5 important Mets spring training storylines to keep your eyes glued to

3) Early signs of free agent steals and busts

David Stearns won’t get a red marker pulled on him for any spring training results from the free agents he added to the Mets. Harrison Bader can go hitless. Jorge Lopez can have an ERA of infinity. Luis Severino can rip off his jersey on the mound and reveal a New York Yankees logo beneath then state he’s a mole then underhand toss the ball to the catcher. Nothing that happens in the spring is permanent.

We can, however, get some early signs of who was the right call based on the construction of the team beyond just the choices. Sean Manaea’s much-talked about velocity uptick with the San Francisco Giants late last season not making its presence known will have us raising an eyebrow. If Jake Diekman looks more like the Chicago White Sox version than the Tampa Bay Rays one, we’re going to have some questions.

Spring training is merely a suggestion of what’s to come. On an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, it’d be a piece of paper Drew Carey pulled from the hat but didn’t end up using. The points don’t matter during spring training either but what happens still has purpose.