The New York Yankees and New York Mets are not in the same division. The two teams are not even in the same league.
However, Juan Soto’s departure from the Bronx to Queens, combined with the history between the two teams, would make a World Series matchup between them exhilarating.
If the season ended today, both the Yankees and Mets would qualify for the postseason, but neither would receive an automatic bye to their respective Division Series. Nearing the conclusion of the All-Star break, a Major League Baseball analyst believes neither team will have the ability to maintain its winning ways.
Mets Predicted to Miss Postseason
At 55-42, the New York Mets are just a half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East. It’s likely the two teams will fight for the top spot deep into September.
“The Mets’ pitching staff is finally getting healthy, Brandon Nimmo has been hot for a month, and it’s looking like Ronny Mauricio is going to be the big piece of the puzzle that Mark Vientos became last season,” Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote Thursday.
“They already have a three-game cushion over current NL seventh-place San Francisco and could just about end that race in the next few weeks with two series against the Giants coming up soon.”
Although with 65 games remaining on the Mets’ difficult second half of the season schedule, there remains plenty of time for them to regress. Their first four series of the second half of the season include matchups against the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres.
“Goodness knows the Mets have had some second-half collapses in their history, and they do have one of the toughest remaining schedules in the majors,” wrote Miller.
Second Half Collapse Predicted for Yankees
On May 28, the New York Yankees held a seven-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. That lead quickly evaporated with a pair of six-game losing streaks, including a four-game sweep at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. They have obvious needs at this year’s trade deadline.
“Meanwhile, the Yankees have a slightly bigger cushion (3.5 games) over the AL’s seventh-place team (Tampa Bay), as well as the second-best run differential in the majors (+111). It’s a foregone conclusion they’ll be upgrading their injury-riddled rotation ahead of the trade deadline. They’ll probably do something about their third base situation, too,” wrote Kelly.
Even with two-time AL MVP Aaron Judge and Cy Young Award candidate Max Fried, the Yankees’ inability to play consistent baseball may hurt their chances of a deep postseason run. Or any postseason run at all.
“Meanwhile, the Aaron Boone-loathing Yankees fans could tell you they’ve been much more of a first-half team over the past three years (171-110 with a +325 run differential) than any sort of second-half surger (104-101 with a +37 run differential),” wrote Kelly.
“If that trend continues—or, heaven forbid, Aaron Judge misses any time due to injury—there are plenty of other AL teams champing at the bit to leapfrog a Yankees team that plays .500-ish ball the rest of the way.”
To avoid Kelly’s predicted fate, the Yankees’ moves at the deadline will be a quintessential part of their 2025 season.
MLB Analyst Makes Outlandish Yankees and Mets Prediction