There are unfamiliar and somewhat ironic dynamics across the Recent York baseball teams this spring.
Walk around Tampa, and you may feel an air of hope around Yankees camp. It’s more a sense of expectation around Mets camp in Port St. Lucie.
This season, the Yankees could pave the way in which for future titles. The Mets are vying for a championship straight away — and without one, this yr could be a failure.
Historically, the Yankees have been dominant and the Mets have been, well, at the least interesting.
This season, the Yankees boast the far more interesting spring camp.
There are legitimate competitions throughout Steinbrenner Field. For the past 12 Grapefruit League games, either Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza has been the starting shortstop in a contest that Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman have said won’t end until the very end of camp.
Each boast high upsides. Volpe has impressed more with the bat, and Peraza has shown off a greater glove and arm. Each top prospect has made a robust case, and seemingly day by day one pulls off a distinct, standout highlight.
However the Yankees’ camp has loads of battles. Oswaldo Cabrera is concurrently fighting with Aaron Hicks within the outfield and with Isiah Kiner-Falefa to be the super-utilityman of the Yankees’ present and future.
When Harrison Bader was lost to an oblique strain, a center-field spot opened up that a half-dozen players could claim. Cabrera, Hicks and Kiner-Falefa are at the least loosely in contention for the job, together with Estevan Florial, Rafael Ortega and Aaron Judge.
With Lou Trivino and Tommy Kahnle out for the start of the season, which relievers make the cut?
Albert Abreu, who’s out of options, now has a stronger case of sticking with the Yankees. Righties Ron Marinaccio, Greg Weissert, Jimmy Cordero and non-roster invite Ian Hamilton and lefty Matt Krook are fighting for what could possibly be two spots.
The Yankees are usually not normally an interesting outfit to guage in February and March — fans normally bring out the microscopes to look at them in September and October.
And yes, Yankees fan, you might be correct that the goal for this season and each season is a World Series.
But are you able to imagine a scenario through which Volpe and Peraza each find their ways to The Bronx and appear like the center infield of the longer term; through which Cabrera plays all 4 infield spots and three outfield positions and hits, too, as a useful Swiss Army knife; through which Jasson Dominguez slugs his option to the majors by the top of the season; through which Clarke Schmidt takes a leap and appears like a star?
There are conceivable worlds through which the Yankees don’t win the World Series in 2023, but come out of the season looking primed for multiple championships in the following few years.
Those worlds don’t exist with the Mets, who’re fairly boring by comparison.
Brett Baty has had a pleasant camp, but he’s the heavy underdog matched against Eduardo Escobar at third base.
Perhaps you may get enthusiastic about Tylor Megill vs. David Peterson because the rotation’s No. 5 starter, but they each may begin the season as starters in a six-man rotation anyway and each likely will find their ways to 15-plus starts this season.
There’s a bullpen competition, but it surely has a front-runner: Stephen Nogosek is out of options, positioning him to beat out Jeff Brigham, Elieser Hernandez and Jimmy Yacabonis.
The Mets are usually not terribly interesting in February and March because they, perhaps greater than another team this season, are playing for September and October.
If and when the Mets reach the postseason, their 1-2 punch will likely be a combined 79 years old. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer got here to Queens to win the World Series. Anything less could be a failure.
Thus, when the Mets quietly optioned Francisco Alvarez back to minor league camp Wednesday, there was not much of an outcry. The young catcher is behind Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido on the depth chart and may use more seasoning.
If Alvarez develops as hoped, perhaps he can slug his option to the majors by midseason. If it takes until 2024 for him to completely establish himself as a serious leaguer, that may be OK, too.
The Mets could use contributions from the youngsters resembling Alvarez, Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, but this season will likely be defined by the playoffs, not by progress.
That probably holds true for the Yankees, too. But there’s enough youth and hope in Tampa that this season could turn into nearly as much concerning the prospects as concerning the postseason.
Today’s back page
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A cautious Cohen…for now
With those Mets expectations comes pressure. If expectations are usually not met, jobs are sometimes lost.
If the Mets’ mission fails and a payroll over $300 million doesn’t end in a playoff run, how would Steve Cohen react?
The Mets owner didn’t need to answer the query without more context.
“Am I going to get mad? There’s so many things that may occur on this sport,” Cohen said on “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” on Wednesday. “I’m normally pretty cool, so we’ll see.”
To this point, an indignant Cohen has been a tweeting Cohen. When the Mets were underperforming in 2021, he went on Twitter to take shots at their offensive approach, which in itself was a criticism of the coaching staff.
“It’s hard to know how skilled hitters might be this unproductive,” Cohen tweeted in August 2021. “One of the best teams have a more disciplined approach. The slugging and OPS numbers don’t lie.”
The Mets overhauled their staff following the season. Cohen, so often compared with George Steinbrenner, has not earned The Boss’ fame for quick hooks, at the least not yet.
To GM Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter, he just isn’t publicly instituting a World Series-or-you’re-fired edict.
“It really depends upon why we’re not performing,” Cohen said. “I’m getting more seasoned as an owner. I believe there’s all the time dispersion in results yr to yr. Last yr we had 101 wins, and you only can’t count on all the things going right every yr.”
One thing leads to a different
The Jets were busy on Wednesday, but they didn’t make the transaction you might be waiting for.
GM Joe Douglas subtracted one receiver, sending Elijah Moore to the Browns, and added one other in former Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman.
Moore, the 2021 second-round pick, gets the trade he requested but a bit late. Within the swap, the Jets are also sending Cleveland a 2023 third-round pick (No. 74 overall) and receiving a 2023 second-round pick (No. 42 overall). They now have two second-round picks to play with, conceivably making it easier to send one to the Packers in an Aaron Rodgers trade.
Rodgers, technically, continues to be with Green Bay per week after announcing his “intention” is to play for the Jets. The 2 teams are still at a stalemate in trade talks, however the Jets are acting as if Rodgers coming aboard is only a matter of time.
Rodgers favorite Allen Lazard already is signed, and Hardman will likely be a pleasant speed threat. The 25-year-old is considered one of the sport’s fastest receivers and might be utilized in the return game and run game, too.
The Jets are coming together — even when the largest piece continues to be not locked down.
