Mets Are No Angels

Mets and Angels are very similar in many ways. 

Both teams play in major media markets with both teams being overshadowed in said market. 

As we know, the Mets are overshadowed by a Yankees team with 27 titles. If you forget for even a nanosecond, don’t worry, a Yankees fan will be there to remind you. 

Similarly, the Dodgers overshadow the Angels. The title disparity is somewhat similar with the Dodgers winning six World Series (five in Los Angeles) to the Angels one. 

The title disparity in both situations appears set to expand with Yankee and Dodger, loaded with young talent and farm systems, were so close to winning the World Series. 

The Yankees had a 3-2 lead in the ALCS before heading back to Houston. 

The Dodgers started Yu Darvish with Clayton Kershaw at the ready in Game 7 of the World Series. They fell short. 

Both teams are now gearing up so they won’t fall short again. 

The Yankees have already added Giancarlo Stanton, and they have re-signed CC Sabathia. The team also has cleared payroll by trading Chase Headley to the Padres leaving them with more money to improve their team without going over the luxury tax. 

Like the Yankees, the Dodgers swung a deal to clear to payroll taking on Matt Kemp while trading away a few players, including Adrian Gonzalez, who were not going to be factors in 2018. 

The Dodgers and Yankees are not done this offseason, which is scary given how their rosters are already good enough to win a World Series. That should promise to put to Mets and Angels further back in the rearview mirror. 

This begs the question as to what should you do as the Mets or Angels, two teams who were under .500 last year, should do this offseason. 

The Angels have decided to go for it. They have been very active this offseason significantly upgrading their roster, by making the following moves:

In addition to these moves, they also signed Braves prospect Kevin Maitan, which should be a boost to their poor farm system. 

The Mets?  Well, they have been the Mets this offseason in that they have not done much:

Perhaps tellingly, the Mets primary targets went elsewhere. Bryan Shaw went to pitch in Coors Field instead of Citi Field with his old pitching coach. 

And Kinsler outrighted rejected a trade to the Mets. It’s quite telling he had the Mets and Angels on his 10 team no trade list, and he accepted a trade to the Angels. 

Overall, the offseason isn’t over, and perhaps the Mets still have a significant move or two left in them. It’s going to be extremely difficult with the team cutting payroll and outright refusing to answer questions on the topic:

Too bad, the Mets can’t be more like the Angels, who don’t play in the top media market in the country, have played in the same ballpark since 1966, and don’t have their own regional sports network. 

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