The next big thing tampa 2015 series#

With Atlanta’s World Series win last year, the Mets are the only team in their division that has yet to win a championship this century. However, it’s clear that there are two different organizational philosophies at work here and that could make for a fascinating rivalry going forward. Likewise, the Braves roster isn’t fully homegrown, they even have former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen saving games for them. The aptly-named Brett Baty crushing a home run in his first major league at-bat may be the highlight of the Mets’ season so far, catcher Francisco Álvarez is considered the best prospect in baseball and more experienced stars like Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil came up through the draft. The Mets are relying on some of their young talent as well. This is setting up a false dichotomy of sorts. Maybe they could have made bolder swings here or there? Plus, sustainable regular season success doesn’t always translate into the postseason: during that run of consecutive NL East titles, the Braves only managed to win the World Series once. Meanwhile, it’s impossible to consistently successfully bet on which prospects will pan out in the long run. It’s about steady, long-term success rather than relying on the splashy move.Įach strategy has risks: veteran players tend to break down as their contracts go on, a fact of baseball life that the Mets know as well as anyone. “The number one thing I worry about is being sustainable,” general manager Alex Anthopoulos said recently regarding their payroll. By concentrating on younger players, the new Braves are trying to replicate the success of the old Braves who clinched 11 straight division titles around the turn of the century. This was shortly after they signed All-Star third baseman Austin Riley to a $212m, 10-year deal. Last week, the Braves signed rookie outfielder Michael Harris II to an eight-year, $72m extension. Instead, the Braves – who, it should be noted, are hardly poor with MLB’s ninth-highest payroll – prefer to invest their capital in homegrown players, handing them hefty, long-term contracts in the hope that they will be stars for years. While the Dodgers have essentially clinched the NL West already, the Mets are four games ahead of the Braves in the NL East – a healthy lead but hardly an insurmountable one.Īs has been the case for the longest time, the Braves’ strategy has been less about writing big paychecks for free-agent signings or going after big-name trade acquisitions. The Mets’ most recent trip to Atlanta ended with them dropping three out of four games. Just one thing: they are not running away with their division. Plus, the Yankees are stumbling right when the Mets are playing their best baseball. And why not? As more and more MLB owners have fallen into the profitable habit of fielding more affordable but less competitive teams, Cohen is right to take advantage of his financial advantage now, rather than wait for the trend to reverse.Īnd in 2022 Lindor has had a bounce-back season, the brilliant Jacob deGrom has returned to the starting rotation and Edwin Diaz has the coolest intro music in baseball (as well as becoming arguably the best closer in the major leagues). The Mets payroll is now close to $300m and they may increase that next season. This offseason they completed a fearsome starting pitching rotation by signing Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130m contract. Lindor floundered in his first year, the Mets missed the playoffs yet again and then had to watch their NL East rivals, the Atlanta Braves, win the World Series. Unfortunately, money alone wasn’t enough to appease the Baseball Gods in 2021. He quickly made a splash by acquiring shortstop Francisco Lindor – who the team later handed a $341m extension. The Mets would surely have had more success in recent times with an owner who hadn’t lost a fortune in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history. But owning a large-market team in a sport without a hard salary cap should be a huge advantage. Just having money to spend is no guarantee of success, of course.

The next big thing tampa 2015