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The National League East projects to be one of, if not the hardest division to win in all of baseball. Legitimate cases can be made for all five teams to make the playoffs. In each of the last three seasons, the Braves have won the National League East with relative ease. However, PECOTA and FanGraphs project a new division winner in 2021, the New York Mets.
The Mets are much improved with the additions they made this past offseason and should be really good. Francisco Lindor is a superstar and Jacob deGrom will win his third Cy Young Award this year. They have a loaded lineup and a much-improved pitching staff. With all of these improvements in place, I still can’t pick them to win this division.
The Braves are too much to overcome for the Mets
With a really good lineup last season, the Mets went 26-34. A combination of a lack of clutch hitting, horrible defense, and an awful rotation really cost them. The upgrades they made this offseason with James McCann, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor May, and others really make this team interesting.
They certainly have the firepower to win their first division title since 2015 but will that actually happen? This team has had pretty high expectations for a while and hasn’t met them. I do believe this year will be different and they will be really good.
The Mets will begin the year without Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco, and Seth Lugo. For a team that’s question mark is pitching, they will need to show that the depth Sandy Alderson brought in is improved. The Taijuan Walker signing is proving to be needed but they will have to rely upon guys like Dellin Betances and Jeurys Familia to play a big role in the bullpen at least until Lugo comes back and I don’t have a great feeling about how that will turn out.
The Mets will need their entire staff to step up to offset the injuries that have taken place.
The Mets will be a very fun watch and should be really good. I have them making the playoffs but as a Wild Card team.