We are in the process of wallowing through the worst April in New York baseball history. There’s no getting around this: The Yankees and Mets both pretty much stink right now, ranked 26th and 27th in the majors in batting, and I’m not sure when — or if — they’re going to start getting better.
What I will say, however, is that I’m not ready to give up their seasons — not with five and a half months to go. To that I will cite the Toronto Blue Jays of a just year ago who, as late as May 25, were 25-27 only to go on take their season to the seventh game if the World Series.
While both New York teams have suffered the mutual affliction of too many outs in the lineup, the Yankees have potential solutions to all that ails them — if they choose to use them — where, on the other hand, the Mets are stuck with what David Stearns has wrought and have to hope it will eventually jell before it’s too late. Without doubt right now Stearns’ offseason shake well on the Mets can only be graded a “D” at best.
He may not have liked Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo but they posted up every day in contrast to replacements Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. who come with a history of injuries. For all of his emphasis on runs prevented, Alonso was still better defensively at first base than any of Stearns’ alternatives this year. The 33-year-old Nimmo (.313/4 HR/11 RBI) for 35-year old Marcus Semien (.211/8 RBI) trade is looking especially one-sided, and the insane three-year, $126 million (with the $5 million opt-out bonus) contract for Bo Bichette (.226/22 strikeouts/5 walks) to play out of position at third base so far also looks misguided — although, as I caution, we’re barely a month into the season.
But overall as a GM and talent evaluator, you’d have to say Stearns, (who also has to blamed for being blindsided by Edwin Diaz’s defection) has been a failure. Another case in point: Three key contributors for the Orioles so far this season — second baseman Jeremiah Jackson (.317/5 HR/17 RBI) and relievers Rico Garcia (0.00 ERA/10 strikeouts in 10 innings) and Anthony Nunez (1.93 ERA/12K in 9 1/3 innings) were all cast off by Stearns. Jackson was released in 2024, Garcia was waived last August and Nunez was part of the Cedric Mullins deal last year.
The Yankees’ similarly dismal April is concerning but unlike with the Mets, Stearns’ counterpart Brian Cashman has a lot of options from within to rectify the problems. Right now he’s got four semi regulars — Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm, Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham — all hitting under .200. This cannot continue. But at the same time, Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones at Triple-A, and George Lombard Jr. at Double-A, are all off to strong starts. Last week against the Angels, the Yankee bullpen joined the hitters’ malaise but that too will likely look a lot different when Ryan Weathers moves there after Gerrit Cole returns. And I’m not sure what’s taking Cashman so long to bring up Yovanny Cruz who’s been light’s out at Scranton.
I’m sort of spitballing here, but come September (and hopefully a lot sooner), Lombard will be playing third base, Cody Bellinger will be at first base — replaced in the outfield by Dominguez — Ben Rice will be back at catcher, and if Grisham, despite his $22 million salary, continues to slump, he’ll be replaced by Jones in center. Oh, and by all means, Chisholm cannot be on this Yankee roster.
Here’s what one scout told me after the Yankees’ 11-4 blowout loss to the Angels Thursday: “Right now they’ve got a lot of holes, but Cashman’s got a lot of good players in his system, most of whom are ready or near ready. He shouldn’t wait too long to use it.”
IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
Sometimes you have to wonder why Steve Cohen goes out of his way to curry bad publicity and alienate large swaths of Met fans. As bad as the Mets are going on the field, the announcement last week that they will not be having Jewish Heritage Night this year — despite the fact that 20% of New Yorkers are Jewish — was absolutely mindboggling, especially since they will still be having heritage nights for the Irish, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Koreans, African Americans and Pride/LGBTQ. … With the shocking news Friday that Garret Anderson had died suddenly of a heart attack at age 53 I could only think of Billy Joel’s classic track, “Only The Good Die Young,” because Anderson was one good man, beloved by all his teammates, kind and generous with the fans and a class act though and through. RIP. … When Mariano Rivera became the first player ever elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame in 2019 it was generally agreed we would never see a reliever of his like again. And yet, we just might. What Padres closer Mason Miller has been doing strikeout-wise since arriving in the big leagues with Oakland in 2023 is nothing short of phenomenal. Going into the weekend, Miller had faced 30 batters and struck out 23 of them. Since August of last year he had a streak of 30 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run.