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2016 Fantasy Baseball Preview: New York Mets

2016 Fantasy Baseball Preview: New York Mets
Jacob_deGrom_Mets3

Jacob DeGrom is a guaranteed stud again in 2016

What an amazing year 2015 was for the New York Mets. No one ever would have expected this team to make the playoffs, let alone the world series, when the season began. Yet this team did go on to win the NL Pennant, thanks to a phenomenal young core of starting pitching and a timely trade that brought in a power hitting outfielder.

Last season was a culture change for the entire Mets organization. They are no longer viewed as the second team in New York, but rather a team to be reckoned with and one of the favorites to be NL Champions (again) in 2016.

A look at their offseason moves proves that point. They desperately needed to re-sign Yoenis Cespedes to provide their lineup with some much-needed power offensively.  They also signed Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera, who will vastly improve this teams’ defense in the infield, which as Mets fans know all too painfully well, was a disaster in the world series last year.

Unfortunately, fan favorite Daniel Murphy departed in the winter when he signed with NL East rival, the Washington Nationals. This Mets team will be better off without him in the long run, despite the love affair the New York fan base had with him.

2016 will all come down to one thing. Can this nucleus of starting pitching stay healthy throughout the season? If they can, the Mets could find themselves right back where they finished 2015, only, this time, winners of the world series instead.

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Projected Lineup:

Projected Rotation:

Projected Bullpen:

Stud: Jacob DeGrom (SP)
Simply put, deGrom was awesome for the Mets last season. If Matt Harvey is still considered the “ace” of this staff, than deGrom is 1A. He finished 2015 with a 14-9 record, 2.54 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 9.65 k/9 and had the highest WAR (4.7) amongst the entire New York Mets staff.

While he threw 191.0 IP in the regular season and another 25.0 IP in the postseason, there was no sign of his arm getting tired or feeling fatigued at the end of the year. If he can stay healthy (which is always the biggest question for young pitchers today), he is the most reliable stud of this team.

Bounce Back: David Wright (3B)
Wright only managed to play in 38 games last year due to a number of injuries. He finished the season hitting .289/.379/.434 with five home runs, 17 runs batted in and 24 runs. However, take a look at what he did in September once he was fully healthy again. Wright had 87 at-bats and hit .299/.396/.483 with three home runs, 12 runs batted in and 15 runs. At 33-years-old, Wright is no longer going to have 25 home runs and over 100 runs batted in anymore, but if he can stay healthy, he could hit double-digit home runs and drive in between 60-70 runs. He’s worth taking a flier on in drafts, as his ADP is #209, especially at the beginning of the season when he’s fully healthy.

Sleeper: Michael Conforto (OF)
Conforto was very impressive for the Mets once he was called up from AAA in the middle of the season. He played in 56 games and hit .270/.335/.506 with nine home runs and 26 runs batted in.

The only thing preventing Conforto from possibly being the breakout candidate of 2016 is his playing time. We saw what a disaster it was during the playoffs playing Conforto in left field and Cespedes in center field. While that will most likely be their regular everyday lineup, if it becomes too much of a disaster again, Conforto might end up platooning in the outfield.

Conforto is too good a hitter for the Mets to do that, though. He could have a defensive replacement late in games, thereby missing an at-bat or two, but with an ADP of #197, grab him in your drafts anyway.

Bust: Lucas Duda (1B)
Duda is an all or nothing hitter. Last season he finished hitting .244/.352/.486 with 27 home runs and 73 runs batted in. Now entering his sixth full season (he played 29 games as a rookie in 2010), Duda has yet to have 100 runs batted in in a season. He has an ADP of #162, No. 21 among the first baseman. There are better options than him at first base in fantasy.

Late-Round Flier: Neil Walker (2B)
Walker was a nice free agent pickup for the Mets this offseason. He has the ability to put up similar, if not better, numbers than his replacement, Daniel Murphy and he is a much better defensive second baseman. Walker’s season averages over a six-year career are .272/.338/.431 with 13.3 home runs, 59.7 runs batted in and 57.9 runs. He has the ability in this lineup, to hit around .260, have 15 home runs and 65 runs batted in. He has an ADP of 238, and No. 26 among second baseman, but is someone that could do better than those rankings indicate.

Prospect To Watch: Brandon Nimmo (OF)
Nimmo is the Mets’ No. 2 rated prospect and could get a call-up as early as this year. He bats left, throws right and can play all three outfield positions, as well as first base.

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Takeaway

The Mets are must see tv every night, simply because of their starting rotation. They are probably the only team in the league that has the advantage on the mound every single night. If they can match their pitching from last year and get timely hitting from Cespedes and the rest of this lineup, they could have another magical year ahead of them.

AJ Stone is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from AJ, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @ajstone18.

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