Defeat the Empire

When Omar Minaya took the job as NY Mets general manager in October 2004, he was granted "full autonomy" by Fred Wilpon. Or, in other words, he was granted an open wallet, which has led to the signings of Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, and Billy Wagner, as well as the trade for Carlos Delgado. These moves have positioned the Mets as the odds-on favorite in Vegas to win the NL East.

Still, many of Minaya's trades have been troubling. He swapped two top prospects, Yusmiero Petit and Mike Jacobs, to Florida in exchange for Delgado, who the Marlins had no choice but to deal. He traded for Paul LoDuca, who was at the bottom of the barrel last year among catchers in all-important OPS, instead of signing either Bengie Molina or Ramon Hernandez. And, he dealt starter Kris Benson, who was the Mets second best starter for months last year for reliever Jorge Julio, who is years removed from his last good season.

Despite the questionable trades, the Mets are infinitely better than they were when Minaya took over, and one cannot doubt his Latino pull over Martinez and Beltran as a factor in their decisions to come to Flushing Meadows. 2005 was a step in the right direction, but the attitude is now that it's time to win.

The starting rotation was very deep at the start of the offseason, but was weakened by the trades of Jae Seo and Kris Benson. The Mets starting five is now Martinez, who is battling a chronic toe injury; Tom Glavine, who will be 40 by opening day; Aaron Heilman, who has never had success as a starter in the majors; Victor Zambrano, who hangs under the cloud of Scott Kazmir; and Steve Trachsel, who is in decline and missed almost all of last year with a back injury. The staff is riddled with question marks.

The bullpen, which was the team's achilles heel in 2005, is improved, however. Billy Wagner should be dominant, provided he stays healthy, and Duaner Sanchez (acquired from L.A. for Seo) will be his primary setup man. The Mets have decent arms to pencil in around those two stalworts and can build a credible relief core.

The team's strength lies in the lineup. The 3-6 hitters, in no particular order, will be David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and Cliff Floyd, all of whom are capable of hitting .300/30/100. Jose Reyes should improve at the top of the order. The main questions are in right field and second base, where the Mets will either go with Victor Diaz or Xavier Nady in RF and perhaps give the untradeable Kaz Matsui a last chance to prove himself at second base.

The Mets are much improved from a year earlier, and in a weak NL, it's hard to find 4 teams who can post a better record than the Mets. Due to the unturnable tables of history, I still like Atlanta to take the divisional crown, but the Mets can win the Wild Card handily if some things fall their way. Outlook: 2nd Place NL East, NL Wild Card Winner