Fantasy Baseball Preview: The Mets

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Chokers. Sorry, folks, but until they can actually close out a regular season, that's the label they're getting. Fortunately for us fantasy folks, we don't really care about total team performance in the regular season, provided it doesn't impend on individual players' abilities to post statistics. And in that sense, the New York Baseball Mets are quite the enjoyable team to watch. They have a slew of top-tier players on the squad and generally almost always provide a ton of fantasy value. Not much will change in terms of that this year, although you may be surprised as to where it will come from.

The Breakout
Mike Pelfrey is lucky: almost everyone watching the Mets organization will be too busy wondering if Francisco Rodriguez and Johan Santana are performing up to speed in order to really scrutinize his performance. That should, in theory, allow him to build on what was an excellent second half in 2008, when he posted a 3.16 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Where, you ask, did that come from? Mainly from the fact that in the second half, 52 percent of his balls in play were grounders. That's a superb number, especially in pitcher-friendly Shea, and if he can continue that GB-inducing success in 2009, expect him to be an excellent later-round addition for owners, when it comes to wins, ERA and WHIP.

The Bust
Rodriguez, on the other hand, will be heavily scrutinized in the coming baseball year. He's got a three-year deal worth over $35 million, and you better believe that the Mets will want their money's worth. Unfortunately, Omar Minaya missed the part about K-Rod setting the single-season saves record while also recording the worst statistical season of his career. For those of that understand saves = circumstantial, that's a very big deal. For those of us who have just been freaking waiting for K-Rod to break down, payday + workload + peripherals = Bust.

The Lineup
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Ryan Church, RF
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Carlos Beltran, CF
5. Carlos Delgado, 1B
6. Fernando Tatis, LF
7. Luis Castillo, 2B
8. Brian Schneider, C

The Rotation
1. Johan Santana
2. John Maine
3. Mike Pelfrey
4. Oliver Perez
5. Freddy Garcia/Tim Redding

The Bullpen
CL - Francisco Rodriguez
SU - J.J. Putz
SU - Duaner Sanchez

The Skinny
You're not likely to get Santana, Wright and Reyes on the same team, mainly because they're all likely to be first-rounders (or at the very least, you can't get Santana on the wrap after grabbing one of the position players up front).

• Beltran is a 25-25 guy again; yes, the stolen bases increasing as he's gotten older is weird, and if you can get him in the third or fourth round, he's a nice steal.

• Delgado went nuts after Willie Randolph got canned, and frankly, if he's getting drafted as an MVP-caliber player, stay away. If you can get him discounted (seems more likely) then go ahead and pull, as 30-100 isn't out of reach again this year.

• Church is a really intriguing pick as well. He's 30, so he's past his prime, but he was also lashing the ball last year before picking up two concussions in rapid succession. He's definitely worth a late-round pick (current ADP of 268) because if he comes out like he did in 2008, he'll be a huge add.

• Finally, I freaking love Putz as a flier; if K-Rod goes down he'll be a elite saves monster on the cheap.