Written By: Jose Rohdin
In a shortened 2020 MLB season, both New York franchises dealt with heartbreak.
The Yankees had finally built a roster that looked destined to head to the World Series, but it failed. And on the other side, the Mets seemed to be on the rise with promising young talent mixed in with veterans and a great solid starting rotation, but the team missed the playoffs. Both the Yankees and the Mets needed to address issues, and in the offseason, both teams went to work.
The Mets started their offseason with a new owner. Steve Cohen bought the Mets for around $2.4 billion, and he immediately wanted to install a winning mentality.
The first big move the Mets made was to sign catcher James McCann to a four-year contract. The move wasn’t really a shiny signing, but the Mets have had trouble finding a quality starter behind the plate that could hit and play solid defense, and McCann is the answer to that.
With only 7 home runs and 15 runs batted in last year, the batting stats don’t pop out, but McCann had a .289 batting average along with a .536 slugging percentage. The hope is that his stats will stay close to the same in a more extended season.
McCann is solid behind the plate, allowing only two passed balls last season in 27 starts, with a caught stealing rate of 33 percent. He solidifies the middle of the batting lineup, and the defense around the diamond.
The most significant move the Mets made, perhaps even the biggest move of the offseason, was to trade for Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians.
The four-time All-Star is coming off a bad year in which for most of the year, he was hounded with trade rumors, along with the stress from the COVID pandemic. Lindor only averaged .258 from the plate, the lowest of his career.
This is possibly why the Mets got such a good deal for Lindor, as the team only gave up replaceable players and prospects. Lindor is just 26 years old and has many good years of baseball ahead of him, and the Mets have needed a star player to be the cornerstone of the team. They have found that with Lindor.
The Mets rotation also got a boost from the Lindor trade, receiving Carlos Carrasco too. Carrasco has recently made his way back into the league after dealing with cancer and has come back like he hasn’t missed a step.
At 33, he still started 12 games last season for 2.91 earned runs allowed, and a total of 82 strike outs. He adds depth to an already strong starting rotation for the Mets with Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, and Noah Syndergaard, when he comes back from injury.
Sadly, the Mets didn’t do much to make their bullpen better, which was their most prominent weakness last season, and that might be the same again this season. They also lost Robinson Cano to a season-long suspension for violating the MLB’s drug enhancement rules. However, adding an MVP-caliber player like Lindor could erase many weaknesses.
The Yankees, who already have one of the best rosters in baseball, didn’t do much, but work around the margins. It seemed like the plan was to run it back and not do anything too drastic, and well, the Yankees did that.
DJ LeMahieu re-signed a contract to keep him a Yankee for six more years, which was crucial.
LeMahieu has easily been one of the best bats in baseball and could have been American League MVP the last two seasons.