With their cross-town Bronx rivals getting very stale, the Mets have a golden opportunity to finally take over the city.
As we near the end to another NFL season, the sounds of spring are creeping up on us.
It’s enough to get the most intense baseball fan giddy, especially considering what we were treated to last October.
The Kansas City Royals burst onto the scene and completely shocked the world. They took us back to an old-school feel that most didn’t think they’d ever see in Major League Baseball ever again.
I mean seriously, how could you think it after we went through 20 plus years of steroid-filled slugger bashing play?
Chicks digged the long ball for such a long time.
It’s not that way anymore.
Also during this time, the New York Yankees capitalized by way of their means. Financially better off than everyone else, they assured themselves a post-season slot every single year because of their spending. While it didn’t guarantee them anything in the playoffs, winning that AL East or capturing the Wild Card was almost as certain as Roger Goodell screwing up again.
Since the strike in 94, the Yanks had made the playoffs 16 out of 17 seasons leading up to 2013, including 13 straight from ’95 to 2007. It’s an incredible feat, financially well-off or not.
Not surprisingly, they’ve lead baseball in player salaries for most of that time. The only time they didn’t was for parts of the late 90’s where the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers flirted with surpassing them.
We all know about the dynasty, winning four championships in five seasons.
What most people don’t realize though is that those championships were won because of the strength of their development from within. It was home-grown guys like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada who created that nucleus which lead to so much success.
Gene “Stick” Michael and Buck Showalter were the architects. They were able to maneuver because George Steinbrenner was suspended due to the Howie Spria controversy.
When George finally came back into the spotlight, they eventually changed philosophies and started to buy high-priced sluggers. Jason Giambi was the first.
From that point on, the Yankees salary soared to new heights. The Yankees assured themselves playoff spots each season with a ridiculous salary, but could never muster another core nucleus to really become true perennial contenders other than 2009 in which they actually bought the championship.
And now, after missing the playoffs the last two seasons and watching Jeter ride off into the sunset, the Yankees are in serious trouble.
They have aging veterans all over the place and very few blue-chippers to speak of. Considering that every projected starting position player on the team is 30 or older, how could anybody think that the same nagging injuries they’ve been suffering from won’t crop up again in 2015?
The Yanks have gotten themselves into trouble not because they sign free agents, but because they’ve signed too many.
When players hit free agency they’re already nearing that magic number of 30 years old. Injuries are always a prime concern. Not only that, but all of these veterans are signed with the understanding that they are the man at that position and it clogs up these spots, not allowing any chance to see young players come up and showcase themselves.
Looking at the Yankees everyday lineup, at what position could a youngster shock the organization and steal a full-time starting job? Aside from short-stop Didi Gregorius, Rob Refsnyder is the only player under 30 with a shot of winning a starting job.
They are an old, tired bunch that is trending downward.
Take a look at the American League Champs from 2014, the Kansas City Royals.
Not one casual baseball fan could’ve named a player from the Royals roster prior to October. They have no superstars or sluggers. Yet they hit, ran and pitched their way to a championship. They also did it as a small market team through developing from within.
During the regular season the Royals finished dead last in baseball with 95 home runs. The team that finished first in that category was the Baltimore Orioles with 211. Remind me please, who swept who during the ALCS last season?
Mike Moustakas, Yordani Ventura, Eric Hosmer are all examples of patient development, which is suddenly the new hot-button word in baseball. We also saw it with the Oakland Athletics success in 2014 and or course with Madison Bumgarner’s dominance through the Fall.
The young developed farm-hand is all the rage in the game.
The Yanks don’t have to look further than their own city to see a team doing it the right way.
While admittedly, it’s been a tough six years for the New York Mets, their fans can’t wait to bust through the seams. The long awaited light at the end of the tunnel is finally here, and Mets fans need to get excited.
The Mets were an Adam Wainwright breaking ball away from the 2007 World Series. Since then they haven’t won 80 games once in a season.
The first few years after the Carlos Beltran strikeout were tough. A semi-talented team struggled as no leadership or direction was visible.
Enter general manager Sandy Alderson in 2011.
Alderson assembled an All-Star front office with former Billy Beane sidekick Paul DePodesta and former Toronto Blue Jays head man JP Ricciardi. Though the money they’ve spent so closely resembles a small market team, as Fred and Jeff Wilpon continually get destroyed by fans for it, Alderson and company have built this thing the right way.
They decided the smart and long process far outweighed the quick and easy fix.
Yes, the Mets salary still only ranks 19th in the majors with just over $98 million, but the absolute embarrassment of riches they possess at the pitching position is the single reason they have the brightest future in baseball.
Pitching is by far still the most valuable asset to own in the game, and the Mets are loaded.
NL Rookie of the year Jacob deGrom spearheads one of the best rotations in the game. He was a gem that New York uncovered in 2014 pitching to the tune of a 2.69 earned run average and 144 strikeouts in 140.1 innings. Not only is he an arm, but his bull dog temperament is perfect to be a starting pitcher in the baseball crazed city of New York.
They have the prized piece of the Beltran trade in Zack Wheeler. While he hasn’t put it all together yet, flashes have been shown. Lefty Jon Neise is still a very good number three man in any rotation. Veteran Dillon Gee is another guy, who again, can pitch in almost any rotation in the league. And they also have the ageless wonder in Bartolo Colon.
We haven’t even mentioned the return of Matt Harvey or the kids who are on the fast track to Queens.
Harvey is returning after Tommy John surgery. His 2013 season for which he broke out still has him considered as one of the top starters in the game. Once fully back and right, a one-two punch of Harvey and deGrom is as filthy as it gets.
Mets Starters
1-Matt Harvey
2-Jacob deGrom
3-Zack Wheeler
4-Jon Neise
5-Bartolo Colon
6-Dillon Gee
7-Noah Syndergaard
8-Steven Matz
9-Rafael Montero
10-Matthew Bowman
Mets Bullpen
C-Jenrry Mejia
9th-Jeurys Familia
8th-Vic Black
MR-Josh Edgin
MR-Carlos Torres
Harvey is that guy who is still in the process of taking over the face of the franchise tag from David Wright.
Other talented farm-hands include Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Matthew Bowman and Rafael Montero. All these guys are considered bonafide pitching prospects in baseball circles. Most teams can only hope to have one guy like this.
Matz, a lefty, was especially phenomenal last season in Single and Double A pitching to a 2.25 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 140 innings. Montero already tasted the majors appearing in 10 games fanning 42 hitters in only 44.1 innings pitched.
We talk about Matz and Montero, yet Syndergaard is the top prize of them all.
Nobody in the majors can say they have a better one through 10 than the Mets do. It is ammo that will eventually fetch them a cornerstone everyday player.
The rotation isn’t even the only group worth nothing as the bullpen also is fully loaded with flame throwers.
Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia are young and violent. They both throw heat and their transition to the bullpen was a perfect one. Mejia proved this idea as he collected 28 saves last year, striking out 98 batters in 93.2 innings. The kid is still only 25.
The doubters about the 2015 Mets will surely, and rightly point to the everyday lineup. This is especially a common case and point considering fans are yet again disappointed that Alderson didn’t go out and buy or trade for an everyday cornerstone stud they can build upon.
Allow me to ask this: what did you want him to do? Did you want him to trade the farm for the walking wounded known as Troy Tulowitzki?
The smartest move the Mets ever made was not acquiring Tulowitzki and biding their time.
The fact remains that there wasn’t a real free agent worth dishing out big bucks to. Alderson has kept the salary near the $100 million mark for a reason.
Most New Yorkers believe the Wilpon’s are still in serious financial issues due to the Bernie Madoff situation, but I really think they’ve just given Alderson full control to see his plan out until the end.
The end of his plan is what’s coming. They are now at the point where possessing the richest, most talented group of young arms in the sport is going to pay major dividends. They will continue to develop and improve, and with the return of Harvey, they’ll represent one of the best staffs in the sport.
Can the lineup be dangerous?
They have a few pieces in Wright, Curtis Granderson, Daniel Murphy and newly acquired Michael Cuddyer who’ll put together a solid lineup. The question for the everyday players will come down to first baseman Lucas Duda repeating his 30-home run season from a year ago and young catcher Travis d’Arnaud finally living up to the potential Baseball America and everyone else thought while in the minors.
One thing is for sure with this lineup: center fielder Juan Legeras will once again be the pitcher’s best friend as he’s already one of the top defensive center fielders in the game.
When thinking about this Mets team, just remember what kind of team had success last season: the previously cited Royals, who finished dead last in home runs, and Giants who rode a stud pitcher to success. The Giants didn’t even really have a great number two pitcher, nor power hitters filling out their lineup. They were a pitching and timely hitting squad.
Are you telling me this Mets lineup can’t out produce what the Royals did last year? Or, are you saying Harvey or quite possibly deGrom can’t go through a similar postseason that Bumgarner enjoyed? Okay, maybe that last one is a toughie as Bumgarner’s play was historic, but still, the Mets have the makings of a “new age” quality baseball team.
For the baseball fan who still lives in the world of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds of 1998, the Mets have no shot of competing in 2015. However, for the astute baseball fan who realizes what this game has turned into over the past few years and watched what the Royals and Giants did last October, they realize the Mets have a very serious opportunity of making the postseason.
Whether they do finally get to October in 2015 remains to be seen. The one thing I know is that 2015 will be the first year that the “Amazin’s” take over New York City, just like the Yanks did with their home-grown talent in the 90’s.
Derek Jeter retiring is not only because he’s too old and had to move on. It’s also a hint from the baseball gods that things are seriously changing in New York.
Trust me, as a diehard New York Yankees fan myself it’s a tough thing to have to spit out. Once the city gets crazy about the Mets, Brian Cashman and the Yanks will sure try to lasso control back. They’ll quickly realize though that developing an entire organization of personnel takes smarts, time and patience. Those are traits they haven’t been showing off recently.
Get ready Mets fans, your long-awaited day is finally coming.
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