While we were all sleeping on Tuesday night, the New York Mets took advantage of Carlos Correa’s failed medical with the San Francisco Giants and secured his services on a 12-year, $315 million pact that stun the baseball world on Wednesday morning.
The Mets have forked out millions of dollars to re-sign Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo and Adam Ottavino; and to bring in new faces such as Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, and now Correa to form a super-team for 2023 and beyond.
For weeks, they focused on pitching and managed to put together an impressive rotation. The acquisitions of Brooks Raley and Ottavino help shore up the bullpen. Owner Steve Cohen, however, said to MLB insider Jon Heyman that he wanted another bat, and got an elite one in Correa.
The Mets have an explosive lineup
Now, the Mets lineup is looking impressive:
Nimmo’s career .385 OBP looks incredible at the top of the lineup, and Correa-Lindor as the number two and three hitters, respectively, offer an solid blend of power, contact, speed, and on-base ability.
Pete Alonso will be the cleanup hitter, and with 40 home runs in 2022, you could say the Mets are lucky to have him locked and loaded.
Jeff McNeil led not only the Mets, but the league in batting average and was brilliant offensively (.326/.382/.454, with a 143 wRC+). Starling Marte offers a dynamic power-speed combo and also had an excellent 2022, while Daniel Vogelbach was very productive in Queens, with a .255/.393/.436 line, six home runs and a 144 wRC+ in 183 plate appearances.
Mark Canha posted a 128 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR, making him overqualified for the lower part of the lineup. At catcher, the Mets have the recently-signed Omar Narvaez or young prospect Francisco Alvarez; and they also have Brett Baty for the designated hitter spot.
The lineup is long, deep, and powerful, with plenty of hitters with high OBP ability and lots of speed, too. It’s one of the best units in the National League.
As of now, the Mets should be considered slight favorites to win the NL East thanks to recent signings, including Correa’s.