NEW YORK — There is no other way to put it: The contrasting fortunes of the Yankees and Mets since the July 30 trade deadline — when they had identical 54-48 records — has been absolutely stunning.
In just three weeks, the Yankees have been transformed from a baserunning and defense-challenged, badly constructed too-right-handed team with a real chance of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016 to a well-balanced pitching, power, speed and defense juggernaut that may very well wind up winning the American League East. At the same time, the Mets, minus Jacob deGrom and their $341 million shortstop Francisco Lindor, have been in the midst of an epic freefall in which, after leading their division by four games, they have dropped under .500 and are now very likely going to be sitting home in the postseason.
So how has all this happened?
In the Yankees’ case, in the most unlikely manner. OK, the trades for lefty sluggers Joey Gallo and especially Anthony Rizzo have had a transformative effect on the lineup, which is no longer susceptible to a steady diet of hard throwing right-handed relief pitchers, especially in the late innings. But their August surge can just as much — if not more so — be attributable to the contributions of unlikely heroes, Nestor Cortes Jr., Luis Gil, Wandy Peralta and Andrew Velazquez, none of whom were on the opening-day roster and all of whom were acquired in under-the-radar signings/deals by Brian Cashman after being cast off by other organizations. Indeed, the 2021 Yankee season is beginning to have all the earmarks of the 2019 Yankees who, after being devastated by long-term injuries to Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, were saved with the emergence of similar low key Cashman acquisitions Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, Mike Tauchman, Cameron Maybin, Domingo German and Mike Ford.
When it comes to pitching, particularly starting pitching, all we have heard from Cashman and his player development people these past couple of years was the great promise of Luis Severino (who’s been nothing but hurt), Clarke Schmidt (likewise), Deivi Garcia and Michael King, but instead it has been Gil, the 23-year-old right-hander obtained four years ago from the Twins for career minor league outfielder Jake Cave, and Cortes, the finesse throwing lefty who was traded to the Mariners in 2019 then re-signed as a free agent in January, emerging as excellent fill-in starters. The reason Gil with his plus fastball and slider didn’t get here sooner was command issues (36 walks in 61 innings at Double-A and Triple-A this year), but that has not been a problem as he became the first pitcher in modern history to allow no earned runs in his first three starts. The reason Cortes seemingly got no respect was because he doesn’t possess that overpowering velo the analytics player development folks all love. So far all he has done is just get people out, with his best outing yet (7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K) Friday night vs. the Twins.
Besides being an instant clubhouse leadership presence, Rizzo is giving the Yankees Gold Glove defense at first base, just as the effervescent Bronx born Velazquez, now working for his fifth organization after being signed as a free agent in January, has dazzled at shortstop in place of Gleyber Torres, who at times has been a liability there. In the meantime, has anyone noticed the Yankees are running? The team that couldn’t get out of its own way on the basepaths the first half of the season has 30 stolen bases since the All-Star break, the most in the majors. Even Judge has five thefts but as one scout assessed: “The sudden depth and diversity of the Yankee lineup, with one dangerous hitter after another one through seven, has forced opposing pitchers to concentrate on the batter at hand and be less attentive to the runners on base, and they’re taking advantage.”
Unfortunately, the situation in Queens grows direr by the day, especially now that the likelihood is deGrom will not pitch again this year. Without him, the Mets were never going to the World Series, but the fact is they still failed to address their biggest void — starting pitching. I’m told the Twins’ asking price for Jose Berrios, the best starter on the market, was Dominic Smith and top prospect Francisco Alvarez, and if that was the case, Mets acting GM Zack Scott had no choice but to respectfully decline. But the decision to go for Javy Baez (because Lindor implored them to get him) over the versatile Kris Bryant in the Cubs fire sale was ill-advised to say the least. The free-swinging, reckless Baez is not a winning player and now he’s hurt while Bryant has been on a tear since moving over to the Giants.
We saw where Steve Cohen made like George Steinbrenner in publicly chastising the feeble Mets hitters on Twitter last Wednesday and that was a pretty strong indication the owner is extremely upset at this turn of events in spite of the loss of deGrom and is going to be holding people accountable. Just who and how many is the question, but it would not be at all surprising if Cohen — who can certainly afford him — makes a run on Theo Epstein to head up his baseball operations. As for Luis Rojas, there is this historical ray of hope: In the case of all of the most notable first-place collapses in the last 70 years — Charlie Dressen’s 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers (13 games ahead of the Giants on Aug. 11), Gene Mauch’s 1964 Phillies (6 1/2 games ahead with 12 to play), Leo Durocher’s 1969 Cubs (9 1/2 games ahead on Aug. 14), Don Zimmer’s 1978 Red Sox (14 games ahead of the Yankees on July 19), Marcel Lachemann’s 1995 Angels (11 1/2 game lead on the Mariners on Aug. 9) and Willie Randolph’s 2007 Mets (seven-game lead on Sept. 12) — none of the managers were fired.