ZiPS 2021 Projections: New York Mets by Dan Szymborski December 1, 2020 After having typically appeared in the hallowed pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections have now been released at FanGraphs for nine years. The exercise continues this offseason. Below are the projections for the New York Mets. ZiPS Projections 2021 2020 ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Batters Robinson Canó’s suspension for the 2021 season may be a blessing in disguise from the point of view of the Mets, at least if we trust the second baseman’s ZiPS projection. Canó was surprisingly good in 2020, but there’s a great deal of gravity surrounding him; he seemed to be nearing the end this time last year and Nelson Cruz notwithstanding, the typical decline for hitters in their late 30s would be illegal for roller coasters. The Mets aren’t losing Canó’s 2020, they’re losing what they could have gotten from him in 2021, which isn’t necessarily the same thing. There’s opportunity here to get creative in the infield. Jeff McNeil becomes the obvious second base candidate with J.D. Davis moving back to third. ZiPS is into the former but not the latter, and it would be fun to see the Mets go after someone like Justin Turner at the hot corner. Even if the Mets stick with what they have, there’s only one real glaring weakness in the starting lineup: catcher. Wilson Ramos looked like he aged fairly quickly in 2020 and the team no longer has much in the way of quality depth at the position, which used to be a necessity due to Travis d’Arnaud’s injury record. If new owner Steve Cohen wants a highly efficient way to splash some cash around, there may be no more efficient signing out there than landing J.T. Realmuto. At this point last year, I figured that the Phillies were certain to extend Realmuto, but now that they’ve lost $20 million, $2 billion, or whatever fictional figure sneaks past an editor, the Mets have an opportunity to poke a finger in a rival’s eye. And, of course, it’s a winning baseball idea! So long as the team stays healthy, there aren’t any other huge headaches in the lineup. ZiPS isn’t the least bit worried about Pete Alonso despite a slightly disappointing sophomore season and though the computer isn’t fully on Team Giménez, it still sees the shortstop timeshare as adequate, if not terribly exciting. If the players don’t stay healthy, the Mets aren’t particularly deep, so there’s some work to be done this winter even if it’s not of the headline-making variety. There are a lot of solid role players on this projection list, but a very high percentage of them are free agents. Pitchers It would not shock me if the Mets have the best rotation in baseball. Jacob deGrom is a serious preseason favorite for Cy Young; I’m not sure I wouldn’t have taken him over Trevor Bauer and Yu Darvish if I had had a Cy vote this past season. Yes, wins aren’t a remotely good way of evaluating a pitcher, but the cosmic unfairness of deGrom never having finished a season with more than 15 wins remains incredibly frustrating. ZiPS projects deGrom to finish with 69 career WAR (cue the meme), but only 167 wins. The most career WAR for a pitcher with as few wins as that is Bret Saberhagen at 55.3. I would consider it karmic justice if deGrom snagged a few mediocre 20-win seasons at the end of his career. And after deGrom, there’s a great deal of upside. The Mets were fortunate to get Marcus Stroman back with a qualifying offer; the calf injury that helped cost him 2020 isn’t expected to be a problem next year. Noah Syndergaard’s injury was far more serious, of course, but it’s much better for 2021 that he got his Tommy John surgery in March rather than the Mets playing “wait-and-see” until late summer. David Peterson looked solid in stretches in 2020 and ZiPS isn’t banking on a repeat of his higher-than-expected walk rate. The team’s bullpen looks like a roughly league-average crew at this point. ZiPS was never an Edwin Díaz disbeliever and while there were reasons for some mild concern — his walk rate for one — he was a convincing example of why you shouldn’t panic about a spike in a good pitcher’s HR/9 rate. The good news is that in a world where other teams don’t want to take a year of Brad Hand for basically free, there are opportunities for the Mets to add a name brand arm or two. I’d love to see them go after Hand and someone like Trevor May or Blake Treinen. Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here Batters – Standard Player B Age PO PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS Michael Conforto L 28 RF 608 518 86 137 26 1 27 93 76 152 7 4 Jeff McNeil L 29 2B 581 522 71 155 33 3 16 70 41 71 6 5 Pete Alonso R 26 1B 616 536 81 132 24 1 41 110 61 164 2 2 Brandon Nimmo L 28 CF 498 410 67 100 21 5 16 49 74 123 4 3 Dominic Smith L 26 LF 541 494 68 134 33 2 21 80 38 128 1 1 Amed Rosario R 25 SS 609 575 73 154 24 7 14 62 26 122 16 8 Luis Guillorme L 26 2B 383 336 39 86 16 1 4 30 40 68 4 2 Andrés Giménez L 22 SS 480 436 56 102 18 6 9 42 23 111 25 12 J.D. Davis R 28 3B 533 474 63 122 24 1 19 62 48 130 2 1 Jake Marisnick R 30 CF 303 279 43 66 15 2 12 36 16 89 7 3 Brian Dozier R 34 2B 471 417 56 94 18 1 17 56 48 106 6 4 Robinson Canó L 38 2B 393 368 41 99 21 0 12 47 20 60 0 0 Bruce Maxwell L 30 C 371 335 38 74 17 0 9 41 34 98 0 0 Todd Frazier R 35 3B 471 419 51 93 18 1 16 60 39 109 3 3 Robel García B 28 2B 473 421 59 88 14 4 20 80 44 173 3 5 Wilson Ramos R 33 C 438 403 37 104 17 0 12 59 29 75 0 0 Mallex Smith L 28 CF 533 484 59 115 21 8 5 37 39 122 40 8 René Rivera R 37 C 310 284 28 57 7 0 12 40 19 103 0 0 Robinson Chirinos R 37 C 342 297 32 58 14 0 9 41 31 100 0 1 Yoenis Céspedes R 35 LF 256 233 28 53 10 1 12 39 18 75 1 0 Juan Lagares R 32 CF 268 246 33 57 11 2 3 20 16 61 4 2 Tomás Nido R 27 C 321 301 30 67 14 1 9 41 15 74 0 0 Max Moroff B 28 SS 332 282 40 53 10 1 9 42 45 109 4 2 Jake Hager R 28 2B 390 358 38 76 15 2 10 39 24 107 5 2 Jose Peraza R 27 2B 545 508 56 124 21 3 8 41 23 80 12 6 David Rodriguez R 25 C 378 348 34 70 14 2 7 34 23 106 3 2 Gordon Beckham R 34 2B 359 329 36 73 15 1 7 28 23 74 4 1 Mitchell Tolman L 27 2B 464 407 45 78 14 2 7 37 45 141 8 5 Patrick Mazeika L 27 C 437 395 43 85 17 1 11 46 33 92 1 0 Ali Sánchez R 24 C 359 334 30 71 15 1 4 25 21 71 2 2 Guillermo Heredia R 30 CF 320 284 36 65 12 1 8 28 24 64 3 3 Jed Lowrie B 37 2B 442 400 42 91 18 1 9 46 38 89 0 0 Luis Carpio R 23 2B 462 422 43 92 19 2 7 37 34 96 5 12 Jarrett Parker L 32 RF 374 330 41 64 12 1 13 47 41 136 2 2 Eduardo Nuñez R 34 2B 376 358 37 90 15 1 7 36 12 52 12 3 Will Toffey L 26 3B 364 316 36 58 14 1 6 26 45 117 3 2 Braxton Lee L 27 CF 465 418 43 94 15 2 3 29 36 118 8 6 Ryan Cordell R 29 RF 271 248 24 50 10 2 6 27 16 80 7 2 Carlos Cortes L 24 2B 513 466 50 101 19 4 9 48 37 106 4 5 Joey Terdoslavich B 32 1B 358 325 35 73 12 1 7 33 29 71 1 1 Quinn Brodey L 25 CF 485 446 42 88 17 3 9 42 31 158 9 4 Jeremy Vasquez L 24 1B 562 505 51 112 22 3 7 45 49 127 2 3 Travis Taijeron R 32 1B 432 378 45 68 16 2 15 49 43 179 2 2 Michael Paez R 26 2B 449 402 40 80 16 1 8 35 33 107 3 6 Melky Cabrera B 36 RF 420 396 42 104 18 1 7 51 19 50 2 1 Johneshwy Fargas R 26 CF 434 395 40 77 9 4 6 33 24 113 28 17 Nick Meyer R 24 C 220 204 16 36 4 1 1 9 12 53 6 2 Ronny Mauricio B 20 SS 460 436 40 91 16 4 5 30 17 118 4 10 Zach Ashford L 24 LF 491 442 43 85 21 4 7 37 39 143 8 11 Blake Tiberi L 26 3B 494 443 47 88 18 1 4 29 44 128 9 4 Tim Tebow L 33 LF 334 309 24 48 10 1 4 20 19 144 2 2 Batters – Advanced Player BA OBP SLG OPS+ ISO BABIP RC/27 Def WAR No. 1 Comp Michael Conforto .264 .368 .475 130 .210 .324 6.4 2 3.9 Steve Kemp Jeff McNeil .297 .362 .464 125 .167 .320 6.4 -4 3.6 Cecil Travis Pete Alonso .246 .339 .524 132 .278 .275 6.3 0 3.5 Jeff Burroughs Brandon Nimmo .244 .373 .437 122 .193 .310 5.8 -5 2.9 Rick Monday Dominic Smith .271 .329 .474 117 .202 .328 5.8 -2 2.2 Dmitri Young Amed Rosario .268 .301 .407 92 .139 .319 4.5 -3 1.6 Rafael Ramirez Luis Guillorme .256 .337 .345 89 .089 .311 4.2 2 1.3 Jeff Treadway Andrés Giménez .234 .294 .365 80 .131 .294 3.8 3 1.2 Carlos Garcia J.D. Davis .257 .332 .432 108 .175 .317 5.2 -13 1.2 Brook Jacoby Jake Marisnick .237 .289 .434 95 .197 .303 4.5 2 1.1 John Shelby Brian Dozier .225 .310 .396 92 .170 .262 4.2 -3 1.0 Damion Easley Robinson Canó .269 .310 .424 99 .155 .294 4.9 -4 1.0 Cal Ripken Jr. Bruce Maxwell .221 .291 .352 76 .131 .285 3.6 4 1.0 Alan Ashby Todd Frazier .222 .301 .384 87 .162 .262 3.9 0 1.0 Clete Boyer Robel García .209 .288 .404 87 .195 .298 3.8 1 1.0 Bobby Smith Wilson Ramos .258 .311 .390 91 .132 .291 4.4 -6 0.9 Eddie Taubensee Mallex Smith .238 .302 .345 78 .107 .308 4.2 -1 0.9 Chris Duffy René Rivera .201 .259 .352 66 .151 .266 3.1 6 0.7 Pat Borders Robinson Chirinos .195 .287 .333 70 .138 .261 3.1 1 0.5 Elston Howard Yoenis Céspedes .227 .289 .433 95 .206 .281 4.4 0 0.3 Bobby Thomson Juan Lagares .232 .286 .329 69 .098 .297 3.3 4 0.3 Tony Scott Tomás Nido .223 .259 .365 69 .143 .266 3.3 1 0.3 Willie Morales Max Moroff .188 .303 .326 73 .138 .268 3.3 -2 0.3 Lauro Felix Jake Hager .212 .263 .349 66 .137 .274 3.2 5 0.2 Adam Pavkovich Jose Peraza .244 .287 .344 73 .100 .276 3.5 0 0.2 Luis Sojo David Rodriguez .201 .255 .313 55 .112 .268 2.7 6 0.2 Damian Miller Gordon Beckham .222 .279 .337 69 .116 .266 3.3 2 0.2 Billy Gardner Mitchell Tolman .192 .278 .287 56 .096 .274 2.6 7 0.0 Nate Frese Patrick Mazeika .215 .284 .347 72 .132 .253 3.4 -6 0.0 Alberto Castillo Ali Sánchez .213 .262 .299 54 .087 .259 2.6 4 0.0 Tom Wieghaus Guillermo Heredia .229 .303 .363 82 .134 .269 3.7 -5 -0.1 Rowland Office Jed Lowrie .228 .296 .345 76 .118 .272 3.6 -4 -0.1 Terry Pendleton Luis Carpio .218 .280 .322 65 .104 .266 2.6 4 -0.2 Jose Valdez Jarrett Parker .194 .286 .355 75 .161 .282 3.3 0 -0.3 Orsino Hill Eduardo Nuñez .251 .277 .358 73 .106 .278 3.8 -5 -0.4 Cookie Rojas Will Toffey .184 .288 .291 60 .108 .269 2.7 0 -0.4 Ron Bourquin Braxton Lee .225 .288 .292 61 .067 .306 2.8 1 -0.5 Kevin Koslofski Ryan Cordell .202 .253 .331 59 .129 .272 2.9 1 -0.7 Victor Mendez Carlos Cortes .217 .279 .333 68 .116 .262 3.1 -4 -0.7 Sean Kazmar Jr. Joey Terdoslavich .225 .288 .332 70 .108 .267 3.3 0 -0.7 Ryan McGuire Quinn Brodey .197 .252 .309 53 .112 .283 2.6 3 -0.7 Justin Justice Jeremy Vasquez .222 .294 .319 69 .097 .283 3.2 3 -0.8 Andy Barkett Travis Taijeron .180 .278 .352 72 .172 .288 3.2 -3 -1.0 Dustan Mohr Michael Paez .199 .269 .303 57 .104 .251 2.5 -1 -1.0 Randy Blood Melky Cabrera .263 .296 .366 81 .104 .286 4.0 -9 -1.0 Rip Radcliff Johneshwy Fargas .195 .258 .284 49 .089 .257 2.3 0 -1.2 Anthony Jackson Nick Meyer .176 .228 .221 25 .044 .233 1.7 -2 -1.3 Charlie Greene Ronny Mauricio .209 .242 .298 47 .089 .275 2.1 0 -1.6 Julio Bruno Zach Ashford .192 .267 .305 57 .113 .267 2.4 1 -1.7 Karl Rhodes Blake Tiberi .199 .274 .271 51 .072 .270 2.5 -7 -1.8 Tommy Nicholson Tim Tebow .155 .213 .233 23 .078 .273 1.5 -9 -3.4 Orsino Hill Pitchers – Standard Player T Age W L ERA G GS IP H ER HR BB SO FIP Jacob deGrom R 33 12 6 2.85 28 28 176.7 138 56 20 40 217 2.96 Noah Syndergaard R 28 7 5 3.69 21 21 126.7 120 52 16 31 125 3.68 Marcus Stroman R 30 8 6 3.88 21 21 123.0 118 53 15 41 104 4.12 David Peterson L 25 8 7 4.14 29 27 134.7 128 62 16 53 119 4.29 Seth Lugo R 31 9 7 4.10 23 23 127.3 117 58 23 27 139 4.15 Edwin Diaz R 27 6 2 2.70 68 0 66.7 44 20 8 25 114 2.67 Rick Porcello R 32 11 10 4.50 27 27 154.0 159 77 27 38 138 4.54 Steven Matz L 30 8 8 4.65 26 23 122.0 119 63 21 43 121 4.64 Michael Wacha R 29 6 6 4.67 23 20 108.0 108 56 18 42 102 4.68 Joe Cavallaro R 25 7 7 4.71 32 14 101.3 99 53 13 53 88 4.86 Miguel Castro R 26 4 3 3.97 67 0 81.7 71 36 8 40 79 4.06 Tylor Megill R 25 7 7 4.61 23 11 68.3 62 35 11 36 79 4.72 Justin Wilson L 33 4 2 3.60 53 0 45.0 35 18 5 24 58 3.71 Corey Oswalt R 27 5 6 4.90 21 18 93.7 96 51 18 29 82 5.02 Dellin Betances R 33 3 2 3.59 46 0 42.7 31 17 5 26 63 3.93 Nick Tropeano R 30 4 4 4.76 17 11 70.0 69 37 14 28 71 5.12 Ariel Jurado R 25 8 9 5.06 28 19 122.7 138 69 23 28 80 5.10 Franklyn Kilome R 26 4 4 4.94 18 16 85.7 85 47 10 52 69 5.08 Daniel Zamora L 28 3 2 3.83 48 0 47.0 41 20 6 18 54 3.88 Jacob Barnes R 31 3 3 4.00 54 1 54.0 47 24 7 23 61 3.99 Rob Whalen R 27 4 5 4.91 13 12 62.3 65 34 9 24 48 4.82 Yeizo Campos R 25 3 3 4.53 27 5 59.7 59 30 9 21 52 4.60 Jared Hughes R 35 4 3 4.01 58 0 58.3 53 26 6 23 48 4.26 Sam McWilliams R 25 7 8 5.17 25 20 125.3 137 72 22 47 91 5.28 Robert Gsellman R 27 3 3 4.32 54 2 66.7 66 32 8 25 57 4.38 Marcel Renteria R 26 3 3 4.66 32 5 65.7 63 34 8 36 58 4.82 Chasen Shreve L 30 3 2 4.15 51 0 56.3 47 26 9 28 73 4.26 Brad Brach R 35 3 3 4.12 50 0 48.0 42 22 5 26 53 4.01 Yefry Ramírez R 27 6 7 5.17 29 17 101.0 94 58 19 54 111 5.21 Jeurys Familia R 31 3 3 4.30 63 0 60.7 53 29 6 38 66 4.32 Drew Smith R 27 3 3 4.29 36 0 42.0 41 20 5 17 36 4.44 Arodys Vizcaíno R 30 3 3 4.33 39 0 35.3 32 17 6 17 39 4.79 Adonis Uceta R 27 3 3 4.61 36 2 52.7 50 27 7 26 50 4.66 Hunter Strickland R 32 3 3 4.37 39 0 35.0 34 17 5 14 33 4.44 Harol Gonzalez R 26 8 10 5.37 23 22 122.3 134 73 23 43 85 5.46 Thomas Szapucki L 25 2 3 5.34 21 17 55.7 54 33 10 33 56 5.44 Erasmo Ramirez R 31 4 5 5.32 24 16 89.7 97 53 19 27 63 5.57 Ryley Gilliam R 24 3 3 4.46 31 0 40.3 34 20 6 25 53 4.57 Tony Dibrell R 25 8 10 5.40 24 23 113.3 114 68 18 73 98 5.63 Peter Tago R 28 1 1 4.50 14 0 18.0 15 9 2 15 20 5.07 Paul Sewald R 31 3 3 4.50 47 0 56.0 55 28 9 18 56 4.34 Tommy Wilson R 25 6 7 5.45 21 20 99.0 107 60 19 39 76 5.47 Oscar De La Cruz R 26 4 6 5.33 28 12 82.7 85 49 16 38 76 5.42 Pedro Payano R 26 6 7 5.50 25 22 108.0 113 66 18 62 90 5.57 Ryder Ryan R 26 3 3 5.21 34 1 46.7 46 27 7 28 43 5.28 Nick Rumbelow R 29 2 3 5.25 27 0 36.0 37 21 7 16 32 5.43 Pitchers – Advanced Player K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BB% K% BABIP ERA+ ERA- WAR No. 1 Comp Jacob deGrom 11.1 2.0 1.0 5.7% 30.9% .281 149 67 5.3 Bob Gibson Noah Syndergaard 8.9 2.2 1.1 5.9% 23.8% .297 115 87 2.5 Paul Derringer Marcus Stroman 7.6 3.0 1.1 7.9% 20.0% .287 109 92 2.1 Bob Porterfield David Peterson 8.0 3.5 1.1 9.1% 20.4% .289 102 98 1.9 Jim O’Toole Seth Lugo 9.8 1.9 1.6 5.1% 26.5% .286 103 97 1.9 Brad Radke Edwin Díaz 15.4 3.4 1.1 9.2% 42.1% .303 157 64 1.7 Mark Wohlers Rick Porcello 8.1 2.2 1.6 5.8% 21.1% .297 94 106 1.6 Bill Lee Steven Matz 8.9 3.2 1.5 8.2% 23.0% .293 91 110 1.0 Kent Mercker Michael Wacha 8.5 3.5 1.5 9.0% 21.8% .296 91 110 0.9 Jim Hannan Joe Cavallaro 7.8 4.7 1.2 11.6% 19.3% .292 90 111 0.7 Walt Masterson Miguel Castro 8.7 4.4 0.9 11.4% 22.4% .283 107 94 0.6 Joe Hudson Tylor Megill 10.4 4.7 1.4 11.9% 26.1% .295 92 109 0.5 Mike Lumley Justin Wilson 11.6 4.8 1.0 12.5% 30.2% .288 118 85 0.5 Marshall Bridges Corey Oswalt 7.9 2.8 1.7 7.2% 20.3% .289 86 116 0.5 Steve Finch Dellin Betances 13.3 5.5 1.1 13.8% 33.5% .292 118 85 0.5 Jason Kershner Nick Tropeano 9.1 3.6 1.8 9.2% 23.2% .291 89 112 0.4 Julian Tavarez Ariel Jurado 5.9 2.1 1.7 5.3% 15.2% .293 84 119 0.4 Rick Wise Franklyn Kilome 7.2 5.5 1.1 13.2% 17.6% .292 86 117 0.4 Mike Torrez Daniel Zamora 10.3 3.4 1.1 9.0% 27.0% .294 111 90 0.4 Juan Agosto Jacob Barnes 10.2 3.8 1.2 10.0% 26.4% .290 106 94 0.4 Dwight Bernard Rob Whalen 6.9 3.5 1.3 8.8% 17.5% .295 86 116 0.4 Wayne Simpson Yeizo Campos 7.8 3.2 1.4 8.1% 20.2% .289 94 107 0.3 Ken Ash Jared Hughes 7.4 3.5 0.9 9.2% 19.1% .276 106 95 0.3 Al Worthington Sam McWilliams 6.5 3.4 1.6 8.5% 16.4% .295 82 122 0.3 Joey Housey Robert Gsellman 7.7 3.4 1.1 8.6% 19.6% .296 98 102 0.3 Scott Munter Marcel Renteria 7.9 4.9 1.1 12.2% 19.7% .291 91 110 0.3 Sam Nahem Chasen Shreve 11.7 4.5 1.4 11.5% 30.0% .290 102 98 0.2 Doug Capilla Brad Brach 9.9 4.9 0.9 12.4% 25.2% .296 103 97 0.2 Turk Lown Yefry Ramírez 9.9 4.8 1.7 12.0% 24.7% .288 82 122 0.2 Tim Byron Jeurys Familia 9.8 5.6 0.9 14.0% 24.3% .296 98 102 0.1 Dave Jolly Drew Smith 7.7 3.6 1.1 9.2% 19.6% .293 99 101 0.1 Greg Minton Arodys Vizcaíno 9.9 4.3 1.5 11.0% 25.2% .286 98 102 0.1 Ed Farmer Adonis Uceta 8.5 4.4 1.2 11.2% 21.5% .293 92 109 0.1 Newt Kimball Hunter Strickland 8.5 3.6 1.3 9.2% 21.7% .293 97 103 0.1 Hal White Harol Gonzalez 6.3 3.2 1.7 7.9% 15.7% .290 79 127 0.0 Michael Macdonald Thomas Szapucki 9.1 5.3 1.6 13.0% 22.1% .291 79 126 0.0 Derek Thompson Erasmo Ramirez 6.3 2.7 1.9 6.9% 16.2% .282 80 126 0.0 Jim McAndrew Ryley Gilliam 11.8 5.6 1.3 13.8% 29.3% .298 95 105 0.0 Anthony Chavez Tony Dibrell 7.8 5.8 1.4 13.9% 18.6% .291 78 127 0.0 Brett Laxton Peter Tago 10.0 7.5 1.0 17.9% 23.8% .283 94 106 0.0 Horacio Pina Paul Sewald 9.0 2.9 1.4 7.5% 23.4% .299 94 106 0.0 Chuck Crim Tommy Wilson 6.9 3.5 1.7 8.9% 17.3% .292 78 129 -0.1 Preston Larrison Oscar De La Cruz 8.3 4.1 1.7 10.3% 20.5% .294 79 126 -0.1 Dan Kolb Pedro Payano 7.5 5.2 1.5 12.5% 18.1% .296 77 130 -0.1 Edwin Morel Ryder Ryan 8.3 5.4 1.4 13.1% 20.1% .293 81 123 -0.3 Ken Wright Nick Rumbelow 8.0 4.0 1.8 10.0% 20.0% .291 81 124 -0.3 Gary Wagner Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned, players who will miss 2021 due to injury, and players who were released in 2020. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a Finnish industrial death metal fourth-wave ska J-pop band, he’s still listed here intentionally. Both hitters and pitchers are ranked by projected zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those which appear in the full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR. ZiPS is assuming that the designated hitter will continue in force in 2021; if it does not, there will be widespread minor adjustments across the board come April. ZiPS is agnostic about future playing time by design. For more information about ZiPS, please refer to this article, or get angry at Dan on Twitter or something.