As we head into the offseason, the city of New York is ripe for the picking. The Yankees are still king while the Mets have been the butt of the joke for years. But an era is ending in the Bronx. The last link to the Yankee Dynasty will be gone. Our crosstown rivals will have missed the playoffs for two straight seasons. Five Octobers will have passed since the last Yankee world series.
An entire generation of young fans have grown up knowing nothing but winning in the Bronx. The Mets on the other hand, have six straight losing seasons and have missed the playoffs the last eight. If becoming a Mets fan wasn’t ingrained into you from a relative that was already a die-hard and your baseball loyalties were up for grabs in the New York area – chances are you’re likely not reading this and you’re likely wearing a No. 2 jersey.
The Mets have a chance to spark some change and grab some of the New York spotlight as soon as the 2015 season… But will they take advantage of this opportunity?
Spearheading a Mets renaissance is a young, dynamic pitching staff being led by young guns Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom. Their back end of the rotation currently consisting of Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, and Bartolo Colon is solid, although at least one of them will likely be traded before next Opening Day. Not to worry as the Amazins have some strong reinforcements waiting in the wings in Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero, and Steven Matz. Additionally, the bullpen, which was a perennial weakness, has suddenly emerged as a major strength.
Does the offense need some work? Yes, it does. The Mets rank 26th in the majors with a .670 OPS, 28th with a .238 batting average, and 22nd in runs scored. Clearly, they need to address this and it may take more than just bringing in the fences. Another bat or two is what it will take to get them into the top third of the league in runs. We squandered far too many solid pitching performances this season – enough to know that great pitching alone won’t get us where we want to be. We have a chance to do something special, but it will take a true commitment to winning and a dedication to securing the right pieces to make it all work.
When you look across town, what do you see? An icon that is gone, an offense that has struggled since their best hitter went to Seattle, and the return of baseball’s biggest freak show – Alex Rodriguez. With an aging roster saddled with too many bloated and underperforming contracts, the Yankees are clearly on their way down.
If the Mets play their cards right and are willing to address the few remaining issues this offseason, they can seize this opportunity and capture the city in a way that hasn’t been seen since the 1980s when the Mets ruled New York. It’s happened before and it could happen again. Even with the impediment of owners who don’t seem to care and are unwilling to increase payroll, we can still overcome their dysfunction and rock this town if we make the right moves this offseason. Let’s do it.
