For the Mets, the pressure is on to win 90 games.
Pressure, though, is really on management. Sandy Alderson & Co. and the Wilpons are the ones saying this is a 90-win team.
If the Mets fall well short of that lofty goal, management needs to step up and say, “We blew it. We didn’t evaluate correctly.”
If the Mets win 90 — all hail Sandy.
That 90-victory win total bull’s-eye is on his back, not the players.
Here are five reasons to believe in Sandy and the Mets — each reason followed with a negative comment on the pipe dream of 90 wins …
Heaven Can’t Wait
Right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard needs to get to the majors as quickly as the Mets can move him, and that goes for the other young arms that are knocking on heaven’s door. Keeping talent buried in the minors for future contract purposes sends the wrong message. A Cardinals executive recently told The Post: “We don’t wait. If a pitcher can help us now, we bring ’em up and put them in the bullpen.’’ Michael Wacha is a prime example of that success. Zack Wheeler must continue to build off his solid debut season. With Matt Harvey down and out, Wheeler is the key to the staff now.
The negative view: Syndergaard gets off to a slow start and the Mets say he needs even more seasoning as they stick too long with aging arms. Jon Niese gets struck down by a new assortment of arm injuries and does not take a strong, veteran position in the rotation.
Mr. Wright Has Help
Curtis Granderson has taken the heat off of David Wright in many ways already. Throughout spring training, Granderson made his presence felt with the other players.
“Curtis is a leader,’’ Chris Young said.
With that part of the game taken off his plate, Wright can focus more on his game and should excel this season.
The negative view: Granderson may be the most positive person in baseball, but the weight of being a Met proves too much even for him and his career falls into the Jason Bay abyss.
Offensive catcher
Travis d’Arnaud has shown he can catch, throw and lead pitchers, now all that’s left is to prove he can hit major league pitching. No easy task. Last season d’Arnaud had to totally give his game over to defense and not worry about offense. Now it’s time to worry about offense.
The negative view: D’Arnaud and the bottom of the order fall on hard times.
“We need everyone to produce,’’ Terry Collins said.
That really means hitters 6-7-8 or 9 if Collins flip-flops the pitcher. The Mets don’t have enough pop on top of this lineup to carry the load.
First Base Explosion
Ike Davis is trying to make hitting simple again — see it and hit it. Davis is trying to eliminate all the voices telling him well-meaning advice. He needs to stay with the approach that gave him success and trust himself. He hits or he leaves.
The negative view: Davis continues his massive decline. He can’t stay on the field. His career goes down the drain.
Defense wins
If you’re building around young pitchers, you have to have strong defense — even if they are fly-ball pitchers. The Mets are weak up the middle in the infield. Ruben Tejada, who appears to have changed his defensive setup a bit for the better, must play solid defense at shortstop and the same goes for Daniel Murphy at second, a most limited defender. If they do, the young pitchers will be able to raise their game a notch.
The negative view: Tejada falls into the same fielding slump as in 2013 and early in this spring training, while Murphy’s velcro range is even more limited than in the past.
If these five things go right for the Mets, starting Monday in the opener against the Nationals, 2014 will not be the sixth straight Lost Season.