As both local ball clubs contemplate their approaches to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, here are five takeaways from the Mets’ 9-3 win over the Yankees on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium:
1. Justin Verlander’s Mets tenure was delayed by a spring-training shoulder injury, and the three-time Cy Young winner sported a 4.50 ERA through his first nine starts through June 20.
But the 40-year-old righty has figured things out over his past six starts, pitching to a 1.46 ERA over that stretch, including six innings of two-hit shutout ball Tuesday night.
With lefty Jose Quintana returning last week from the IL and slated to oppose Carlos Rodon in the series finale on Wednesday, the Mets should be feeling slightly better about their starting pitching heading into the final two months, Max Scherzer’s inconsistency notwithstanding.
2. Domingo German, by contrast, has been rocked for a 7.12 ERA over his past seven starts, and that crooked number incredibly includes throwing a perfect game.
Despite that historic performance four weeks ago, German’s rotation spot could be in jeopardy once Nestor Cortes makes it back from the 60-day injured list in the first week of August.
Clarke Schmidt has outpitched German, posting a 3.08 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) since May 31.
3. What to make of the latest update surrounding rehabbing captain Aaron Judge, who homered during a five-inning simulated game Tuesday at the organization’s complex in Tampa?
Aaron Boone left the door open for the reigning AL MVP possibly to return this weekend in Baltimore.
It sounds as if the Yankees will force-feed No. 99 more at-bats and innings in the outfield on Wednesday — in another simulated game involving reliever Jonathan Loaisiga — and are at least considering bypassing a minor-league rehab assignment to get Judge back in the lineup this weekend for the first time since he sprained his toe on June 3 in Los Angeles.
4. Pete Alonso evidently enjoys hitting at Yankee Stadium. He now has six home runs in 13 career games in the Boogie Down following a two-dinger, five-RBI night, including back-to-back jacks with Daniel Vogelbach in the sixth inning against German.
5. Returning adviser Andy Pettitte made it clear he’s not looking to be the full-time pitching coach for the Yankees, even though he assumed that role for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic.
He’d been coaching high school ball in Texas, but with his youngest son headed to college in the fall, “the timing was right” to come back in an advisory role to Boone and to help pitching coach Matt Blake with the pitching staff.
The Core Four stalwart hopes to be a “good sounding board for the guys” for the remainder of this season, and believes he can offer “a different perspective.” Having the battle-tested former All-Star around only can be a positive for the (last-place!) Yankees down the stretch.
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More Bark, less bite
Saquon Barkley and the Giants eliminated what potentially would have been a daily storyline for the remainder of the summer when the running back accepted the team’s slightly amended offer and signed a one-year contract that could earn him roughly $900,000 in incentives above the $10.1 million franchise tag.
The extra money will be well worth it for the Giants, tying in three separate personal performance milestones — 1,350 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns and 65 receptions — to the team returning to the playoffs.
Even in a strong bounceback year from a couple of injury-plagued seasons — and an unexpected playoff berth for the team — Barkley didn’t reach any of those statistical plateaus last season, finishing with 1,312 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns and 57 catches.
Avoiding a training-camp holdout for a series of unlikely bonuses totally feels like Barkley taking one for the team here after the Giants used their leverage and declined to guarantee the two-time Pro Bowler the dollars and years on a long-term deal he was seeking throughout the offseason.
Notably, there is no provision in the one-year deal that precludes the Giants from applying the franchise tag to Barkley again in 2024.
But that is for next summer, when this process likely will start anew.
“Obviously, we are glad we were able to work things out with Saquon,” GM Joe Schoen said. “We all recognize the player and person Saquon is and what he means to our team.”
To that end, remember this:
Daniel Jones, who landed a massive extension during the offseason, has been far more productive in his career with Barkley than without him.
The $160 million quarterback has thrown 44 touchdowns with 17 interceptions and a 91.4 passer rating in 35 games with both players in uniform. Jones has 16 TDs and 17 picks with a 77.3 rating in 19 career games with Barkley sidelined.
More green for Brown
It might not quite be the sportswashing Saudi dollars in golf and soccer that some of the NBA’s top players have been publicly joking about in recent days, but Jaylen Brown landed the association’s first $300 million contract on Tuesday by agreeing to a five-year, $304 million supermax deal with the Celtics.
The 26-year-old Brown’s new deal surpasses the $276 million extension that two-time MVP Nikola Jokic signed with the Nuggets, who won their first NBA title in franchise history in June.
The contract removes any chance of Brown being moved via the trade market with Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum also eligible for a supermax extension next summer.
Even with an average salary, of course, Brown’s deal pales in comparison to the money reportedly offered to French soccer star Kylian Mbappe, who is said to be mulling a $776 million one-year deal to play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Several top NBA stars — including LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Draymond Green — have jokingly commented about Mbappe’s offer on their social media.
Even if it’s in jest and not likely to happen, many will view it as a bad look for NBA players to further normalize the Saudi sportwashing efforts we’ve seen in the past year with the emergence of LIV Golf and more recently with international soccer megastars such as Cristiano Ronaldo.
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