3 Mets who will outperform the player they replaced on the roster

3) Jose Quintana should be good for the entire 2023 season

The Mets signed Jose Quintana to a two-year $26 million dollar deal which for how much pitchers received, is a steal of a deal. Taijuan Walker for example got four-years $72 million dollars from the Phillies. A gross overpay.

Quintana looked like he was just about done after really struggling in 2021 with the Angels and Giants. To my surprise, he looked like the Quintana from back in his White Sox days and had an unbelievable season splitting time with the Pirates and Cardinals.

Quintana had a 2.93 ERA and a 2.99 FIP this past season. He allowed just eight home runs in 165.2 innings pitched. His 0.4 HR/9 led the National League. Part of this can be attributed to playing in a weak NL Central, but a HR/9 that low can't be a total fluke.

Quintana made all 32 of his starts and qualified for the ERA title. Taijuan Walker has thrown at least 162 innings just once in his career.

In his two seasons in Queens, Walker was a completely different pitcher in the first half than he was in the second half. First half Taijuan Walker is an all-star. He made the all-star team in 2021 after posting a 2.66 ERA. He was an all-star snub this season after pitching to a 2.55 first-half ERA.

Walker's second halves are completely different. His first season in Queens saw him post a disastrous 7.13 ERA in 13 starts. This season he was better, but his 4.80 ERA was very different from the first half number. With the postseason coming in the second half, that doesn't make me feel very comfortable with Walker doing anything productive when the Mets truly need him to.

Quintana was solid in the first half with a 3.99 ERA. He really dialed in after the all-star break and posted a 1.67 ERA. Do I expect that again? No, but Quintana showed that he doesn't run out of gas after the all-star break like Walker. Quintana even gave the Cardinals 5.1 scoreless innings against a red-hot Phillies lineup in the postseason.

I don't expect Quintana to be as good as he was in 2022. I do however, expect him to be better than Taijuan Walker, particularly in the second half, in 2023.