The New York Mets won 101 games last season before being ousted in the Wild Card round by the San Diego Padres. They went into the offseason determined not to let that happen again and spent a record number in response.
They shattered nearly every expectation when they signed Carlos Correa for $325 million, but that deal fell through due to health concerns. Nevertheless, the Mets have signed a lot of talent for the foreseeable future.
In 2023, that is even more true. They certainly have one of the best rosters in baseball, if not the best. Nevertheless, MLB fans aren’t that impressed. Most of their signings did simply retain their own free agents.
Most fans don’t believe the Mets are as set up for success as they may seem. Of their big signings this offseason, Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga are the only major additions that weren’t on the team last year.
Even further, it can be argued that both of those pitchers are just lateral moves. They replaced Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt with Verlander and Senga, so it’s not much of a change.
Everyone else, such as Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Edwin Diaz, were already on the roster in 2022. This is still a very deep team, but the spending might be a little misleading.
Had they officially inked Correa to that mega contract, this would have been an entirely different story. If they’d added arguably the best shortstop in baseball to that roster, there’s reason to believe they’d be the favorites to win it all.
They didn’t, and their current roster is not an overwhelming favorite as a result.
How good will the New York Mets be next season?
The Fangraphs projections for the 2023 New York Mets are that they will once again be one of the best teams in baseball. However, they will not be the best team.
