Cohen’s Money Makes It Closer But Yankees Still Own New York

It is an age-old story in New York. When the iconic Yankees are good, they rule the region. In fact, it was 65 years years ago that the Bronx Bombers' National League neighbors, the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers abandoned their fanbases and moved across the country. Many believed the move was primarily done to get away from the powerful lure of the team in pinstripes. Many decades later and billions of dollars ready to spend, Mets owner Steve Cohen is at least trying to put up a fight for his Queens franchise.

Cohen hasn't shied away from spending his fortunes on high-priced free agents. The Mets owner certainly flexed his wallet muscles while snagging future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to replace Jacob deGrom in the front of manager Buck Showalter's rotation. Though he certainly had the financial means to snag Aaron Judge from his crosstown MLB business partner, Hal, Cohen chose to stay away from the ""Ruthian" right-fielder. Why?

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Interestingly enough, Mets' general manager Billy Eppler's interest in free agent starting pitcher Carlos Rodón appeared to wane when Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman publicly declared the left-hander a target of the Pinstripes. Again, why? Doubtfully, Cohen is backing down to Yankees' owner Hal Steinbrenner. More so, it appears the two-mega MLB owners are playing nice in the sandbox, for now. However, there is going to come a time that these two New York super-powers are going to clash while going after the same commodity, or free agent, while pursuing a championship.

The Mets won 101 regular season games in 2022 and the Yankees, 99. The Bombers went further in the playoffs and appear closer to another World Series than their crosstown younger brethren. The Mets are getting closer but for now, New York is still a Yankee town or state. Until the Mets rattle-off 3 or 4 World Series championships in the same decade, it may be a while for that fanbase swing to change, if it ever happens at all.