DEREK Jeter celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, which means he is in his prime, yet clearly beginning the back nine of his career. Alex Rodriguez turns 31 next month, putting him at roughly the same juncture.
Both are hard workers and both have starry seasons ahead of them. But baseball history suggests that prime years generally end somewhere between ages 32-34. So Jeter and Rodriguez likely have completed their best seasons. Thus, the Yankees, for 2006 and beyond, are beholden to how long their signature everyday players can remain elite.
Jose Reyes celebrated his 23rd birthday earlier this month, reaching the same age as David Wright. Both are younger than Jonathan Papelbon, who might be the AL Rookie of the Year. Neither Reyes nor Wright has yet approached his prime, but nevertheless both are performing like prime-time players. They are part of the NL MVP debate, at least the non-Albert Pujols category.
It is easy to believe their best seasons are still to come, that 2006 is merely an appetizer for the possibilities.
They are going to form the backbone of a long-time Met contender along with Carlos Beltran, Lastings Milledge and Mike Pelfrey.
In many ways, the final Subway Series of 2006 – at least the final regular-season Subway Series of 2006 – and the never-ending battle for the hearts and minds of New York fans revolves around the left sides of the infields. At the beginning of the season, you could have instigated a good debate about which tandem you would rather have for the next five years, but it still would have been baseball blasphemy to suggest the Mets had the edge this season. More and more, however, the future is now in this debate.
When the Subway Series begins tonight, the majors’ two top infield left sides will be at Yankee Stadium. The argument will be which is the best?
Now this is not a history contest. There are no questions there. The Mets will be blessed if Reyes and Wright approach the Cooperstown-tinged careers of Jeter and Rodriguez. And the great advantage Jeter and A-Rod maintain is that they’ve been there, done that season after season. That includes the 2006 season. When it is over, we will look back and say they were both great again. There is not as much certainty with the Met pair, particularly Reyes.
But if you can somehow ignore the resume of the Yankee duo and concentrate wholly on the capabilities of the players right now, a case can be fashioned that the Mets have the edge. The two obvious areas in which you would have expected Jeter to dominate Reyes are not as obvious. Despite his natural aggressiveness, Jeter still has much more plate discipline than Reyes, though Reyes has made up ground there. And it is hard to firmly state any longer that Jeter has more power. Reyes is outdoing his Yankee counterpart in both doubles and homers.
Jeter is heady and quick on the bases, but Reyes led the majors in steals (34), triples (10) and runs (67). Jeter was at 15, 2 and 51.
The largest discrepancy, though, might be in the field where Reyes is no less sure-handed than Jeter while having more range and a stronger arm.
Defense should have been a big edge for A-Rod over the still-evolving Wright. But Rodriguez clearly has taken a step back in 2006, both in range and sure-handedness.
On offense, Wright has A-Rod in batting average, homers, RBIs and steals.
Perhaps Rodriguez initiated what will be a run toward a third MVP with his game-ending, two-run, 12th-inning homer Wednesday against the Braves. But, even here, Wright currently holds an edge. He has three walkoff hits in 2006, including one vs. the Yanks, to that one by ARod.
Now, again, remember this is a snapshot midway through a season. It is easy to see Rodriguez moving beyond Wright in most, if not all of those categories. The same is true for Jeter. These are great players, still playing at a high level.
However, the snapshot does tell us something for sure as this Subway Series begins. We now have a real debate.
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Tale of the tape
TEAM: METS
BATTING
AB: 2,765
RUNS: 409
HITS: 737
2B: 164
3B: 20
HR: 110
TOTAL BASES: 1,271
RBI: 390
WALKS: 251
STRIKEOUTS: 521
STOLEN BASES: 84
CAUGHT STEALING: 18
BA: .267
OBP: .333
SLG: .460
OPS: .793
PITCHING
ERA: 3.95
WHIP: 1.30
STRIKEOUTS: 575
WALKS: 264
BA VS.: .247
HR VS.: 88
SV: 18
K/9: 7.20
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
BATTING (minimun 100 at bats)
AB: Reyes 338
BA: Wright .327
SLG: Beltran .625
OPS: Beltran 1.028
HR: Beltran/Delgado 22
HITS: Reyes/Wright 99
RBI: Wright 64
RUNS: Reyes 67
WALKS: Beltran 47
STRIKEOUTS: Delgado 67
2B: Three with 19
3B: Reyes 10
STEALS: Reyes 34
TOTAL BASES: Wright 178
PITCHING
W: Glavine 11
SV: Wagner 15
ERA: Glavine 3.34
WHIP: Martinez 1.00
STRIKEOUTS: Martinez 111
WALKS: Trachsel 36
BA AGAINST: Martinez .202
HR AGAINST: Glavine 15
IP: Glavine 107.2
CG: Three with 1
K/9: Martinez 9.83
TEAM: YANKEES
AB: 2,649
RUNS: 423
HITS: 751
2B: 135
3B: 11
HR: 93
TOTAL BASES: 1,187
RBI: 412
WALKS: 323
STRIKEOUTS: 471
STOLEN BASES: 61
CAUGHT STEALING: 17
BA: .284
OBP: .367
SLG: .448
OPS: .815
PITCHING
ERA: 4.18
WHIP: 1.34
STRIKEOUTS: 464
WALKS: 241
BA VS.: .256
HR VS.: 71
SV: 19
K/9: 6.14
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
BATTING (minimun 100 at bats)
AB: Damon 302
BA: Jeter .331
SLG: Giambi .624
OPS: Giambi 1.055
HR: Giambi 23
HITS: Jeter 94
RBI: Giambi 62
RUNS: Damon 58
WALKS: Giambi 56
STRIKEOUTS: Rodriguez 68
2B: Damon 20
3B: Phillips 3
STEALS: Damon 16
TOTAL BASES: Damon 144
PITCHING
W: Johnson/Mussina 9
SV: Rivera 17
ERA: Mussina 3.28
WHIP: Mussina 1.08
STRIKEOUTS: Mussina 100
WALKS: Johnson 33
BA AGAINST: Mussina .231
HR AGAINST: Johnson 15
IP: Wang/Mussina 112.1
CG: Three with 1
K/9: Mussina 8.01
SLG – Slugging Percentage; OPS – On-base Plus Slugging Percentage; WHIP – Walks Plus Hits per Inning Pitched; K/9 – Strike outs per 9 innings
