ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - New York Mets preview


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Thursday, April 5
New York Mets preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	Al Leiter was one of only five NL pitchers with 200 or more strikeouts in 2000.

Strength of schedule
.487, 13th in NL
Lineup ranking
5th in NL
Pitching ranking
1st in NL
Prediction
1st in NL East

The lowdown
2000 record: 94-68 (2nd in NL East), won wild card, won NLCS, lost in World Series
Runs scored: 807, 7th in NL
Runs allowed: 738, 3rd in NL

Three key issues for 2001
1. Only the Padres' outfield had fewer RBI than the Mets last year, but the Mets have only replaced Derek Bell with Timo Perez.

2. Without Mike Hampton, who steps up as the No. 2 guy behind Al Leiter?

3. Will Robin Ventura be a solid third big stick in the lineup behind Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo.

Three key facts
1. Al Leiter (16), Mike Hampton (15), Glendon Rusch (11), Rick Reed (11) and Bobby J. Jones (11) all had double-digit wins last season, the first time five Mets starters won 10 or more games in the same season since 1988.

2. Armando Benitez led all National league relievers by holding opposing hitters to a .148 batting average.

3. The Mets tied San Francisco for the best home record in the majors at 55-26.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	M. Piazza E. Alfonzo	.324
HR	M. Piazza	38
RBI	M. Piazza	113
RUN	E. Alfonzo	109
SB	L. Harris	8
WIN	A. Leiter	16
SV	A. Benitez	41
ERA	A. Leiter	3.20
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Dave Campbell's scenarios
Best case: Subway Series.
They might not need any miracles to return to the Fall Classic for the second year in a row.

Worst case: "Series" of disasters.
Pitching could easily melt down and dash Mets' hopes for return to postseason action.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
T. Perez, RF	2-month wonder or solid leadoff guy? We'll take the former	14
E. Alfonzo, 2B	Big down the stretch with 12 HR, 34 RBI in Aug./Sept.	1
M. Piazza, C	.614 slugging pct. was second-highest of career	1
R. Ventura, 3B	.301 in '99, .232 in '00; somewhere in-between this year	5
T. Zeile, 1B	Hasn't spent 2 straight years with one team since '93-'94	11
B. Agbayani, LF	Deserves to hit higher in order	10
J. Payton, CF	Played 149 games; previous pro high: 103	7
R. Ordonez, SS	No matter what the papers say, he'll never hit a lick	12
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
A. Leiter, LHP	Terrific year, but is 3.20 ERA realistic expectation again?	5
R. Reed, RHP	Signed big 3-year deal, but durability is question mark	25
G. Rusch, LHP	157 K's, 44 BBs says he's ready for big breakthrough	15
K. Appier, RHP	15 wins is nice, 4.52 ERA in Oakland is not	52
Middle relief	Nobody has deeper corps with Franco, Turk, White, et al.	1
A. Benitez, CL	Must cure October blues to be truly dominant closer	2

	Position average (NL rank):	7.63 (T4th)
	Pitching index (NL rank):	2.75 (1st)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each NL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

NL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-16 basis, with 1 being best.
NL starting pitchers ranked on 1-64 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 16.00 the worst.

Click here for position-by-position NL rankings.

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