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JJ: A Holiday Wish List For NY Sports

BQE Admin on December 23, 2024

JOHN JASTREMSKI

I hope that the 2024 holiday season has treated you well. 

We all have our wish lists every year for Santa Claus and what he may bring us under the Christmas tree. 

Maybe it’s that apple watch or the newest video game console, but I have my wish list for Santa Claus for some of the New York Sports teams. 

For some of the New York teams, this past year brought a lot of presents. 

For some others, a whole lot of coal. 

Mets: Re-Sign Pete Alonso

Yes, the Mets are coming off one of their best seasons without a championship. A feel good ride to the NLCS. To cap off the year, the Mets signed Juan Soto away from the Yankees to become the next franchise cornerstone. 

The Mets added Soto, brought back Sean Manaea, but still have one more major need to address. 

They need to bring back Pete Alonso to round out the middle of their lineup. 

The power, protection for Soto and the idea of Alonso being a Met for life all should make the Mets fans spirit bright. 

Giants: Find And Draft a Franchise Quarterback

The Giants are in the middle of the worst season in the 100 year history of the franchise. 

The season thankfully ends in two weeks, but now the stage is set for a great present in late April.

If the Giants lose their final two games of the season, they end up with the # 1 pick in the draft.

Of course it’s not a given, but the idea of the next hope at quarterback come April and the entire draft to choose from, at least gives 2025 a chance at a promising start. 

Jets: End the longest playoff drought in professional sports! Hire Mike Vrabel! 

The Jets have the longest playoff drought in professional sports. They’ve hired plenty of GM’ and head coaches since 2010. 

They brought in Aaron Rodgers, a future Hall Of Fame quarterback, yet here we are. 

No playoffs since 2010.

The franchise needs a program and culture builder. 

There is no better place to start than to look at Mike Vrabel to be that guy. 

Vrabel thrived for years as coach of the Tennessee Titans. His teams were always prepared, tough minded and successful. 

This is the perfect choice to change the culture. 

Yankees: Become More Fundamentally Sound in 25! 

The 2024 Yankees ended a 15 year drought without an American League pennant. 

They were also a team that was fundamentally flawed all season long. 

They ran the bases terribly and the team’s defense left a lot to be desired. 

The Yankee defense was responsible for one of the worst defensive innings in the history of the Yankees and the World Series in a 5th inning of Game 5 of the World Series that will live in infamy. 

I am hopeful that the Yankees can be a more fundamentally sound team next season. 

Adding Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt who are two terrific defensive players should help the overall team defense. 

It will be needed with the addition of weak contract machine Max Fried joining Gerrit Cole at the top of the rotation. 

There are a few of the things I listed for New York fans to wish for under their trees for 2025. 

To all a Merry Christmas and to all a good night. 

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on the Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple podcasts every Sunday & Thursday. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite at 11 PM on SNY.

A Different Draft

webadmin on May 4, 2021

For one of the football teams in town, the draft provided little-to-no drama, playing out the way you thought it would a week ago.
It was the worst-kept secret for the last two months that the Jets were selecting Zach Wilson out of BYU as their next quarterback.
Wilson’s baby face and outward charisma will be touted in commercials and on billboards across the Big Apple in the months ahead.
Media attention for a rookie quarterback in New York City is par for the course, however the plan of attack for the Jets in building around this particular rookie quarterback is drastically different than the way they built around their prior rookie quarterback in Sam Darnold.
The Jets did a terrible job of surrounding their last quarterback with offensive talent.
Clearly, Jets general manager Joe Douglas wanted to avoid the mistakes of the past. The Jets traded up for an offensive tackle in the middle portion of the first round.
They drafted a wide receiver in the second round, and they added a running back in the later rounds.
The message from top to bottom was simple: we are going to do our best to set up a rookie quarterback in the best position imaginable.
Can I tell you for sure that in five years the Jets will be a competent, well-run organization? Of course not, but the plan in place is certainly set up for success.
For the other football team in town, the drama was all about a draft-day narrative that was squashed for good after Friday night.
In the days leading up to the NFL Draft, Giants general manager Dave Gettelman heard a pretty basic critique of his draft day strategy: “when will Dave Gettelman trade down in a draft?”
It was a fair question considering that Gettleman in his years running both the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants has never traded out of a draft pick to accumulate more assets.
In 2021, it seems like hell may be freezing over. Dave Gettelman not once, but twice traded down.
When the Giants missed out on the chance to land Alabama standout wide receiver Devonta Smith, the team made a practical move.
The Giants identified the Chicago Bears as a quarterback needy team and worked out a deal to acquire the Bears first-round pick next year plus additional assets.
In addition, the Giants found themselves in a similar position in the second round of the draft. They traded back with the Miami Dolphins and picked up their third round pick next year.
The Giants landed Florida Wide Receiver Kadarius Toney and Georgia edge rusher Azeez Ojulari, who should both fill obvious needs for the team.
It’s a win-win for the Giants, because they are also set up next year with a bundle of draft picks, a bundle of draft picks that could be used to build around Daniel Jones or to land the franchise’s next quarterback.
I look forward to grading these draft results in the years to come, but I know this, draft day was certainly done differently in New York this time around.

You can listen to me on my new podcast “New York, New York” on the Ringer Podcast Network which can be found on both Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

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