The New York Jets are dreaming of winning their first Super Bowl since 1969, while their counterpart, the New York Giants, look to win their third of the century.
The New York Mets are dreaming of winning their first championship since 1986, while the Yankees look to add their 28th, their first since 2009.
While many people don’t compare between sports, the Mets and the Jets have a lot of similarities.
The Mets and Jets have many similarities
Both fan bases of these teams are quite similar. Every year, many have lofty expectations for the team to meet, but then they underperform, anger sets in, and they have a good offseason. Repeat.
But in recent times, the Mets seem as if they are looking to get rid of that negative connotation. They are smart, use money wisely, and are trying to build for success.
The Jets could be heading towards that, as they have set up a foundational core. The Mets have their core guys, in Lindor, Alonso, Vientos, Alvarez, and newly added Juan Soto. The Jets have Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, and a developing offensive line.
Along with similarities surrounding their core, they both have hired new head coaches who plan to make tremendous improvements to the culture. The Mets signed Carlos Mendoza in 2023, and he has taken this opportunity and run with it. He brought the 2024 Mets, who many expected to be a very below-average team, and helped them make it to the NLCS.
Aaron Glenn has the opportunity to do that this season. He plans on making big strides with their culture and the environment, which will be crucial. And many people are sleeping on the Jets this year. Can the Jets make a similar big push as the Mets did, leading to a big offseason?
Recent Moves
The New York Mets in 2021 and 2022 signed two future Hall of Fame talents in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. These two were supposed to create a dynamic one-two punch at the top of the rotation, all while being a pretty old duo in baseball terms. This did not work nearly as well as they expected, as the whole team was blown up later that season at the trade deadline. Both of these players ended up in different organizations and were failed experiments.
This is also too similar to Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was a 39-year-old veteran quarterback, who Jets fans and officials expected to be their savior. Well, that was far from the truth. In his first season, a few snaps in, he tore his Achilles. A brutal blow to what was supposed to be a great season. Following that, last season, Rodgers just didn’t look like himself. He was all out of sorts, and the Rodgers experiment was a bust as well.
Looking Ahead
The Mets seem to be on the right track this season, and are hoping to make the playoffs and have a deep run. Someone who will be at the helm of their success for a long time to come is none other than superstar Juan Soto. He signed a massive 15-year deal this past offseason with the Mets, as he bought into their future.
The Jets front office, led by Darren Mougey, has its work cut out for it. They have a pretty competitive roster that needs one more great piece to put them over the edge. Will the Jets have a similar trajectory as their baseball counterpart and sign their Juan Soto next offseason, or will they look to follow a different plan?
