Santana-Mania

While the Mets teams of the past two seasons have been thought of as offensive juggernauts, starting pitching is now what has catapulted the Mets into National League favorite in the 2998 season. The biggest off-season move made by any team, ever, was obviously replacing Tom "Thank God I never have to see that f'in brave wear the orange and blue, piece of garbage, son of a bitch" Glavine with the greatest pitcher alive on this planet. Its good to be a met fan right now and the number one reason is:

Johan Santana - He's sensational, he's dynamic, he's the complete pitcher with an outststanding delivery. He has the best changeup in all of baseball and features a fastball between 92-94 mph.

Pedro Martinez - After missing most of last season, Pedro appears to be in a great shape showing shades of his Red Sox days. He's going to bring a fire to the clubhouse. His fastball isn't what it to used to be, but hes brilliant on the mound mixing up speeds and speeding through lineups.

John Maine - He's easily the hidden gem of this pitching staff. An all star snub last season, he throws hard with a great sink on his pitches. He always come up big in important games, and when in a zone, he can absolutely dominate. Expect him to have 18 wins this season, the second most on the staff.

Oliver Perez - He has the most explosive arm on the staff. One of Minaya's few good trades acquiring Opie, he should be on the brink of a huge season with a contract year looming ahead. Like Maine, he dominates when they are on a roll.

The big question is: who will be the fifth starter? Willie insists El Duque will be the fifth starter when healthy, but when will he be healthy is the big question. He's toyed around with changing his leg kick but that doesn't seem to be working. Mike Pelfrey, the 6'10, hardthrower out of Wichita State, started last season 0-7 before being sent down . He has a nice bite on his pitches but he must keep the ball down in the zone to be successful.

NL East Starting Pitchers Rankings

1)Mets - Johan is better then every other pitcher in the NL combined.
2)Braves - Aging starters may have one year or two years left. Rookie Jurgens has great stuff, watch out.
3)Philth - Cole is a dogs name not a SP. This rotation is why they will not make the playoffs.
4)Nationals - Gets the nod over Florida, for no good reason. Isn't Matt Chico cute?
5)Marlins - Will miss Willis at the top of the rotation. Scott Olsen has a lively arm, but thats all.