Strengths:  The future.  The Mets don’t have a ton of talent right now, especially with Matt Harvey out for the year with Tommy John Surgery, but there is plenty to be excited about.  Zach Wheeler is an excellent pitcher and Travis D’Arnaud will get his first full year behind the plate at the big league level.  Noah Syndergard will be up this coming year and he looks like he will be an excellent starter giving the Mets a great young rotation.  Brandon Nimmo is a couple years away, but he is a building block for the future in the outfield.  The Mets also seemed to find something in Eric Young Jr. late last season.

Weaknesses: The offense is going to struggle.  Juan Lagares is best served as a utility outfielder, not a starting center fielder.  Lucas Duda and Ike Davis have proven they are not the answer for the Mets, and while Josh Satin hit one of the hardest balls I have ever seen hit when I was in high school, he is a fringe average big leaguer.

Off-Season Needs: The Mets need to decide what time frame they are working on.  Are they going to be legit contenders in 2015 or 2016.  If they don’t expect to be contenders until 2016, they may want to consider shopping David Wright.  He has had health concerns, and is no lock to be an elite player come the time the Mets are contenders.  Getting a couple upper minor league offensive prospects could be a good move to ensure they don’t let a young and talented pitching staff be wasted away without a competitive offense.

2014 Projection:  The Mets will not be competitive in 2014, but that is ok.  Come 2015 they should be about a .500 team and could be a real contender by 2016.  Things are looking up, just not this coming year.

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