How the Mets' improved depth can help them avoid repeats of 2017 and 2018

Since the day he was hired in early November, Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen has been talking about improving his team's depth.

The Mets have suffered significant injuries during each of the past four seasons. And, to Van Wagenen's point, during each instance, the Mets were left to scramble when finding a comparable solution to whomever went on the DL.

For instance, in 2017, the Mets were bobbing around .500 and still very much in contention within the NL East. However, after losing multiple players from their Opening Day lineup, the team sank like a stone on its way to losing 92 games.

"It really got to be tough," then-manager Terry Collins told WFAN that year's offseason. "You can handle it if…