New York Mets
 

Despite having the lowest scoring offense in the National League last year, the Mets were able to remain competitive for the division crown until the last couple of weeks of the season.  This offseason, GM Steve Phillips made major changes to the line-up, hoping to upgrade the scoring significantly.  In the process, he had to sacrifice some of the team's starting pitching and bullpen, but hopes to have maintained the status quo with some players he hopes will rebound.
 

Hitting

Ever since his trade in 1998, Mike Piazza has been the primary offensive force in the Mets offense.  And I think we can finally put to rest the label "arguably the best hitting catcher ever".  He is the best hitting catcher ever.  He already has the best rate of production and in three more years will have many of the best career totals as well.  But don't trust me.  Compare for yourself:

Name    Yrs   AB   R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB   SO   BA   OBP  SLG   TB    RC  Adj.OPS
Berra    19  7555 1175 2150 321 49 358 1430  704  414  .285 .348 .482  3643  1258   125
Bench    17  7658 1091 2048 381 24 389 1376  891 1278  .267 .342 .476  3644  1252   126
Cochrane 13  5169 1041 1652 333 64 119  832  857  217  .320 .419 .478  2470  1028   128
Piazza   10  4638  782 1507 228  4 314  975  506  719  .325 .391 .579  2685  1050   156

If he continues at the pace of his last 3 years, his totals will look like this:

Piazza   13  6157 1053 1976 308  4 428 1306  682  945  .321 .388 .581  3576  1386   154

Another thing to remember is that both Bench and Berra spent their last few years at positions other than catcher.  In fact, Berra spent more time in the outfield his last 4 years than he did at catcher and Bench caught a total of 13 games his last 3 years.   Granted, this is not saying that Piazza is the best overall catcher; that distinction is very much up for debate.  He's just the best hitter who ever played catcher.

The Mets improved their corner positions this winter by acquiring Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar in trade.  Not only do the trades improve the infield defense by moving Edgardo Alfonzo to third, but it also improves the line-up considerably, providing very productive bookends around Piazza.  Alomar is a 15-point upgrade over Ventura in on base ahead of Piazza and Vaughn is a 100-point upgrade over Zeile in slugging.  Speaking of greatest-ever arguments, Robby Alomar ranks just behind Hornsby, Morgan, Lajoie and Gehringer among the best ever to play second base.

While the Mets infield will rank among the most productive in baseball, their outfield won't despite this winter's major upgrades.  Roger Cedeno was brought back to give the top of the order some speed, but his one base skills are a question mark.  Last year in Detroit, his on base dropped nearly 50 points from the mark he posted in Houston in 2000, and nearly 60 points from the career high he posted in New York in 1999.  If he can't return to the 1999-2000 levels, his offensive value is marginal because he hits so few extra base hits.

Jeromy Burnitz will add some much needed sock and his on base skills have been highly under-rated for some time now.  While his on base is not scintillating (.362 career) most people tend to focus on his low batting average (career .257) and pigeon hole him as an all or nothing swinger.  He's drawn at least 80 walks and hit at least 30 homers in each of the last 3 years.  He's an enormous upgrade (+ .150 OPS) over what the Mets used in right field last year.

Jay Payton returns for another shot at making the grade as an every day outfielder.  It' still amazing that he was considered the best hitter at Georgia Tech while he was there, considering two of his team mates were Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek.  Injuries have slowed his development terribly: he'll turn 30 this year, yet has only had 2 seasons with any significant playing time in the majors.  Still, as long as the Mets don't let him try to steal bases - his 38% success rate ranks as one of the worst in major league history - he should be at least average offensively

The weakest link in the Mets offense is, and has been, Rey Ordonez.  His career .591 OPS is one of the worst marks of any regular in recent memory.  He doesn't draw walks, he doesn't hit for average and he doesn't hit for extra bases when he does make contact.  He doesn't even steal bases.  It's not a coincidence that the Mets made their only World Series appearance in the last 10 years when Ordonez was out with an injury.  No one has successfully measured how much a bad hitter can cancel out the efforts of a team of good hitters, but with Ordonez, the Mets will certainly be compiling some valuable data.
Rating: 55 (65 without Ordonez)
 

Pitching

The Mets pitching is led by staff ace Al Leiter.  Along with being a very good pitcher, Leiter is a joy to watch as he rarely conceals his enthusiasm for playing the game.  After leading the league in walks in 1995 and 1996, Leiter has worked on his control considerably.  Last year, he walked just 42 batters in 187+ innings, which is remarkable considering he walked 108 batters in fewer innings in 1995.  He accomplished this re-invention without sacrificing his strikeout numbers too.  At age 36, he probably doesn't have many more years at this level, but he's shown no signs of dropping from the ranks of the best pitchers in the NL any time soon.

Gone is Kevin Appier, Glendon Rusch, Bruce Chen and Rick Reed.  Only Steve Trachsel remains of the other Mets starters from last year.  Trachsel doesn't get a lot of recognition, but he's been about as good as Andy Pettitte over the course of his career with a better WHIP (1.386  to 1.398) and better strike out rate (6.34/9 IP vs 6.19/9 IP).  The biggest differences between the two is the home run rate (which might be attributable to the home parks that Trachsel has pitched in) and the runs support Pettitte has received (Pettitte has benefited from almost a run and a half more support).  All that to say that Trachsel is slightly above average.

The new faces on the staff aren't exactly overwhelming, but they could grade out better than last year's.  Pedro Astacio has been one of the more extreme groundball pitchers in the league for a while and pitching in front of an infield such as the Mets have might make him a 20-game winner if his shoulder can stay healthy.  Regardless, he shouldn't have any trouble posting the best year of his career in Shea.  Jeff D'Amico is another injury risk, but when he's been healthy, he's been very good.  In 2000, he posted one of the best ERAs in the majors at 2.66 over 162+ innings.  Lefty Shawn Estes is also somewhat of a risk but not in the same way.  He's a lot like Leiter was earlier - capable of striking batters out, but too wild for his own good.  Having Leiter as a mentor should help him focus a little better and perhaps realize his potential.  There's a lot of ifs here, but if the Mets starters can stay healthy, they match up well against most any staff in the NL.

The bullpen lost some of it's depth this winter, but Armando Benitez, the team's flame-throwing closer, still lurks in the 9th inning for opposing hitters.  Benitez has averaged over 100 strikeouts a season for the past 5 years, a remarkable total for a reliever.  Although some question his intestinal fortitude, he's still one of the premier closers in baseball.  John Franco has served as his primary set-up man for the last several years but begins this season on the DL.  In his place, the Mets will use a number of quality relievers acquired over the last year - Scott Strickland, David Weathers, Kane Davis and Mark Guthrie.  While none are dominating, all of them are reasonably effective.  Grant Roberts, who will eventually make his way into the rotation, will help out as well.
Rating: 65
 

Defense

For all the complaints about Ordonez' offensive weakness, he supposedly makes it up and more in the field.  And if defense was nothing more than the accumulation of spectacular plays, Ordonez might not have a peer in the history of the game.  But his range has been deteriorating the last several years in both range and efficiency to the point where he's just above average.  And that is no where near enough to balance the damage he doesn't do with his bat.  The rest of the infield defense is likewise above average (Vaughn) to very good (Alomar, Alfonso).  The outfield defense isn't very good, although Burnitz has a solid arm for right field.  Piazza is notorious for his inability to stop the opposition running game, but has consistently produced solid number that back up the claim that he handles pitchers about as well as anyone in the game. he also does a fine job of blocking the plate.
Rating: 65
 

Management

GM Steve Phillips is nothing if not creative.  Every year it seems he does something to improve some aspect of the Mets.  Unfortunately, it's usually at the cost of the farm system so it's a maddening self-perpetuating cycle: anyone who starts to develop gets traded, forcing Phillips to trade in order to shore up weaknesses.  So far, it has worked as the Mets have remained competitive every year he's been GM.  Historically, however, there comes a year where the formula fails and the organization has to start to rebuild from the bottom up.  That usually happens when the team gets too old.  The Mets' main players - Piazza, Leiter, Alfonzo, Benitez - are still a few years away from that, but a time will come when they'll need some support from the farm system.  Manager Bobby Valentine plays things pretty straight forward, although he loves to fiddle with the line-up - 144 of them last year.  His love of the limelight sometimes gets in the way of his relationship with his players, but as long as the team continues to perform, that shouldn't be a problem.  He's certainly one of the most entertaining managers to watch.
Rating: 60