MLB analyst rips Yankees and Mets for abysmal finished product with massive payrolls: “These teams are basically laughable"
The New York baseball teams, the Yankees and Mets, were supposed to be among the best. The two teams were pegged to potentially meet for a Subway Series World Series but have been inconsistent and downright bad thus far.
One MLB analyst blasted the two teams via Audacy. Boomer Esiason didn't hold back when discussing how embarassing the teams were:
“The combined salaries for the Mets and the Yankees…$625 million being spent on baseball players in this city. To be a combined 17 games out of first place. Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge make more money combined than the Rays spend on their entire team."
He continued, adding that the baseball they play is almost unwatchable:
"It’s really embarrassing now. It’s gotten to the point where these teams are basically laughable, and both of them are unwatchable. It’s almost like they’ve spent so much money and there’s so much talk, but there’s no excitement around it.”
These teams have the two highest payrolls in baseball but have combined to have a measly .506 winning percentage. For what it's worth, injuries have ravaged both teams. The Mets lost both of their top two starters for a portion of the season.
Yankees, Mets struggling with injuries early on
The Yankees have the most payroll on the Injured List by a wide margin. They have upwards of $152 million (about 54% of their team's money) on the IL per Spotrac. The Texas Rangers are second with about $74 million injured money.
After Esiason went on this rant, the Yankees responded by winning the first two games of the series with the lowly Oakland Athletics comfortably. That's not all that impressive, but they are now 20-17 on the season.
The Mets, on the other hand, are just two games up on the lowly Washington Nationals. These two teams have not had the starts they were supposed to. With surging teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves taking control of their divisions, the New York teams have an uphill battle to return to relevancy in the standings.