Not so fast.

Don't forget, the Mets didn't even make the playoffs last year. And they're not the only team to add an ace.

The NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Dan Haren from Oakland, giving them a nasty 1-2 punch of right-handers in their prime. Haren and Brandon Webb, the 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner, should win enough games all by themselves to at least make the young Diamondbacks contenders again.

Just imagine if 44-year-old Randy Johnson and his creaky back are healthy, too.

There's Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux in San Diego, plus All-Star closer Trevor Hoffman. Philadelphia boasts blossoming lefty Cole Hamels, and the Chicago Cubs have two bulldogs in Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly.

Atlanta's projected rotation includes four former 20-game winners: John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton — if he can finally stay off the disabled list.

And we haven't even mentioned the Colorado Rockies yet.

By the way, they surged all the way to the World Series last season behind 17-game winner Jeff Francis and several electric young arms that only figure to get better.

The Mets will formally introduce Santana at a Shea Stadium news conference today, but even with him they don't have a monopoly on pitching in the National League.

"I've said it all along, the team to beat in my eyes is the team that won last year," Mets third baseman David Wright said yesterday evening at the 28th annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner. "Philadelphia took care of us last year, they took care of business within the division and I think that going into this year we have to fight to take control again of the National League East.

"It's not about making bold predictions. It's not about verbally saying who's the team to beat. It's about going out there and showing it. Philadelphia did both last year. They made the predictions and they went out and backed it up."

What Santana does, though, is single-handedly boost the Mets' rotation from iffy to solid. He'll also take pressure off a bullpen that faltered badly down the stretch last season as New York squandered a big lead in the NL East.

"Somewhat it allows us to officially, kind of completely shut the book on '07. It kind of takes away from, I guess kind of the aura of what happened at the end of last year. We can kind of put that behind us. And when your superstars have a fresh attitude, looking ahead rather than behind, I think that that rubs off on the rest of the team. He had nothing to do with last year. He's going to bring kind of a breath of fresh air," Wright said.

"Obviously, it would have been somewhat of a distraction come spring training, having to talk about 2007 rather than looking forward to 2008. I think he distracts a little bit from what happened in '07. A lot of the focus is going to be on the trade and Johan rather than what happened the last two weeks of the season. I think he'll provide some positive life at the beginning of spring training and we can start looking ahead to '08 rather than what we failed to do in '07."

New York got a defensive upgrade at catcher this offseason when it obtained Brian Schneider in a trade with the Washington Nationals. The same deal also brought right fielder Ryan Church, but it remains to be seen if he can hit left-handers well enough to hold that job down himself.

"We look good," Mets second baseman Luis Castillo said on a conference call from the Dominican Republic. "This year we know have a good team and we need to win."

Castillo, who played with Santana in Minnesota from 2006-07, was acquired by the Mets just before the trade deadline last July. The speedy switch-hitter re-signed with New York in November and said his troublesome right knee feels much better following clean-up surgery this offseason.

That should help a Mets lineup that also features Wright and fellow All-Stars Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, plus veteran sluggers Carlos Delgado and Moises Alou.

"You add a guy like Johan with what on paper is supposed to be a good offense in a pitcher-friendly ballpark, and I'm expecting him to go out there and have a typical Johan season," Wright said. "We're going to welcome him over to the National League. I know a lot of these guys haven't seen him all that much. Hopefully, that's an added bonus."

Yes, the free-spending Mets got the legitimate ace they sorely needed when they acquired Santana from the Twins for four prospects and signed him to a $137.5 million, six-year contract — record riches for a pitcher. And on paper, the Mets look as good as any team in the NL.