The New York Mets are one step closer to the World Series after defeating Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, quite the accomplishment for a team whose payroll is low considering how it plays in what is probably the sports world’s biggest media market. Thanks to a mix of veterans and scrappy youngsters that just managed to click at the right time, the Mets are legitimately looking like the team to beat out of the National League.
The Mets being in the playoffs also gives fans of the team plenty to smile about, after years of futility and mismanagement under former GM Omar Minaya. This time around, Sandy Alderson has done more with little to no spending money than most GMs in a similar position have been able to do. Five years after being hired, he appears to have finally built a winner.
The best part? He has inspired hope despite having few Grade A, high-priced veterans on the roster.
Given the overall youth on the roster, not to mention star pitcher Matt Harvey coming back from Tommy John surgery and Citi Field being a stadium where home runs go to die, the fact that the Mets got as hot as they did in the second half and made the postseason in 2015 is amazing. The team entered the All Star Break with a record of 47-42 and ended the regular season at 90-72. That’s not the prettiest of records, but it was enough to earn the National League Eastern Division crown on the back of a second-half surge.
That surge can be attributed to multiple factors, primarily a strong starting rotation built with young and powerful arms as well as Alderson trading two minor leaguers to the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline for power-hitting outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who hit .287 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI in just 57 games in Flushing. For 2015, he finished with a .291 batting average, 35 home runs and 105 RBI.
And the Mets managed to do this without a star-studded expensive team, à la their crosstown rival New York Yankees. While the superstar-laden Bronx Bombers had a payroll of $218.75 million and were eliminated by the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Game, the Mets are now up 1-o in the NLDS with a payroll of just $120.4 million, per Spotrac.
Needless to say, this young squad could soon raise the bar for smart spending in building a winning team in a large market.
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