Dellin Betances serves as a symbol of New York baseball, and not just for going from the Yankees to the Mets this off-season. He represents high-end talent that hardly played in 2019.
He faced two batters, his new teammate Jed Lowrie never started a game and Yoenis Cespedes never appeared in a game.
Betances leaves behind a team that lost more yet won more. From their 100-win team of 2018, the Yankees hardly had their best set-up man (Betances), ace (Luis Severino), near Rookie of the Year (Miguel Andujar) and home-run leader (Giancarlo Stanton) and still produced 103 victories in 2019.
The New York clubs have built to survive the absences of those six players again. But what if they have them? No teams in the majors have more significant players who barely played or didn’t play at all in 2019 as part of their 2020 fabric. The shape of the AL West, for example, could pivot on how the Astros’ Lance McCullers and the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani rebound from a season in which they didn’t pitch following Tommy John surgery while the Rangers see how Corey Kluber returns from a fractured ulna that cost him the final five months of 2019. But that is one potential difference-maker per team.
The Mets and Yankees both have three in this category. So what would you make the over/unders for the six?
Luis SeverinoAnthony J. Causi1. Severino — He made just five starts (two in the playoffs) in a season derailed first by rotator cuff inflammation followed by a lat strain that had more mystery than public explanation attached to it. That he finished last season healthy makes him stand out from this crowd of six. Just a reminder: Severino was eighth in pitching WAR and strikeouts for 2017-18. If that guy returns in conjunction with Gerrit Cole, the Yanks’ chances of winning their first World Series since 2009 skyrocket. Severino only turns 26 next month.
Over/under: 20 starts.
2. Stanton — The Yankees led the majors in runs and had 306 homers with Stanton contributing three homers in 72 plate appearances. Stanton was limited by injuries to his biceps and knee. Stanton can opt out of his contract after this season, when there will be seven years at $218 million left. That is doubtful because even if he has a great, healthy 2020, Stanton would be entering his age-31 season in 2021 and the chances of a player with a long injury history and in his thirties finding that kind of money is not great. But if he has a strong 2020 at least he is set to consider it if he, say, doesn’t like playing in New York.
The Yanks need Stanton not to become Jacoby Ellsbury II — an injury-prone outfielder who does not perform as envisioned when enlisted. The Yanks have to assume he is their property (problem?) through 2027.
Over/under: 400 plate appearances.
3. Andujar — He tore the labrum in his right shoulder and played just 12 games last year. He has been working out regularly since late last season and is expected to be full-go for spring. But as what? Gio Urshela Wally Pipp-ed him out of third. Can Andujar ever defend enough at third to win the job back? Can he move from third to first to DH to maybe outfield to get his bat to play? Is he just about to become Clint Frazier — a player who has lost his trade value by being held onto too long by the Yankees?
Over/under: 300 major league plate appearances.
4. Betances — Are there worse injuries for a pitcher to have than to his shoulder and Achilles? How about a 6-foot-8 power pitcher? Betances always had trouble keeping his delivery in order and fielding his position fully healthy. This version? But you understand why the Mets took the risk. From 2014-18, Betances had a 2.22 ERA and struck out 14.8 batters per nine innings. He also threw 18 more relief innings than anyone (not even counting postseason).
Over/under: 35 appearances.
5. Lowrie — Are we at peace with what was wrong with Lowrie last season? He was reported to have a left knee capsule sprain that morphed into conversations about imbalances in his body that led to nine late pinch-hit at-bats. He became a punching bag for wasted money and inability to get on the field. But Lowrie had 1,325 plate appearances in 2017-18 (21st in the majors) and was one of just 19 players to have 4.0 WAR in both 2017 and ‘18. If he can start three days a week at third and be a switch-hitting option off the bench, what a boost for the Mets. Or can he play well enough in spring for the Mets to move his $9 million 2020 payday?
Over/under: 200 plate appearances.
6. Cespedes — The Mets outfield produced an .816 OPS last year (eighth in the majors). The problem was defense, and what will Cespedes look like in left field after surgeries to both heels and a fractured ankle? What will he look like at the plate with 478 plate appearances over the last three seasons — zero last year? What does it say about Cespedes that any belief he will play and play well is based on him entering the final year of a contract that has been restructured in such a way that he has to play regularly to recoup a significant portion of his money? There is the combination of that carrot and whatever quantity of Cespedes’ vast skill remains that makes him intriguing — perhaps even as a trade candidate to an AL team needing a DH/outfielder.
Over/under: 100 plate appearances.




