Can the Phillies' pitching rotation compete with the Mets now?

Yes it most definitely can. I would claim that this year, Meyers, Hamels, Moyer and Kendrick will all be better than Martinez Maine and Perez. Santana is a great pitcher, but one player, can simply NOT affect a team so dramatically. He will be great for the team, but it isnt going to be such a crazy improvement.

I think you're being a little too biased. Santana is good and all but Kendrick is the 3rd starter and he is pretty good himself. Martinez isn't as good as he used to be, I'd take Myers over him. Hamels is a great pitcher. He and Santana both won 15 games last season, while Santana lost 13 games and Hamels only lost 5. There ERAs were similar, 3.33 for Santana and 3.39 for Hamels. To come out and say Santana is better ignores the fact that Hamels is still developing.

There's also the matter of offenses. The Phillies have the better offense, by far. You don't need the most dominate pitching when you have guys like Rollins, Utley, and Howard in your lineup.

The Phillies also have an awesome defense, which only got better when they signed Pedro Feliz.

The Phillies dealt with the Mets pitching very well last year, i think the Phillies record against the Mets was 12-6. Santana is a nice acquisition, but to say that the Phillies cannot compete with the Mets now just ignores reality.

I think that the Mets' rotation might be a little better on paper, but I don't think that's the only factor to look at here. The Phillies offense is more than capable of keeping up with the Mets' and the Mets haven't done anything to improve theirs. The Phillies lost Rowand but replaced his power numbers with Feliz. Let's not forget this is the same Mets team that choked...bad. Not even a Johan Santana will help stop another slump like that one.

I think that the Mets have good pitching but the young guns for the phills might suprise the league this year. Hands down the Mets have a better totation if they get Santana. But I think that the divison is going to come down to offense production. However I think:

Santana is better then Hamels

Martinez( a big if healthy) is slightly better then Myers

Moyer is better then Maine

Kendrick will be better then Perez

Bullpens:

wagner is tied with lidge

UMMMM NO!

There best pitcher is Cole Hammels, he is like 18324098535971039487 times worse than Santana, and that last spot El Duque is better than Kyle Kendrick and JD Durbin, If they let Pelfrey develop in the bullpen this year and take over in the games where the mets are getting crushed in the first few innings ( There Wont Be Many) they can let el duque go, and pelfrey will become a solid number 5

Dude, we could compete (and beat) the Phillies rotation ever without Santana, afterall Pedro's back. In 2007, the Mets pitching staff, despite all of our bullpen troubles, notched the #12 ERA in the majors. The Phillies were down at #22. Now, with the Phillies staff of:

Cole Hamels-3.39 ERA (ace of the staff)

Brett Myers-4.43 ERA (out of the 2007 bullpen)

Kyle Kendrick-3.87 ERA (half a season of MLB time)

Jamie Moyer-5.01 ERA (and 45 years old at that)

Adam Eaton-6.29 ERA (might be replaced if that continues)

They can't beat the Mets staff of:

Pedro Martinez-2.57 ERA (in five 2007 starts)

John Maine-3.91 ERA (tied team wins lead)

Oliver Perez-3.56 ERA (return to his form from Pirates)

Orlando Hernandez-3.72 ERA (24 starts)

Mike Pelfrey-5.57 ERA (he's only 24)

add Johan Santana to the mix: 3.33 ERA, and we've sealed the deal.

I think head-to-head, the whole team is important. I added in my own little Performance Factor (PF) for each player, judging their possible impact versus the opposing player in the same position, 1 being more impact, 2 less. I could add the Braves in too, but they weren't addressed in the question.

Therefore (2007 Stats):

Mets Pitching

Santana (15-13, 3.33 ERA, 219 IP, 235 Ks, 1 PF)

Martinez (3-1, 2.57 ERA, 28 IP, 32 Ks, 2 PF)

Maine (15-10, 3.91 ERA, 191 IP, 180 Ks, 1 PF)

Perez (15-10, 3.56 ERA, 177 IP, 174 Ks, 1 PF)

Hernandez (9-5, 3.72 ERA, 147.2 IP, 128 Ks, 2 PF)

Phillies Pitching

Hamels (15-5, 3.39 ERA, 183.1 IP, 177 Ks, 2 PF)

Myers (5-7, 4.33 ERA, 68.2 IP, 83 Ks, 1 PF)

Moyer (14-12, 5.01 ERA, 199.1 IP, 133 Ks, 2 PF)

Eaton (10-10, 6.29 ERA, 161.2 IP, 97 Ks, 2 PF)

Kendrick (10-4, 3.87 ERA, 121 IP, 49 Ks, 1 PF)

Mets Hitting

Schneider (.235 AVG, 6 HR, 54 RBI, 2 PF)

Delgado (.258 AVG, 24 HR, 87 RBI, 2 PF)

Castillo (.301 AVG, 1 HR, 38 RBI, 2 PF)

Reyes (.280 AVG, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 1 PF)

Wright (.325 AVG, 30 HR, 107 RBI, 1 PF)

Alou (.341 AVG, 13 HR, 49 RBI, 1 PF)

Beltran (.276 AVG, 33 HR, 112 RBI, 1 PF)

Church (.272 AVG, 15 HR, 70 RBI, 2 PF)

Phillies Hitting

Ruiz (.259 AVG, 6 HR, 54 RBI, 1 PF)

Howard (.268 AVG, 47 HR, 136 RBI, 1 PF)

Utley (.332 AVG, 22 HR, 103 RBI, 1 PF)

Rollins (.296 AVG, 30 HR, 94 RBI, 1 PF)

Feliz (.253 AVG, 20 HR, 72 RBI, 2 PF)

Jenkins (.255 AVG, 21 HR, 64 RBI, 2 PF)

Victorino (.281 AVG, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 2 PF)

Burrell (.256 AVG, 30 HR, 97 RBI, 1 PF)

I gave both Reyes and Rollins ones because I couldn't decide who was better. These Performance Factors were chosen through extensive statisctical research.

Finally tally: Mets - 7 ones, 6 twos; Phillies - 7 ones, 6 twos

I swear that was completely unintentional, but I guess that means Reyes and Rollins are the game-breakers in the race. Essentially, the teams' starting players are equal.

haha, your funny. all they have is santana. and besides that myers is better then martinez, martinez sucked even when he wasnt hurt these last seasons! main is not better then moyer, and perez isnt any goods either. the braves have the best staff in the east. Hudson, Smoltz, Glavine, hampton, and probably chuck james. and the mets have the best offense, but the phillies and braves arent far behind. besides, they'll probably just choke in september anyone. Go Braves!

Santana 15-13 is better than Hamels

Martinez 5-1 is bettere than Myers

Maine 15-10is better than Moyer

Perez 15-10is better than Eaton

el duque 9-5

The Mets are a much better all around team than both the Phillies & the Braves....

Personally, the only team that can compete with them, pitching wise in the NL, would be the Diamond Backs.