For the first time in years, the Mets Opening Day roster is essentially set, just over a week into Spring Training. Aside from a spot or two in the bullpen, with the news of Josh Edgin‘s potential Tommy John surgery, there just aren’t any positional battles this year, and that is a breath of fresh air.
There’s an old adage that says if you have multiple players fighting for one position, you really have none. In year’s past, the 
Mets have had the Brad Emaus‘ of the world battling for starting roster spots during Spring Training due to lack signings in free agency and depth in the minor leagues. But this Spring, you don’t have that.
Your starting eight players are set: Travis d’Arnaud, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Wilmer Flores, Michael Cuddyer, Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson.
The Mets still haven’t been as active as many would like in free agency, but the improvement is there. On Opening Day 2013, the outfield was made up of an out-of-position Lucas Duda in left, Collin Cowgill in center, and Marlon Byrd manning right. Now while Byrd, who was close to retiring, did wind up resurrecting his career in New York that season, that is, by all accounts, a patchwork outfield.
Today you have Juan Lagares, a 25-year-old Gold Glover who hit .281 last season, manning center field between Curtis Granderson, who’s more than capable of hitting 25+ home runs and new acquisition Michael Cuddyer, who’s presence not only adds veteran leadership, but more run production in their line-up.
Even the rotation is firmly set, with Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon anchoring the staff. Gone are the days of fielding daily questions about who will win the 5th starter competition between Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lannan, or, going even further back, Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia.
While this team may not blow people away, they do have one important thing on their side that has been lacking for quite awhile: Roster certainty.
In 2015, the Mets are respectable. Could they do more to improve the team? Sure, and you can say that about most clubs. But for the first time in a long time, we’re no longer discussing Spring Training positional battles between unknowns or aging veterans looking to resurrect their careers. There’s continuity. There’s stability. When’s the last time we’ve been able to say that?
Times are a changin’.
Just Mets 