by Paul Semendinger
December 19, 2021
***
Let me ask a simple question, What New York baseball team is more exciting right now, the Yankees or the Mets?
From my perspective, it is the Mets. Hands down. 100%. It is the Mets.
If there is baseball in 2022, which team is going to own the city? The answer to this will also be the Mets. There has been a sea change. I saw it coming a long time ago. The Yankees did not. The Yankees didn’t see this coming. And it just might be too late for them.
I started writing that this was coming back in December 2019, two years ago. At 1:00 p.m. today, I’ll re-run an article I wrote at the time. It’s all coming true, just as I said it would.
I have warned that the Steve Cohen’s Mets were going to be all-in and exciting and fun. And, guess what, they have been… and are.
The Yankees, not so much.
The Yankees, not at all.
The Yankees are old and tired and boring.
The Mets are young and eager and exciting.
***
I think it is fair to say that if one were to ask any baseball expert who the best manager in New York baseball is right now that the answer would unanimously be Buck Showalter.
The Mets just gave themselves a huge Christmas present. They now have a great manager – a man respected throughout the game for his knowledge and skills in leading baseball clubs.
The Yankees, on the other hand, have a manager that is still trying to find his way. Aaron Boone might become a very good manager. He might become a great manager. But, he’s not that today. And the Yankees doubled down on him. He’ll be at the helm for four more years.
I have been a big Buck Showalter proponent for a long time. I have wished and hoped that the Yankees would name him their manager. The Yankees, of course, went in another direction. I am eager to see which team performs better over the next few years. We will now get to see Buck Showalter and Aaron Boone going head to head in the greatest city in the world. I think the results are already a foregone conclusion.
Mark my words, the Mets will have more success.
I believe the Mets have a much better chance to finish in first place than the Yankees.
I believe the Mets have a much better chance to win post season games than the Yankees.
I believe the Mets have a much better chance of winning the World Series than the Yankees.
***
If we compare the Yankees and the Mets right now, we see one team that is full of enthusiasm and one that… in short, isn’t.
One team has an owner who breaks the news of the new manager ahead of the beat writers on Twitter. (That’s the Mets.) The other team has an owner that very rarely engages with the media in any way.
One team enjoyed an off-season (pre-lockout) that included big signings. (That’s the Mets.) The other team hasn’t done much, at all. That team’s owner actually voted to lower the luxury tax threshold. (That’s the Yankees.)
The Mets now have a manager who is considered by many (or most) as one of the best minds and leaders in the game. They have a manager who has built up numerous teams. The Yankees have a manager who inherited a team on the brink of a championship and hasn’t been able to get them to take the next step forward, and in fact, has seen them regress.
We seem one team in New York that’s playing big… that’s playing the way the Yankees used to.
And we see the other team just being content with just being good enough.
The Yankees are a team that lacks energy, enthusiasm, excitement, and fun.
The Mets are proving to be the opposite.
It’s going to make all the difference.
***
When the Yankees awake from their slumber, they’ll see that they no longer own the city.
The new sheriff in town has announced that he is coming for a long time. He’s now arrived.
The question is now how the Yankees will respond.
Please forgive me if I am not expecting much in response. I just don’t think the Yankees of today have it in them.
