Draft prep: New York Mets outlook

The Mets remain one of the top teams in the NL, their late-season collapse notwithstanding. They have a ton of speed and plenty of power in their lineup, and their pitching has potential, but it's a little inconsistent. But this team's Fantasy value starts at the top of the order.

Their acquisition of Johan Santana instantly makes this team the one to beat in the NL. He has led the majors in strikeouts in two of the past three seasons and he goes to a pitcher's park in the NL -- a pitcher's league. He'll be facing pitchers rather than designated hitters and, if there was any doubt before, he is the best Fantasy pitcher in any draft format.

Jose Reyes put together a stellar season at one of the thinner positions in Fantasy last year. His 78 steals led the majors, and as a matter of fact, no player has stolen more bases in a single season since Rickey Henderson stole 93 bags in 1988. Granted, Reyes' power took a dip from the previous season, but you weren't picking him in the first round because he might hit 20 home runs. You grabbed him for his 60-plus steals and 120 runs scored, while hitting leadoff for one of the best lineups in the NL. He'll be gone after the first three picks in most drafts this spring.

One thing to remember about Reyes is that manager Willie Randolph ran him too much near the end of the season, once Luis Castillo came over in trade, and he had nothing left in the final month. He had 23 steals on 26 attempts in August, but only five steals on nine attempts in September. Castillo takes a ton of pitches, which allows Reyes a lot of running opportunities, but he proved he can't keep that 26 attempts-per-month pace too long. That's nearly one steal attempt per game.

Speaking of Castillo, in 50 games with the Mets last year he performed well -- hitting .296, with one homer, 20 RBI, 37 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He could be a nice late-round pick as a middle infielder in Rotisserie leagues.

On the other end of the spectrum is Carlos Delgado, who put together the worst season of his career. Compared to his first season with the Mets, he hit 14 fewer homers, with 27 fewer RBI and 18 fewer runs scored. Fantasy owners that drafted him among the top 10 first basemen were certainly burned by his efforts. He'll still be batting fifth behind an awfully good top four hitters, so his RBI chances will definitely be there. He's currently being drafted late in most leagues as a corner infielder, yet he's one of those players you can target with pretty good low-risk/high reward potential.

David Wright had no homers and just six RBI in April last year, which caused many of his Fantasy owners to trade him away in disgust. But from May on, only Alex Rodriguez out-produced him in most formats. Wright averaged six homers and 20 RBI per month from May through September. Sprinkle in the six or seven steals he'd swipe per month and you're looking at a Fantasy stud -- albeit at a deep position.

From a pitching perspective, the Mets are anchored by Santana and future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, who returned from shoulder surgery late last season to go 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in five September starts. He's probably a better No. 3 SP than anything else because you have to figure he's going to be back on the disabled list at different parts of the season.

But not far behind Pedro and Johan is last year's breakout -- John Maine. In his third year as a starting pitcher, Maine co-led the team in wins with Oliver Perez with 15 apiece. In Fantasy play, you can't ask for much more. Maine will get you wins (on a potential playoff team with a great offense) and he'll load up on strikeouts (only 15 other pitchers had more than his 180).

As far as Perez goes, his inconsistency can hurt you in Head-to-Head play. He struck out at least eight batters in nine different starts, yet he also didn't make it to the sixth inning in 11 other starts.

Orlando Hernandez was excellent in spots last season, and his final numbers aren't bad and his opponents hit just .206 against him. He struck out two batters for every batter he walked, and his 3.72 ERA was second only to Perez among Mets starters.

Billy Wagner registered 34 saves last season, which happens to be his second-lowest total in the past seven seasons. The fact that he was relatively healthy all year, and he closes for a solid NL squad, keeps him in our top 10 among Fantasy closers.

The Mets bullpen has a lot of potential with Duaner Sanchez coming back from injury trouble as their setup man. Aaron Heilman would move back an inning if Sanchez is ready -- or he could end up going back to the rotation, which is likely in his future anyway.

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