Steven Cohen vs Hal Steinbrenner: Will the man with the deeper pockets rule New York?
New York is a city with many professional sports teams. None are more loved by their fans than the New York Mets and New York Yankees. Both teams have been known to spend enormous amounts of money on free agents to field the best team possible.
For many years, the Yankees were the team in baseball that always had the highest payroll, known by many opposing fans as the Evil Empire. While the Yankees are still spending well above league average, the other New York team is outspending them.
A Steinbrenner facing new #Yankees reality: a bigger spender right next door in Queens. #Mets nwsdy.li/3teXAT4 https://t.co/LHrruUJGhM
"A Steinbrenner facing new #Yankees reality: a bigger spender right next door in Queens. #Mets https://nwsdy.li/3teXAT4" - @ David Lennon
The cover of today's Newsday Sports magazine shows a photo of Hal Steinbrenner with the caption, "Shallow Hal." Yankees fans are frustrated by their team withholding the big bucks in free agency while their crosstown rival goes on a spending spree.
The Yankees have missed out on many players they had targeted this offseason, like Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, and Matt Chapman. Freeman signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday, Olson was traded to the Atlanta Braves, and Chapman was traded to the division foe Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees followed these missed targets by signing back veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo and trading for third baseman Josh Donaldson. While both of these players are still top free agents and plan to play key roles for the Yankees, both are on the backend of their careers and have shown signs of decline.
New York City's new baseball king?
The attitude of the Mets front office has changed drastically since the club changed ownership to billionaire Steven Cohen. Since taking the helm more than a year ago, Cohen has maganged the organization with all the tools to build a winning team. For much of the past decade, the Mets’ ownership was hesitant to spend big in free agency. Now under new ownership, the Mets are poised to be more aggressive.
One major signing since the change of ownership is Max Scherzer. Scherzer will pair up with another Mets ace, Jacob deGrom, to be one of the National League favorites. Look for the Mets to make a few more moves as the season goes along and they try to compete for a World Series championship.
3 strikeouts in 2 innings so far today for Max Scherzer: https://t.co/uKWugZpWs6
"3 strikeouts in 2 innings so far today for Max Scherzer" - @ SNY
Maybe the landscape is changing in the city. Are the Mets the new kings of New York? It sure seems that way as we head into the 2022 season.