New York Mets

Off-season overview:

$425 million dollars sounds more like the Powerball jackpot than a remotely conceivable amount to spend in free agency. Nonetheless, Mr. Cohen is on a mission. This season alone, the Metropolitans will dish out just under $338 million to its superstars. It is truly World Series or bust for an organization that is constantly criticized by its "faithful" fans. Obviously, the biggest losses comes via the starting rotation with Jacob DeGrom, Chris Bassitt, and Taijuan Walker departing New York. In the bullpen, they will be missing quality arms in Michael Givens and Seth Lugo. That $425 million did not go to waste, however. The Metropolitans acquired 2022 AL CY Young Justin Verlander, lefty Jose Quintana, and Japanese prospect Kodai Senga to fill out a deep rotation (enter stage left Max Scherzer). On the back end, the Mets added All-Star David Robertson and traded for Brooks Raley (Tampa), Jeff Brigham (Miami), and Elieser Hernandez (Miami). Offensively, the Mets largely remain the same. They added Omar Narvaez at catcher and will continue to monitor the number three prospect in all of baseball, Francisco Alvarez, for a potential call-up if he doesn't break the roster out of Spring Training. Brett Baty sniffed the professional level at the end of 2022 and the Mets will hope he is ready to compete at the professional level.

Ceiling:

A World Series Championship. For the amount of money spent, the Mets' season is a failure unless they win the World Series. Having destroyed the record for most money spent in MLB history, the tax penalty alone is higher than some organization's payroll and it is evidenced by the quality of players on this roster. The pitching staff, as a whole, is elite and the offense has the pieces to bring home some hardware.

Floor:

A loss in the Wild Card round. There is no way the Mets don't make the playoffs with the depth and quality of players. There is no lock to win the NL East, though. The Braves, Phillies, and Mets can all win 100+ games and so it will be a dogfight for a first-round bye. Anything can happen in a wildcard series.

My Prediction:

First place in the NL East and a loss in the NLCS. The Mets are elite. But, as I've said before, the there are enough real contenders in the league. No doubt Citi Field will be loud this year as the Mets bring the hype. But, the New York faithful are always cautiously optimistic, and for good reason. The Mets have always choked. Money doesn't always buy happiness and New York is going to have endure another year without hardware.

-- Cyrus Beermann