Angels and Dodgers vs. Mets and Yankees

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Some East Coast/West Coast history is being made in the first month of the Major League Baseball season.

The Mets, Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers are all on pace to win 100 or more games. This is the first time in MLB history that all four teams are in the same division.

Which city is better for baseball right now? The Angels are located in Anaheim, which is in the same state as the New York Giants and Jets.

Which MLB town would you go to today?

Which city currently has the best baseball atmosphere?

A question to all of those who get on Dodgers fans for their tardiness: Have you ever tried to drive into Dodger Stadium before a game? That is traffic. It is not as if you can take a subway to get there. By the middle of a home game, that place is packed and loud. You can feel the building shake when it gets tense. I have visited all 30 active ballparks and it is a truly unique atmosphere. The Dodgers led the major leagues in attendance every year for the past five years. The Angels sold at least 3 million tickets for 17 years in a row. Archie Bradley wondered if Angels fans were the best-kept secret in baseball.

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The use of traffic to excuse the tardiness of fans on the West Coast is not just an argument for why the fans at both New York stadiums exceed Los Angeles, but why it is a better place. The subways are not perfect, but they will get you to the stadiums without paying a lot of money for parking. When the Mets are going well, Citi Field is one of the most joyful places to watch a sporting event. The vibe at the new Yankee Stadium is not the same as it used to be, but the team's fan base is among the rowdiest in baseball on a nightly basis, with the roll call at the start of every game.

Which coast has the most star power?

Mike Trout is the most popular player in the sport, and Shohei Ohtani is a young star. That doesn't get any bigger than that. Mookie Betts was the leader in jersey sales last year, but he was not the only current Dodgers who fell in the top six. They all ranked ahead of Judge. One of the premier hitters of this era has joined the Dodgers. They have seven other players who have been All-Stars, including: Max Muncy, Chris Taylor, David Price, Craig Kimbrel, andBlake Treinen. Half the country is usually asleep while players on the West Coast are playing. That is not their fault. Maybe, mix in a nap.

Lee said that Jersey sales don't boost numbers on the field. Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole are the three pitchers with the highest FanGraphs WAR since the beginning of the year. Francisco Lindor is fourth in fWAR and Judge is 11th. Before you start thinking about All-Stars on both the Mets and Yankees rosters, consider the following: Pete Alonso, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Donaldson, DJ LeMahieu, Joey Gallo, Taijuan Walker.

If you could make a roster taking players from the Dodgers and Angels and another roster from the Yankees and Mets, which would be better (including injured players)?

Gonzalez: I do this stuff for fun all the time, so I will take it a step further and present my team as a lineup.

Mookie Betts, RF Freddie Freeman, 1B Mike Trout, LF Shohei Ohtani, DH Trea Turner, SS Max Muncy, 2B

Anthony Rendon, 3B

Will Smith, C

Cody Bellinger, CF

Walker Buehler would be my starting pitcher, but I can also go with Kershaw. Kimbrel is a worthy candidate, but Raisel Iglesias is my closer. The lineup is balanced. The defense in the outfield would be very good. Betts, Trout, Ohtani, Turner, Bellinger bring freakish speed-power combinations. Four others combine power with patience. Suerte.

Lee will match the lineup of Alden.

DJ LeMahieu, 2B Aaron Judge, RF Francisco Lindor, SS Giancarlo Stanton, DH Pete Alonso, 1B Joey Gallo, LF

Brandon Nimmo, CF

James McCann, C

The rotation would be stacked with three pitchers who would be the best in baseball. The team would be hitting the ball to the moon, and have aReliever that would include Chapman, Jonathan loaisiga, Michael King and Diaz.

How confident are you that your town's teams will stay high in the standings?

The Dodgers are the favorites to win the World Series for the second year in a row. The rotation was supposed to be their biggest weakness heading into the season, and yet their starters lead the majors in ERA. The Dodgers lead the National League in run differential despite their historically talented lineup not fully clicking. The Angels might finally have an adequate supporting cast around Trout and Ohtani. They have a lot of talent in their lineup and in their pitchers. The question is when to start pitching. Two of their most promising young arms, Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers, have emerged, and Noah Syndergaard has looked like a wonderful addition, outside of Monday's dud against the Texas Rangers. They need to stay healthy more than any other team. The Angels should remain in contention if they do.

Lee is absolutely confident. I think the Yankees will contend for the division title and the Mets will make a strong run at the playoffs. The Yankees and Mets have top 10 offenses and top five pitching staffs. Even though the Mets have a thinner relief corps than the Yankees, they are still performing well even with deGrom on the injured list. The Mets will be watching if he makes a return sooner than later.

Why is your city most likely to win a World Series this year -- and which team would you take?

Gonzalez said that top-shelf talent alone isn't enough to overcome the 162-game grind, but it can help combat some of the randomness of short postseason series. We have seen it carry teams through October with the Washington Nationals. Both the Angels and Dodgers have that. The Dodgers have a lot of experience in the playoffs and a front office that has proven it can go out and acquire virtually any player to help supplement the roster at the end of the season. Baseball's playoffs are too unpredictable to ever be a true favorite. If the Dodgers are forced to make a pick, it is hard not to go with them.

While we are only a month into the regular season, some stars are already in the running for major awards.

Cy Young is one of the favorites.

Lee will go with the Yankees. There is a lot of depth on this roster, from the starting rotation to the pitching staff. Judge will be motivated to perform in a contract year and I think the top-end talent on the Yankees roster exceeds the Mets. The Bronx Bombers will be a threat in October given their experience in the playoffs and the way that Nestor Cortes is pitching. I think I could wake up tomorrow and feel better about the Mets than the Yankees. Both teams are hard to go wrong with.

Forget 2022: Why is your city most likely to keep contending for years to come?

Gonzalez said that Trout might be on the verge of his best season right now and that he was the main player of the 2010s. He will be employed by the Angels through the year 2030. If they can find a way to extend Ohtani, they will have two important pieces to keep them relevant for what remains of this decade. The Dodgers have a number of players through at least 2024. Bellinger, Muncy, Turner and Urias are some of the important players who will be eligible for free agency before then. The Dodgers have a lot of money, but they are also good at producing elite young players. No team can match that combination.

Lee said money, money, money. The Steinbrenners and Steve Cohen are going to spend a lot of money in the future. You can combine that with a solid young core on the Mets with Lindor and Alonso, along with the rising prospects in the Yankees system like Cole, LeMahieu and Stanton, and a foundation that includes Judge. The Mets don't have a farm system like the Dodgers, but a willingness to spend can fix those issues. The Yankees? They finished one point higher than the Dodgers.