By Adeniyi Precious 
The New York Mets made a huge offseason splash by signing superstar Juan Soto to a massive deal. With an insane career on-base percentage over .401 and serious power at the plate, Soto is the kind of player who can completely change a lineup.
Mets fans have every reason to be hyped. The team made it to the NLCS last season, tying the Braves for second in the NL East before falling to the Dodgers. While the roster looks mostly the same, they did lose key pitchers Luis Severino and Jose Quintana. On the bright side, ace Kodai Senga is expected to return after being sidelined most of last season.
Ex-GM Jim Bowden Predicts Mets Will Finish Third
Despite all the buzz, former MLB GM Jim Bowden isn’t fully convinced the Mets are championship material. In a recent piece for The Athletic, Bowden gave the team an A- for their offseason moves but predicted they’ll finish third in the NL East, securing a wild-card spot instead of a division title.
His biggest concern? The starting rotation. While the Mets added arms like Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes, Bowden believes they didn’t do enough to improve the top of the rotation. Montas is already dealing with an injury, and beyond Senga, there are plenty of question marks.
Mets Have a Tough Road Ahead
The competition in the NL East is no joke. The Braves still have a dominant pitching staff and key players returning from injury, plus they added Jurickson Profar. Meanwhile, the Phillies—who won the division by six games last year—bolstered their rotation by adding Jesus Luzardo and Jordan Romano.
That said, if any team can surprise people, it’s the Mets. Even if they don’t win the division, a wild-card run to the World Series isn’t impossible. After all, they made it to the NLCS last year the same way, and history has shown that wild-card teams can go all the way if they get hot at the right time.