April is here and that means MLB is back, the wait it over, time for another long season of my favorite sport that is the game of baseball.
So with that being said, I give you the goods on the Mets and Yankees.
As always I will start with the Yankees, and if you want my opinion the team in the Bronx has a different feel to it than we have come to see in past seasons.
The influx of youth that we saw injected into the Yankee farm system in 2016 only makes the Yanks more exciting to watch and promises some real hope towards the future.
The Yankees will be entering their 2nd straight season in which a rebuilding is in process and that is a lot better than the same old high price (back of the baseball card) type players, that we have become accustom too in the last decade.
Not all is new, there are still reminders of the past with guys like Sabathia and Ellsbury, still expected to perform on a high level but there is plenty of youth around too keep you tuned in.
I never thought I would say this but the Yankees are on the right path when it comes to their farm system and having some home grown talent that should be ready for the major leagues in the near future. We saw the excitement that came out of the 2016 campaign after all the trades started to roll, it was clear that the Yankees were doing things differently.
No doubt that Gary Sanchez will lead the show when it comes to all that excitement in 2017, Sanchez provided the most upside in 2016 with his bat and his defense behind the plate. I understand that Sanchez exploded into the scene in a short time to make his mark, and because of that Sanchez will have the most pressure to repeat and perform.
Others likes Greg Bird who missed the entire 2016 season after an impressive 2015 rookie season, are expected to take charge. Then there is Aaron Judge who manager Joe Girardi named as his starting RF, he too will be looked on as a player with the promise to bring hope in 2017. Then there are those who will start the season in the farm system, waiting to come up the pipeline, names like Clint Frazier, Jorge Mateo and Gleyber Torres.
Yea the Yankees have some young talented in the minors but where they should fall short is in the pitching dept., especially in the starting rotation. While the bullpen has some impressive arms the rotation is thin. Early on the Yankee's will be force to count on guys like Luis Severino who went 0-8 last season, and Chad Green to round out the staff, they are hoping that either Green or Severino can stick in the rotation otherwise they will have to make some moves as the years moves on.
So far the rotation looks like this...
1- Masahiro Tanaka
2- C.C. Sabathia
3- Michael Pineda
4- Chad Green
5- Luis Severino
The back end of the bullpen looks good with Betances, Clippard and Chapman but the rest of the guys not so much.
The everyday lineup will have another season of Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury at the top of the order, after that the middle of the lineup looks like Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Matt Holliday doing most of the DH.
2B you have Starling Castro and at short the Yankees will have to wait for Didi Gregorious as he recovers and starts the season on the DL. At 3B the Yankees have Chase Headley at the hot corner again but that could change as the season goes along.
The bench will have Austine Romine, Aaron Hicks, Ronald Torreyes, and Chris Carter should fill in as the backup DH and 1B.
And now the NY Mets...
To me this 2017 Mets team comes into this season as a team that has one last run to make with this current group of players which consist mostly of veteran guys, but by this same time next year the Mets will look a lot different than the team that will represent in 2017.
This team knows what it has to do and I expect another strong campaign from my NY Mets who will lead again with their starting pitching. It's no secret but everyone knows the starting pitching is the key for the Mets, but how will the Mets do on offense?
The offense should score runs but once again it will be the long ball that will carry most of the Mets offense. This team is not going to run much as once again this team is slow, Jose Reyes will steal when he has too but other than Reyes the team lacks speed again.
Another area I worry about is on defense in the outfield, Terry Collins has to find a way to make that work without a true CF playing most of the time in CF. For now the Mets will be counting on old man Curtis Granderson in CF. In LF it's Yeonis Cespedes and in RF it looks like the Mets are stuck with Jay Bruce for now. Why did the Mets pick up Jay Bruce option? I have to say Sandy Alderson dropped the ball on that one. The odd man out in the OF will be Michael Conforto who's struggles last season didn't help out his causes coming into this season. Again the Mets outfield is an area I worry about but I look for that to change and take better shape as the season goes along.
In the infield it's another year with Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera in the middle, these 2 were great for the Mets last season and I'm hoping that this veteran double play combo can give the Mets another productive season so I just hope these 2 can hold up.
At 1B the Mets will give Lucas Duda another chance who is back at 1B after missing most of 2016. I would had liked the Mets to had moved away from Luca Duda but I guess it is Lucas Duda again. At 3B look for Jose Reyes to play 80% of the time with the occasional start at 2B and SS.
As for David Wright? I expect the captain to be doing a lot of cheer leading in 2017 and not much else. I look for Wright to get about 50 at-bats then call it quits sometime after the season.
Behind the plate the Mets are giving Travis d'Arnaud another chance to win the starting job with Rene Rivera as the back up. Maybe this will be the season that d'Arnaud stays healthy and becomes the hitter we all think he can be, but defensively the Mets will suffer with Travis.
The bench guys is a nice group of T.J. Rivera, Wilmer Flores, Conforto, Rene Rivera and Ty Kelly.
The Mets rotation should be Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGROM as the 2 leaders and Matt Harvey
Steven Matz and Robert Gsellman, but for now it will be Zack Wheeler in place of Matz's to begin the season with Seth Lugo waiting in the wings.
The bullpen will look similar to the 2016 Mets bullpen. Hansel Robles, Fernando Salas Addison Reed and Rafael Montero have made the team from the right side with Jerry Blevins and Josh Smoker from the left. In the 9th Jeurys Familia enters his 3rd season as the Mets closer.
The NY Mets hang most of their expectations on their rotation but I just have this feeling that the pitching may fall a little short on the expectations. I really feel good about Syndergaard and deGROM, and I really like Robert Gsellman, but after that I have my concerns with the rest of the fame arms.
I just don't have the same feeling about Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Matz as I feel about Noah and deGROM.
Without Bartolo Colon the Mets will suffer not having that reliable innings eater. Lucky for the Mets they had some options and there was no real need to spend 12 million on a starter when they had 2 guys ready to fill in at half a million each in Gsellman and Lugo, but I still think Colon's calming presence and his savvy will be missed.
I like the Mets chances but I have my concerns in area's like behind the plate and in the outfield.
This is still a good team but far from perfect.
Obviously for the Mets to be successful the pitching will have to lead the way again. On paper the Mets starting pitching looks like the best staff in the game, but I'm not too sure. I expect the Mets to make the playoffs and make another exciting run. Terry Collins, who I have always liked as a manager mostly for the ways he interacts with his players, is the oldest manager in baseball and has no contract after this season, so this is his last run as well.
Can the Mets make the playoffs? They should.
As for the NY Yankees? I say they will be a lot more interesting but they should struggle to win games. The starting pitching is suspect so I'm guessing 81 wins is their high water mark. The Mets they just gotta win.
2 comments:
Another season is upon us. I'll start with the Yankees.
As a rational, somewhat smart Yankees fan I know it isn't about 2017 or even 2018 for this team. Right now, I'd happily sign up for 77-85 wins, what I'm most concern with is the play of the young guns, Sanchez, Bird, Judge and Severino. The Yankees strength this year will be the bullpen and the offense. The starting pitching like you stated is questionable at best. You're right this team has a much different feel to it than the one's of the last 20 years and it's a good thing. The Yankees, like I have been saying for the last few years, have really committed to pushing a youth movement and we're starting to see the first fruits of this and there is that 2nd wave of players that we've been hearing about, Clint Frazier, Gleyber Torres, Blake Rutherford, Jorge Mateo among others. The Yankees are in a good spot because they can see how these players work out and if they need to make a trade for a big time pitcher or bat now they have the pieces to do so. If the Yankees are sellers again this summer look for them to move Pineda, Headley, Gardner and possibly Castro and get even more pieces. The other big thing and I've been saying this for a while now, after this season the Yankees erase ARod & CC from the books, that's 46 million right there and chances are that Tanaka opts out so that would be another 22 million which will set up the Yankees nicely to be big players in the 2018 super free agent class.
Now for the Mets. its now or never. They have the pitching but can they stay healthy? If they can I don't see why this team won't be competing into late October. I said it last year, the Cubs were lucky that they didn't have to play the Mets. Getting back to the now or never for this bunch is that after this year you have a lot of free agents. Granderson, Reyes, Walker, Reed, Duda and Rivera are all in there walk years. Like you said David Wright should hang it up, I hate to see a guy like that go out like this but he just can't stay on the field anymore. I think the Mets will battle with the Nats all season for the division. One will take it the other will get the first wild card. Let's see how this all plays out.
Hopefully the Yanks young gunz will continue to get better, but most likely the Yanks will have to be seller again this year, and that's not a bad thing. Hopefully they will be in good position to move the rest of the oldies left on the club and pick up some more pieces.
So who do you worry the most then it comes to the young guys? I think Sanchez will have a nice season.
I say 285BA 27HR and like 91RBI's.
I think it will be a battle till the end between the Nationals and Mets. I understand the Mets starting pitching is what has everyone all in when it comes with the Mets going places but like I said, after Syndergaard and deGROM, oh and Gsellman, I worry about the rest of the guys in the rotation. I worry that Mets fans are counting on past performances instead of the present when it comes to Wheeler, Harvey and Matz. I hope I'm wrong, but Im counting more on guys like Seth Lugo.
The offense I like because they are a bunch of veteran good guys that know they have something good here and I think they know they need to take advantage.
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