Tom Glavine will be the anchor of the staff with Pedro out for most of the year.

STARTING PITCHING

Projected Rotation

1. Tom Glavine, LH
2. Orlando Hernandez, RH
3. John Maine, RH
4. Oliver Perez, LH
5. Mike Pelfrey, RH

2007 TEAM PERSPECTIVE

The Mets are going to be a very fun team to watch in 2007 with a lot of 8-7 ballgames.They've got a great bullpen with a ton of arms, so all they need is for their starters to go a good five innings and hand the ball over to the pen.Their offense is going to have to slug their way into the playoffs or at least until Pedro Martinez can come back.They've probably got the greatest margin for expectancy in the division. though. I could see them winning 100 games, and I could also see them winning 79 games.It all depends on what happens with their rotation and whether or not GM Omar Minaya will be able to pick something up around the trading deadline.

BULLPEN

Closer: Billy Wagner, LH
Setup 1: Aaron Heilman, RH
Setup 2: Scott Schoeneweis, LH

They Mets have a very deep bullpen with arms ready to go in the minors such as Adam Bostick and Jason Vargas.Ambiorix Burgos will emerge as a top option in the bullpen, and by the end of the year he could eclipse Aaron Heilman as the top arm in the Mets bullpen behind Billy Wagner.

SLEEPER

Oliver Perez.Anyone that has been able to strikeout 239 hitters in one season has something significantly special about them.That's a unique quality, something that can never be taken away from him.I don't believe that he'll immediately return to his 2004 status, but a marked improvement across the board in 2007 is not out of the realm of possibility.In seven starts with the Mets last season, he averaged 9.7 K/9 IP. If he can cut down on his number of pitches, he'll last longer into ballgames, pitch more innings and strikeout more hitters.What he needs to do is induce more grounders.When he was striking out 200 batters a season, his groundball rate was a lot better than it is at this point.

BUST

Jose Valentin.A lot of people are going to choose him on draft day because of his power output and his fair average from last season.They'll be extremely disappointed because his starting role is not a lock given his contract, he won't hit in the .270's ever again and his power dropping off is probable.It was great what he did last year for the Mets and fantasy managers everywhere, but it's just not going to happen again.

TOP PROSPECT

Mike Pelfrey is a premium talent in the big leagues, the only problem is his lack of a breaking pitch.He needs to start the season in the minor leagues and develop a breaking pitch because when he does, he will emerge as the ace the Mets always believed he would become.His stuff is electric, with a fastball that reaches the high-90s routinely. The one thing to focus on in his Majors debut is that he only gave up one homer in 21.1 IP.Not to say that's something he would continue to do in the majors, but it's something to keep an eye on.

FIRST OFF THE BENCH

Damian Easley could have Jose Valentin's job by the end of the year.That's not to say that Easley is a great player because his best days are long behind him, but he should hit well upwards of .270, with pretty good home run totals.He deserves at-bats, and even though he doesn't walk much, he doesn't strikeout much either.A .750 OPS with 15-17 home runs is in no way too much to expect if he gets playing time.