The New York Mets have an outstanding young pitching rotation and an outstanding young closer. But that was not enough to defeat the Kansas City Royals, who took the World Series from the Mets in five games last night at Citi Field in New York. While Phillies fans might take joy in the fact the Mets lost, they should remember one thing: the Mets are not going away.
It almost feels like so long ago that the Mets resorted to using John Mayberry Jr. as their cleanup hitter in a real Major League game. That was July 23. By July 31, the Mets added Yoenis Cespedes and they were a different team. Granted, Cespedes did not do too much in the World Series, but he certainly had a hand in getting them there. Ditto Daniel Murphy, whose performance in the NLDS and NLCS made all the difference.
Both are free agents, but that should not be enough to keep the Mets from being in the conversation in 2016. The Mets will still have starters Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Stephen Matz, and Noah Syndergaard. Not a bad young rotation.
The Nationals figure to do some more re-configuring this offseason. Now that manager Bud Black is in place, the Nationals will add a coaching staff they find comfortable, and get to work on changing the roster. The Nationals face four key free agent departures: pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, pitcher Doug Fister, center fielder Denard Span, and shortstop Ian Desmond.
Span will likely be replaced by Michael Taylor, who filled in a bit during Span's injury in 2015. Trea Turner will take the reigns at shortstop. But the Nationals still need to clean up the Drew Storen/Jonathan Papelbon mess in addition to replacing Fister and Zimmermann.
In other words, the Nationals will be no sure bet in 2015.
The Mets likely will add a shortstop (Desmond?) and some bullpen help. Michael Conforto will continue to grow. The Mets will have to replace the production from Daniel Murphy and from Yoenis Cespedes, should either go elsewhere.
The Mets window to win will be the next year or two. Matt Harvey has three years left; the other starters have more. Provided the Mets are through the Bernie Madoff mess and can spend some of the revenue they brought in with increased attendance and postseason play in 2015, they should be good for a few years.
