Starting with the obvious, as constructed today, the Yankees are a far superior team than the New York Mets.  With Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Luis Severino, this Yankees team is set up to win 90 plus games a year for the next decade.  Given the talent base and how the Yankees are willing to spend, the Yankees should be a fixture in the postseason, much like they were in the late 90s, and that is a prerequisite to winning a World Series.

However, as we saw with this Yankees team for the second straight season, they could not get through the postseason partially because they did not have the ace to help push them through to the World Series.

Last year, it was Justin Verlander, who helped stop the Yankees.  In many ways, Verlander has proved to be the Yankees kryptonite.  In three different postseasons, Verlander has faced the Yankees, and each time, Verlander’s teams advanced.  Last year, Verlander was the ALCS MVP going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA.  What made the issue worse for the Yankees is they did not go out and get an eminently available Verlander.

This year, the Yankees were stopped by Chris Sale.  Not only did Sale beat the Yankees in Game 1, but he would stop the Yankees in Game 4 in his one inning of work.

With the Yankees window opening last year, they have failed to get an ace to go up against Verlander, Sale, or even Corey Kluber (who the Yankees beat in the 2017 ALDS).  Severino has not yet proven to be that guy.  Instead of utilizing Justus Sheffield and some other prospect to acquire that ace, they are hoping that he develops into that front line starter himself.

If neither of those things happen, it is hard to imagine how the Yankees can navigate their way through the American League portion of the postseason each and every year.  The Astros and Red Sox have every bit the position player talent the Yankees have, and they also have more starting pitching.  To that end, it’s difficult to see how exactly the Yankees win a World Series with this core.

Equally as difficult is seeing how the Mets even make the postseason.  While the Mets have talent, they are in a division with the upcoming Braves and Phillies teams.  Moreover, the Nationals are always ready, willing, and able to spend in free agency to address the deficiencies on their roster.  This creates a real uphill battle for a Mets franchise with ownership which continues to serve as an impediment to building a winner.

And yet, if the Mets ever do get to the postseason, they are a really dangerous team.  Back in 2015, we saw what Jacob deGrom can do in the postseason and that was before he emerged as the best pitcher in baseball.  Similarly, Noah Syndergaard has shown himself to be a big time postseason pitcher.  Aside from his strong 2015 rookie campaign, Syndergaard would go pitch-for-pitch with Madison Bumgarner, the best postseason pitcher of this generation, in the 2016 Wild Card Game.  What makes that postseason all the more impressive is the emergence of Zack Wheeler this season.

When you substitute Wheeler for 2015 Matt Harvey, you have the type of pitching rotation which can and should carry a team to the World Series.

When you surround this pitching staff with a young core which includes Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, and Amed Rosario, there is a core of players which can not just make the World Series but win it.  So yes, if we are talking about a core of players which can go through the postseason and win the World Series, the Mets have what it takes.

And yet, they don’t have the type of core which can carry them through the regular season.  This team is at least one bat short.  Maybe two.  And that is before you even consider the bullpen.

That’s the real shame of it all.  The Yankees have the talent but not the pitching, and that is partially the result of them getting gun shy when it came time to pull the trigger to obtain that ace which can carry a team through the postseason.  The Mets have the pitching, and they have that young core, but they have ownership which gets gun shy when it comes time to getting a player they need to win.

In the end, the Mets have a better core of players which can carry you to the World Series, but it doesn’t really matter because unless things change, the Mets will be sitting on the sidelines watching this Yankees core squander away without a legitimate ace.