The Bronx is Burning?

Well the first month of the 2008 MLB season has come and gone and the goings on in one MLB City has particularly caught my attention. To this date, both the Mets and the Yankees currently hover around .500 at 14-12 and 14-15 respectively. However, all the talk in the sports media is about the Yankees and how their fans should be panicking. However, no one is talking about their neighbors to the southeast and their lack of dominance. Although it’s only the first month and for that reason no one should panic, I’m here to discuss why if anyone should, it should be the Mets.

Both the Yankees and the Mets have big name players that have struggled so far this season and neither team is catching any breaks. No matter how good a team is, you need breaks in order to win a Championship. Based on the law of averages, it can only get better from here on for both teams. It’s the following reasons that I feel the Mets may be in more trouble than the Yankees.

Starting Pitching
Coming into the season the Yankees rotation and bullpen were a major concern. So the fact that this is their glaring weakness so far is anything but surprising. Two of the Yankees starting amongst the youngest players in the league and are a combined 0-8 with an ERA over 9, yet the Yankees are still only a game back of .500. Given time to get it right, those young pitchers of the Yankees could get awfully scary in the coming weeks. Even with Pedro and El Duke on the DL the Mets put out a tested rotation in a pitcher friendly league. However, they still remain only 2 games above .500 relying on the return of two older pitchers that may be past their prime. However, Santana is the best pitcher in baseball and that alone makes this a wash.
Advantage: Wash

Relief Pitching
The Mets play in a league where the bullpen can factor into a game more with the pitchers coming up to bat. In the AL a pitcher can go 7 innings then turn it over to the set-up man then the closer for the win. For that reason the middle relief is more important to an NL team than an AL team. Even though the Mets have better middle relief than the Yankees, the tail end of the bullpen gives the edge to the Bombers. If you think about going into the 7^th and 8^th with a lead, would you rather send in Chamberlain then Rivera or Schoeneweis then Wagner.
Advantage: Yankees

Offense
The best way to counter poor pitching is with good offense. In order for a team to have a chance to win when their pitching is struggling, is to keep a game close and give themselves a chance. As a team, the Yankees are batting .255 to the Mets .250, with 13 more Home Runs and 27 more hits. Next, the Yankees 15 losses have been by an average of 3.3 runs while the Mets 12 have been by an average of 4.2 runs. As a result the Yankees are losing by almost a run less per game and giving themselves more of a chance that one break can win them a game.
Advantage: Yankees

Defense
As far as team fielding percentage goes this is a wash. However, the best way to break this down is to do so individually. As a team the Mets have committed 17 Errors with 16 of the 17 being committed by infielders. That is 16 extra base runners that could have been avoided. As a team, the Yankees have 15 errors with only 10 being committed by infielders. 94% of total errors committed by the Mets resulted in an extra out for the inning to only 67% for the Yankees. Forgetting the numbers, throughout the first month Jose Reyes has had his head in the clouds and been out of position on more than a few plays, and at times looks lost. A perfect example was during a beating at the hands of the Pirates last night when, during a rundown, Reyes completely forgot his assignment and looked asleep at the wheel.
Advantage: Yankees

Schedule / Division
One of the biggest reasons to panic after one month of baseball is to look and see what you have to look forward to. As a Met you have to realize that you play in a deeper league and division. The National League has much more parity as of late then the American League (with the exception of the AL Central). In the last 5 post seasons, 12 of the 16 National League teams have made the playoffs with 4 of the 6 NL East teams earning a bid. In the American League over the past 5 post seasons, only 8 out of 14 different teams have made the playoffs with only 2 different AL East representatives. Further more, the last time a team not from Boston or NY from the AL East made the playoffs was in 1997, 11 years ago. This shows that the Yankees have a much easier schedule down the stretch. This should make it easier for them to make a run to the post season in the late months if need be.
Advantage: Yankees

The Yankees are a team that is constantly being ridiculed for not trading for Johan Santana last off-season. The main reason for this is the underachieving of pitchers Ian Kennedy and Phillip Hughes. For those of you who don't remember, Minnesota wanted 2 of Hughes, Kennedy or Chamberlain plus Melky Cabrera for Johan Santana. If you look at the stats so far, Hughes and Kennedy are struggling at 0-8 with an ERA over 9. Chamberlain is 1-1 over 11 innings with 14 Strike Out's and an ERA of 1.59. Meanwhile Melky Cabrera is hitting .299 with 5 HR and 12 RBIs with the strongest arm in the Yankees organization. So basically the cynics are saying that giving up all of that for one pitcher would have made a huge difference this past month. Trade your future for a pitcher that is 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA and only 39 strike outs in only 40 Innings worked? Those are by no means bad numbers, but I find it hard to justify giving up the future of your organization for one player, even if he is the best at his position.