Where do the New York Mets rank in the NL East after the Winter Meetings?

While this year's Winter Meetings in San Diego have concluded, the New York Mets certainly weren't quiet as they were one of the most active organizations this year in regard to impact moves. The Mets signed last year's AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to replace Jacob deGrom, as well as José Quintana to replace Taijuan Walker who departed to the rival Philadelphia Phillies.

As great as we know Verlander is, the signing of 33-year old José Quintana is an excellent move as the Mets got a steal of a pitcher for two years and $26 million compared to what many other pitchers were getting across free agency to this point. Interestingly enough, Quintana led the National League with 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings. That number is significant considering the number of power bats that reside in the National League East.

The Mets had a successful week at the Winter Meetings and stocked up on high-end talent to shore up some holes on the roster

General Manager Billy Eppler had also made a solid trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for left-handed reliever Brooks Raley who held left-handed batters to a .155/.200/.282 slash line last season. The Mets have been desperately looking for left-handed relief help following the departure of Aaron Loup last offseason and I believe they may have found their guy.

Overall the Mets made some major strides in beefing up their roster over the last four days, but there is still plenty of work to do. It was clearly a two-headed race between the Mets and the Phillies at this year's Winter Meetings in regard to activity within the division, and the Phillies made some noise based on their signings of Trea Turner, Taijuan Walker, and Matt Strahm.

Currently, I believe the Mets have more holes on their active roster than the Phillies do, as the Mets may still need another mid-rotation starting pitcher, a starting center fielder, additional bullpen help, and another potential designated hitting option. However, the offseason is a marathon, not a sprint and there is a very good chance that when all the dust settles the Mets may have a better overall offseason than the Phillies.

However, in regards to who is ahead after the Winter Meetings, I have the Phillies just ahead of the Mets in terms of National League East rankings. Both organizations are clearly ahead of the Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, and Washington Nationals in regard to their activity this week. But when looking at the bigger picture of the offseason it couldn't have gotten off to a better start for the Mets this week.