There was a press conference yesterday, at which new/returning Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes appeared in the flesh – rather than as a disembodied voice from a Charlie’s Angels-style speaker box. Many in the fan base thought this was not going to happen. Actually, any of it: few thought Cespedes would return at all, and when he did, most thought his quickie conference call with the media would be the extent of his re-introduction and, ok, see you in Port St. Lucie, Yo. See, there’s kind of a lot of that stuff going on recently. This off-season, the Mets seem to be playing against type, the comic relief suddenly stepping into the leading man role. It’s taking some getting used to.
In the days between the final out of game five of the World Series and the Cespedes signing, the Mets quietly went about improving things. As has been noted, it was decidedly more steak than sizzle. Useful pieces were added or re-upped, even as valuable cogs from the 2015 pennant-winners went away. But while those who looked closely had rated the Mets’ off-season as “solid,” the early winter was decidedly lacking any kind of pizzazz. Nailing down Cespedes changed all that, of course, but it also changed something else: the dreaded narrative. The signing of Cespedes catapulted the 2016 payroll up to $140 million. Hey! Know what the payroll was in 2011, when Sandy Alderson took on the task of remaking the Mets? $140 million. The difference, of course is that the 2016 $140 million has far less obvious bloat than the 2011 version had. There is no Jason Bay or Oliver Perez sponging up payroll. And to be fair to 2011, it didn’t have five star-quality pitchers either ineligible for or in the early stages of salary arbitration. But the strides that have been made in five years cannot be ignored. This roster is mostly lean and mostly young.
In contrast, some injury woes have hit our uptown neighbors. Greg Bird, the heir apparent to Mark Teixeira as the Yankees’ first baseman, had surgery this week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, which will effectively put him on the shelf for the entire 2016 season. Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman’s response was swift and bold: the Yankees will not look outside their organization for Bird’s replacement – even with good players like Pedro Alvarez and Ike Davis still available on the free agent market. That means the Yankees will be relying on an oft-injured, 36-year-old Teixeira and a 40-year-old Alex Rodriguez as a first base/DH combo that may or may not match 2015’s production. The response from Yankee fans has been as you would imagine. Could anyone have ever thought the words “Steinbrenners” and “cheap” would be paired in sentences from Yankee fans? And does any of this sound familiar?
Suddenly, Met fans are satisfied with the level of their team’s payroll and Yankee fans are crying about their cheap owners.
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I don’t know if I’d call Cashman cheap. Bird didn’t really fit into the Yankees 25-man roster, despite his solid showing. 1B and DH were already well-covered before the rookie was called up.
Over in Queens, I’m surprised to see the Mets actually making moves after getting to the final boss. I would not have called their off-season solid if they didn’t acquire Yo or at least another solid OF bat (deAza doesn’t count), and they could stand to improve on Duda and the bullpen. But this is a team that’s worth getting excited for, and I don’t remember the last time I really felt that way coming into ST.