and hell doesn't break loose in Queens, they could challenge the Nats for the division. 

If none of that comes to pass, well, the Phillies are getting better and may not be there to cushion the fall.