The following is a guest column from Mark Simpson:
Fans
in New York City have not had a lot to cheer about in the last couple of
seasons, as both the Yankees and Mets have gone through some tough times. With
spring brings optimism, and that means both fan bases feel like 2015 could be
the year to put it all back together. So which team will actually be better
this year?
New
York Mets
David
Wright might still be the face of the franchise, but this team is going to win
games this season with a very strong pitching staff. Although they have a lot
of young and talented guys, they are not exactly proven just yet. Their most
proven youngster is Matt Harvey, but he is returning from major arm surgery and
might not be ready to go until the middle of the year. Fantasy baseball owners are going to be looking forward to what guys such as
Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and Jacob deGrom can do.
Offense
is going to be a little bit of a struggle, as they bring back most of the same
team from a year ago. Michael Cuddyer has been solid in the last few years, but
that was in Colorado plane in Coors Field. It will be a little bit more
difficult for him to hit the same way at Citi Field.
Washington
stands in their way in the division, but there is no reason why the Mets can’t
compete for a wild card in the National League.
New
York Yankees
It
is going to be weird not seeing #2 playing shortstop for the Yankees, but the
Derek Jeter era is finally over. The biggest storylines surrounding the team
right now happens to be CC Sabathia’s weight and Alex Rodriguez’s distraction
level. These two former superstars pretty much illustrate everything wrong with
the franchise right now. They are still one of the oldest teams in the game,
and they are not going to be taken seriously in the American League East until
they get younger and better.
The
American League East might not be as difficult as it has been in the past, but
the Boston Red Sox are coming back stronger than ever in 2015. Baltimore should
still be solid, and Toronto looks like they have the best team on paper in the
last few years. New York will need to stay very healthy with their old roster,
and some of their younger guys will need to have career seasons just to make
the playoffs.
At the end of the day, it looks like the New
York Mets actually have a better shot at making the playoffs and having a more
successful season in 2015 than the New York Yankees. Anything can happen, but
the very least, they look a lot more promising with their younger roster.
1 comment:
Time for a little straightening out. The Yankees have a considerably better pitching staff than the Mets, if everyone is healthy. If not, given the injuries that both teams have, the Yankees still have a better one.
The Yankees have better hitters, more experienced hitters. While it's true that Alex Rodriguez (should he remain healthy) disappears in October, David Wright disappears in September. Do you really want "the face of the franchise" to be someone so unreliable?
Moreover, the Yankees are managed by Joe Girardi, a proven Playoff manager. The Mets are managed by Terry Collins, who's never seen the Playoffs without paying his cable bill.
Finally, if the Yankees need to pick someone up in midseason, they have the money to do it. The Mets' finances are still feeling the effects of getting banjaxed by Bernie Madoff.
The only way the Mets might "look better" than the Yankees is if you consider that Derek Jeter's face is no longer around to please the ladies.
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