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Which NL teams are the Chicago Cubs biggest threats?

By Paul Steeno

Oct 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The Chicago Cubs celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 in game four of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The Chicago Cubs celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 in game four of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 1, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) reacts after popping out in the 6th inning against the Kansas City Royals in game five of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 1, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) reacts after popping out in the 6th inning against the Kansas City Royals in game five of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Mets

Projected Lineup (courtesy of rotochamp.com):

Curtis Granderson OF

Neil Walker 2B

David Wright 3B

Yoenis Cespedes OF

Lucas Duda 1B

Travis d’Arnaud C

Michael Conforto OF

Asdrubal Cabrera SS

More from Chicago Cubs

Starting Rotation:

Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Bartolo Colon

Rundown:

The young, hard-throwing pitchers that terrorized the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 NLCS will continue to try to haunt the Cubs hitters’ nightmares in 2016. Yoenis Cespedes, who resurrected the Mets offense after the trade deadline, is back too. How good can the Mets be next season?

The Mets stockpiled young pitchers in its minor league system in previous seasons and it has paid off big time for the defending NL Champions.

"“Their rotation could boast three top 20 starting pitchers in Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Rookie Steven Matz could be a must-start pitcher as well, and Bartolo Colon has some deep league appeal while he holds down the fifth starter’s job until Zack Wheeler completes his recovery from Tommy John surgery. While the Mets don’t have the deepest bullpen, they had last season’s second-ranked Fantasy reliever in Jeurys Familia.” —-Content courtesy of CBS reporter Al Melchior"

Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz are 26, 23, 27 and 24 respectively. The Mets have the best young pitching in baseball; something that the Cubs found out the hard way last season in the NLCS.

Perhaps the biggest moment of the offseason was when free agent Yoenis Cespedes re-signed with the New York Mets on a three-year contract valued at $75 million. Prior to the 2015 MLB trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers traded Cespedes to the Mets for pitching prospects. Cespedes’ .287/.337/.604 slash line resurrected an anemic Mets offense and helped the team make its deep playoff push last season.

While the loss of playoff hero Daniel Murphy hurts, the Mets still have a serviceable offense. David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda are all solid veterans that can help Cespedes carry the load on offense. With its elite starting rotation, the Mets don’t need to have the best offense in the MLB to win games anyway. Pitching wins championships and the Mets are elite in this facet of the game.

Next: Conclusion

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