New York Metkees/Yanktropolitans Part I [J. Mark English]

I cannot turn on a sports radio station any more with out hearing some variation of "the Yankees are going to kill the Mets in the World Series" or "the Mets are going to silence Yankee fans in a Subway Series."

Well first both teams have to get there. And both teams have enough short comings that they can both be taken down in the first round of the playoffs.

But in the spirit of Ed's earlier post of combining all New York football teams, lets combine the Mets and Yankees. If you could combine the rosters, and start the best players from the collection of personel, what would the team look like? And would that team be a lock for a World Series?

Lets take a look at each position:

PART I - The Infield

FIRST BASE: The best player for the Mets would be Carlos Delgado, and for the Yankees, Jason Giambi. Looking at the stats, these two players are very similar. They are nearly even in SLG. Delgado has one less HR then Giambi, and eight less RBI's. But his batting average is 18 points higher then Giambi's .251. Giambi's OBP is nearly fifty points higher, which would give him the edge if you only are looking at offense as the standard. However, in 122 games Delgado only has 7 errors at first, whereas Giambi has 7 errors in 59 games. If this team were playing in an American League ball park you'd have to start Delgado at first, and make Giambi the DH. In the National League, its impossible to take Giambi's deadly bat out of the game. The nod would go to Jason Giambi.

SECOND BASE: Robinson Cano easily beats out the competition. He's young, and has a wicked swing. His .338 batting average leaves players like Jose Valentin & Chris Woodward way behind. And defensively he has been solid, with only eight errors in 98 games.

SHORTSTOP: On the one hand you have the young, speedy and offensive igniter Jose Reyes. On the other, you have Derek Jeter, a true champion who is making a case to be named the MVP of the American League. Four years from now, Jose Reyes may be able to start ahead of Jeter, but today Jeter is by far and away the better player. He has discipline, poise, and the confidence to lead a team. In his 11th year as a pro he is hitting better then ever with a .344 batting average.

On defense these players are comparable. They have both played an equal amount of games, and nearly have the equal amount of errors.

Earlier I had said that Giambi should be the DH, but in this case (as will be with 3B) you could also consider Reyes as the DH in the lead-off spot. Its almost unimaginable to leave a guy out of the line up that could almost guarantee a run everytime Reyes is on base. The biggest problem with Reyes though is his OBP. Its only at .350 as opposed to Jeter's .421. Giambi would be the DH because his OBP is above .400 as well. If Reyes can get his OBP up to the .400 mark, then he'd have a very good chance of starting on this team. But for now, Derek Jeter gets to start.

THIRD BASE: So far this infield has been all Yankees, and it will continue to stay that way. For sure this will upset Met fans, but perhaps even Yankee fans. Alex Rodriguez starts ahead of David Wright. ARod is a lock for the Hall of Fame. He is in the midst of what many consider to be a poor season. Wright is having what many consider to be an outstanding season. Despite these perceptions, ARod has 7 more home runs the Wright. ARod's BA is 18 points below Wright, but only has two less RBI's then Wright. The rest of their numbers are fairly even. But keep in mind that ARod's numbers are well below his average. Is it more probable that ARod is up to the caliber of the numbers he put up the last ten years, or this one year? If you assume the former then ARod rounds out the infield.

CATCHER: Finally we get a starter from the Mets. Paul Lo Duca is better in almost every category. He's a solid defender, calls a great game, and he's an All Star.

That rounds out the infield. On to the out field and pitching tomorrow.