Long-Standing Rivalry Consumes Mets And Braves As Season Looms

With three weeks left until Opening Day, the rivalry between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves remains as hot as the Florida weather.

Although the Braves have won five straight National League East titles – the longest streak of any current team – they won in 2022 only by sweeping a three-game home series on the final weekend of the 162-game season.

Then they watched Mets owner Steve Cohen corral a dozen free agents, vaulting his payroll to a record $369.9, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

That’s nearly $100 million more than the crosstown Yankees, who rank second, or considerably more than the $233.4 million projected Atlanta payroll, which Cot’s places seventh in the majors.

The Mets have both of the highest-paid players in baseball history – pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer – and will pay both $43.3 million this season. The Braves, by contrast, are banking on youth.

“Our guys are young but they’re experienced,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker before an exhibition game against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. “They gained unbelievable experience the last two years. Some of these guys have been in Game 7s and won a World Series. They’re young but they’re battled-tested.

“They’re very talented young players who have got a lot of experience the last few years and they’re not satisfied. They’re all trying to improve and trying to get better. They’re a hard-working group, very dedicated to their craft, and when you’re like that, you’ll improve.”

Snitker, 67, is the oldest manager in the National League, a year older than Buck Showalter of the Mets. Only Bruce Bochy, 68, of the Texas Rangers and Dusty Baker, 74, of the World Champion Houston Astros are older.

In baseball circles, however, age is a matter of mind; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

Except for 30-year-old rookie Kodai Senga, imported from the Japanese majors with a five-year, $75 million pact, every starting pitcher on the Mets is at least 35. And every regular except for 28-year-old first baseman Pete Alonso is on the wrong side of 30.

The Braves, by contrast, are a ballclub with so many kids that they may start the season with the youngest average age in the league. Michael Harris II, the defending National League Rookie of the Year, broke in at age 21 last summer. So did Vaughn Grissom, who inherits the shortstop job from Dansby Swanson, who rode free agency into a seven-year, $177 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Switch-hitting second baseman Ozzie Albies, injured much of last year (foot and finger fractures), swings a high-powered bat – surprising for the shortest player in the league. So does Matt Olson, starting his second season as successor to former Face of the Franchise Freddie Freeman.

All of them, along with Venezuelan slugger Ronald Acuna, Jr., fellow slugger Austin Riley, and Gold Glove catcher Sean Murphy, are signed to team-friendly, long-term contracts. So is pitcher Spencer Strider, a 2022 rookie who reached 200 strikeouts faster than any pitcher in baseball history. If not for Harris, he would have been Rookie of the Year.

The Braves are said to be negotiating extensions with lefty starter Max Fried, an All-Star who finished second in the Cy Young Award voting, and Kyle Wright, who led the majors with 21 wins.

The Mets, on the other hand, will have to ante up for Alonso, who hit 40 homers last year but will be eligible for free agency this fall. Scherzer could also walk away, if he exercises an opt-out clause in his contract.

One player certain to stay in Flushing is lights-out reliever Edwin Diaz, whose five-year, $102 million deal is the richest ever given to a closer.

The Mets will also rely on infielders Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, and Jeff McNeil, coming off his first batting crown. All, plus Alonso, are among the 11 Mets who left the team Monday for the World Baseball Classic.

Asked about the Braves, Mets reliever Adam Ottavino told Mike Puma of The New York Post, “It’s mostly the same team so I am assuming they are going to be pretty good. They’re deep, they’re good at everything, and there’s a lot of youth on their team.”

The teams will meet 13 times, down from the usual 19 because of a new format that mandates every team playing each of the 29 other teams.

Also new this year are rules regarding bigger bases, fewer pick-offs, and a pitch clock that causes both pitchers and batters to adhere to time limits or risk penalties. Installation of bigger bases also shortens the distance between bags, suggesting the return of the stolen base as a run-manufacturing device.

Acuna, for one, narrowly missed a rare 40/40 season a few years ago and is hoping to reach that level again now that he’s fully healed from a torn ACL. Injuries are always a factor in figuring out how teams will finish.

New Mets lefty Jose Quintana cracked a rib during an exhibition game and might be out several months, for example. His likely replacement, David Peterson, suffered a less-serious toe injury.

The whole season could come down to who gets hot when it counts the most. In 2022, Atlanta finished 21-10 in September and October while the Mets went 18-13 over the same stretch. That killed New York’s hopes for a divisional title even though they led the NL East most of the year.

The Braves hope to recapture the world championship they won in 2021, while the Mets seek their first since 1986. Since the advent of divisional play in 1969, each team has won the World Series twice.

“It’s not the type of division where one team is going to run away with it,” Mets outfielder Mark Canha told The New York Post. “Come September 1, everybody is going to be pretty close and you are going to have to play well down the stretch.”

According to Atlanta third base coach Ron Washington, “Right now everybody thinks they have a chance. You can’t ignore the Phillies. You can’t ignore any team in baseball because on any given day, you can get beat.”

Philadelphia finished third in the NL East, 14 games behind the Braves and Mets, but rode the wild-card to a World Series berth, where it lost to the Houston Astros in six games.

“Everybody in the division tried to get better last year and they did,” Snitker said. “It’s a really strong division, so we can’t wait to get the season started and see where we stack up.”