It's July 28, 2023. We are 112 games into a 162-game regular season. Just short of 70 percent. Where do the New York baseball teams stand?
This season, the Mets and an injury-plagued Yankees split 4 games. The Mets are 48-54, 17 games out of 1st place in the National League Eastern Division, and 7 games out of the last NL Playoff berth. The Yankees are 54-48, 8 games out of 1st place in the American League East, and 2 1/2 games out of the last AL Playoff berth.
Steve Cohen is the richest team owner in baseball, Met fans said. He's gonna spend us to a World Series win, they said. We're gonna be better than the Yankees, they said. We're taking over New York, they said.
Today, they traded reliever David Robertson, a former Yankee, to the Miami Marlins, for 2 minor-leaguers in Rookie League. The team with a $380 million payroll are sellers.
Who's next? Their elderly aces, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, have contracts bigger than their ages, and can't be moved. Of their top 7 hitters, 6 have what amount to no-trade clauses, and the 7th is Pete Alonso, the face of their team right now. They can't move any of those guys.
Are the Yankees a disappointment? Yes. Are they a failure? Yes. But, divided by preseason talk, the Mets are everything Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times said they were on today's ESPN (well, ESPN2) broadcast of Around the Horn: "Perhaps the biggest disappointment in baseball history. No team has ever spent more money than them, and they're the 5th-worst team in the National League. They're an embarrassment."
Tonight, Aaron Judge returns to the lineup for the 1st time since his toe injury in Los Angeles on June 3. They were 19-23 without him -- but only 35-25 with him. He can make a difference, all by himself -- but enough of one?
The next 10 games will likely tell the story for the rest of the season: 3 games away to the new 1st place team in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles; 3 games home to the former 1st place team, the team that dominated the 1st half, the Tampa Bay Rays; and 4 games home to the cheating Houston Astros.
Are you looking forward to this? Should I be? I can't answer the 1st question for you. I have my answer for the 2nd question.