I got my money on my team, bro.

– Angel Pagan.

Hey, maybe not the world’s safest bet, but good for Pagan for expressing confidence in the Mets.

Truth is — though it will be difficult to unseat Philadelphia — the Mets appear apt to be a lot better than most people think. Remember the post from the other day about how the Mets committed 1633 plate appearances to dudes with sub-.300 on-base percentages? All the main culprits — Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas and Alex Cora — are gone.

Assuming some combination of Daniel Murphy, Brad Emaus and Justin Turner emerges from Spring Training with the second-base job and Josh Thole and Ronny Paulino make for a suitable catching platoon, the 2011 Mets may actually field a lineup without any major holes in it. That’s a big, big change from the last couple years, and I think fans might be surprised by how much a team can benefit from not giving away outs.

And better yet, for once the Mets appear to have viable in-house Major League ready depth at most spots on the field.

The problem, obviously, is the pitching. How big of a problem depends on if R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese and Mike Pelfrey can build on successful 2010s and if Sandy Alderson can concoct a legit back end of a rotation out of reclamation projects and rookies.

The Phillies will be good. The Braves, too, will be good. But it’s silly to count out the Mets before the season even starts, especially now that they appear to be in good hands.