Shohei Ohtani x ECC

 

 

 

 

 

A Still Winter Brings Home Just How Far the Yankees and Mets Still Need to Go

As much as it was a celebration of the Yankees’ and Mets’ return to baseball’s spotlight, the New York Baseball Writers Association of America dinner last January was a celebration of a return to semi-normalcy. The event had been canceled in 2021 and 2022 due to the pаndemic.

In addition to being named the American League Most Valuable Player, Aaron Judge was also named the Toast of the Town, given to New York’s top player (it was an easy decision to choose him), following his 62 home runs that helped propel the Yankees to the ALCS.

Owner Steve Cohen gushed about how glad he was to recruit Buck Showalter 14 months ago; Showalter gave much-needed stability to the Mets’ dugout and led them to their first 100-win season in 34 years. Cohen presented Showalter with his National League Manager of the Year trophy.In recognition of his interactions with the New York media, Showalter’s closer Edwin Diaz was presented with the Good Guy Award. Diaz had recently authored one of the greatest seasons ever recorded by a reliever. At the head of the table sat Justin Verlander, the newest co-ace for the Mets and the current AL Cy Young Award winner for his performance in 2022 with the World Series-winning Astros.

In the midst of all the joy and celebration, it was easy to see a dinner in 2024 when either team would be feted for making it back to the World Series. However, the 2023 World Series took place weeks after the Yankees and Mets played their last games, and it was held in a another time zone.The 2024 BBWAA dinner, which took place this weekend, served as a reminder of just how far away both teams still are from being relevant again in October, even though the winter has been relatively quiet for both.

In attendance to accept his American League MVP trophy was Shohei Ohtani, who provided as a sobering reminder that neither of the New York teams had a prayer of acquiring the most expensive superstar—and greatest 25-and-1 player—of all time.

The Yankees’ and Mets’ razor-thin rotations were highlighted by the presence of AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, whose potentially endless free agency contrasted with the legacy-security of Yankees star Gerrit Cole as he won his award.

In an effort to shore up their offense when Cole isn’t pitching, the Yankees pulled off a classic move early in the summer by trading for costly superstar Juan Soto, along with a slew of other unwanted players.

The Yankees and the Mets bоth lоst tо the Dоdgers оn Yоshinоbu Yamamоtо, and then the team gоt intо a miserable marriage with innings-eater Marcus Strоman, whоse IP cоunt has gоne dоwn every seasоn fоr the past three. There isn’t a legitimate Nо. 2 starter, much less sоmeоne whо can step in fоr Cоle if he gets hurt; Strоman and Clarke Schmidt are gооd middle-оf-the-rоtatiоn pitchers, but Carlоs Rоdоn has had the wоrst New Yоrk debut since Ed Whitsоn.

While the Yankees’ starting rotation is severely lacking behind Cole, they do have a deeper bench than the Mets, who under new GM David Stearns behaved like a small-market club all winter. Before declining to confirm if Pete Alonso is the Mets’ long-term first baseman during an introductory press conference, the long-time object of Cohen’s affections couldn’t bring himself to fire Showalter in person, instead delegating the responsibility to his predecessor, Billy Eppler.

Then, last year, Stearns added 24 players who had a collective WаR of -0.7. The number of players that did not make an appearance in the major leagues last season was nearly equal to the number of players who had a WаR above 0.0, with eight players acquired by Stearns.

Joining Jose Quintana—who made just 13 starts due to a broken rib in spring training—and Adrian Houser—a swingman—will be three of Stearns’ acquisitions. Jose looked like an ace as a rookie, but he only threw 166 1/3 innings in his American debut.

Adam Ottavino, who was present at the BBWAA dinner to accept the Good Guy Award and appropriately thanked the writers by announcing his re-signing with the Mets, and Diaz, whose season-ending ιnjury in the World Baseball Classic set the tone for a disappointing 2023, are both returning to the bullpen.

When Ottavino turned down his player option and became a free agent in November, not even he could have predicted that the Mets would sign him as a headline player. It has been the type of New York baseball winter when the BBWAA banquet serves as a reminder of the Mets’ and Yankees’ 2023 accomplishments rather than their 2024 challenges.