ARLINGTON, Va. — Brodie Van Wagenen was given a last chance Wednesday to run and hide from his offseason comments that placed his Mets as the team to beat in the NL East.
But on the eve of Opening Day, the rookie general manager — who has preached “boldness” since arriving to the organization — stayed firm.
So come and get the Mets.
“You are not going to get a different answer from me now,” Van Wagenen said at the team hotel in Northern Virginia, following a press conference to announce Jacob deGrom’s new contract. “I believe we will win. I believe we are capable of winning, and I am looking forward to winning every day that we have a chance to win a game.”
Van Wagenen’s creation will be unveiled Thursday in a season opener against the Nationals that features the winners of the past three National League Cy Young awards, in deGrom (2018) and Max Scherzer (2016 and ’17).
Say hello to Robinson Cano in a Mets uniform for the first time in the regular season. Ditto Edwin Diaz, Wilson Ramos and Justin Wilson, who were among the key additions in Van Wagenen’s roster overhaul. Jeurys Familia is also back with the team after departing to Oakland last year at the trade deadline.
The youth movement includes Pete Alonso, who is set to start at first base after winning the job in spring training. Alonso hit 36 homers in the minor leagues last season to emerge as the organization’s top prospect.
Back with an intent to show the final two months of last season wasn’t a mirage is Jeff McNeil, who slashed .329/.381/.471 in 63 games with the Mets, after jumping two levels within the organization.
“My first Opening Day — a little more exciting than opening the year in Double-A like last year,” McNeil said. “I am definitely ready for it.”
Brandon Nimmo returns after a breakout season in which he was maybe the team’s most consistent hitter, and Michael Conforto is the potentially biggest bat in the lineup.
The stench of last season’s 77-85 fourth-place finish has dissipated, replaced by the optimism that comes with new players, front-office personnel and coaches.
Among the changes will be an emphasis on situational hitting over a one-track mentality of trying to clear the fences.
“That is the one part we wanted to stress a little bit more [in spring training], and it’s not an overall, just change in approach,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “It’s more of a philosophy in what you are thinking about when you go up to the plate. ‘What can I do to put our team in a better spot to score runs at that moment?’ And I think they all did a great job of that.”
The Mets started 11-1 last year in Callaway’s rookie season, only to begin a free fall in May and June that eliminated the team early from the postseason race. Injuries that kept Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier sidelined for extended stretches weakened the lineup, leading Van Wagenen to pursue depth in the offseason. Such was the rationale behind adding Jed Lowrie (who will begin the season on the injured list with a sprained capsule in his left knee) on a two-year deal worth $20 million.
The Nationals will appear different minus Bryce Harper, who left for a $330 million windfall over the next 13 seasons with the Phillies, but Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Trea Turner and Juan Soto are big names familiar to the Mets and capable of inflicting damage. And rookie Victor Robles is expected to augment that thunder.
“Even if we held Bryce to nothing, they have a deep lineup,” Conforto said. “They have guys that are kind of coming into their own and they will be tough, but we’ve got a great lineup, too.”
