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PORT ST. LUCIE — Brandon Nimmo is ready to comprise part of what he calls a “beast.”
The Mets outfielder was referring Saturday to the NL East — which added more All-Star players a day earlier in Nick Castellanos and Kenley Jansen, who reached agreements with the Phillies and Braves, respectively. Last week, the Phillies also added Kyle Schwarber to a lineup that already included Bryce Harper, and the Braves essentially replaced Freddie Freeman with stud Matt Olson at first base.
“I didn’t really expect the other teams in the East would just kind of roll over and see what [Mets owner] Steve Cohen was doing and just be like, ‘Oh, yeah, we will just let him go ahead and take that,’ ” Nimmo said before a workout at Clover Park. “But I just think it’s going to be great for the fans, because it’s going to be some bulldog games.”
The Mets’ huge splash occurred in November, when they signed three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer to a three-year contract worth $140 million. The Mets also signed outfielders Mark Canha and Starling Marte, and infielder Eduardo Escobar. In the days following the lockout’s conclusion, they traded with the Athletics for right-hander Chris Bassitt and signed reliever Adam Ottavino.
Atlanta already had a top closer in Will Smith, but Jansen provides another elite arm. Castellanos, a right-handed bat, will bring balance to a Phillies lineup that, if healthy, might be the favorite to lead the NL in home runs. Schwarber emerged as Mets killer last season with the Nationals.
“I am not saying [Schwarber] will or won’t be a tough out or anything, but it’s a new year,” Nimmo said.
“[The Braves] have got lots of different options. Their bullpen was all the talk of the postseason last year so they made their bullpen even better.”
Buck Showalter has the rosters of the other four NL East teams posted in a workroom so he and his staff can familiarize themselves with the opponents they will face for nearly half the schedule. But Showalter isn’t about to make those opponents’ upgrades a point of emphasis with his club.
“What are you going to do, gather the players together and [say], ‘Look at how much better everybody’s gotten’?” Showalter said. “It falls underneath the Captain Obvious thing, it’s about us.”
Nimmo was asked if the defending World Series champion Braves, who have won the division each of the past four years, should be considered as the NL East’s team to beat.
“You definitely put a target on their back, but I am looking at the Phillies right now as well, with [Zack] Wheeler and [Aaron] Nola as really good pitchers,” Nimmo said. “You’ve got [Charlie] Morton and [Max] Fried over in Atlanta and so you are seeing similar trends from all three teams there, and then don’t laugh at the Marlins.
“The Marlins are a really good young team and they are not a fun team to face. They push and they know they are the underdog and will try to take the extra bases. Their starting pitchers are really good for how young they are, so it’s not games off playing the Marlins either.”
Though the Braves won the division with just 88 victories last season and only one other team (the Phillies) cracked .500, Nimmo doesn’t buy the notion the NL East underachieved.
“To be honest, I think the whole division beat up on each other and I think you saw who won the World Series,” Nimmo said. “Just because the record isn’t necessarily the best in baseball doesn’t mean the best team from baseball isn’t going to come out of that division. We had some really good teams beat up on each other, and you are not always going to have it figured out.”
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