Yankees fans get mad when faced with reality. They aren't going to like the near future. Now of course things can change on one injury, one trade, or one good free agent signing. However right now it is fairly easy to see the Mets are better then the Yankees, now and into the near future.

Of course as a Met fan you are always cautious of being too optimistic, especially if it is Mets vs Yankees. However when it comes to youth, minor league prospects, current play, and most important pitching, the Mets to this observer are better then the Yanks now and should be for the next two to four years and hopefully longer.

Of course the Yanks aren't the main competition, but in a baseball crazy town like New York, Mets vs. Yankees is always a topic. On that front the Mets have had little to brag about in their 52 years. They have taken over domain of the city baseball landscape just a few times. Obviously 1969 and 1986 come to mind as the Mets won the World Series both of those years. Yankees fan, when on the defensive, will fire back about their 27 world titles. Right now, on August 12th, 2013, that means nothing.

Right now the Mets are playing a better, more exciting brand of baseball then the Bronx boys. Finally the Mets are bringing up young players that aren't clogging roster spots, aren't part of the problem, but rather the solution. From Juan Legares to Wilmer Flores to young pitchers Named Harvey and Wheeler, the Mets have the crown for better young players then do the old, and payroll handicapped Yankees.

It would be fascinating to see how this would play out if the late, great, George Steinbrenner were still alive. However, he isn't. George would be irate about how the Mets are playing better. He hated losing to the Mets in the old Mayors Trophy game. He was a  bombastic, loud, proud, and a showman to the highest degree. He wanted not just the back page but the front as well. Son Hal and his Yankees seem much more like bottom line guys if their edict of a 189 million dollar payroll holds true.

The Mets are stocked with youth. The Yankees are beset by age and bad contracts. The Mets have Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler. Both under 25 and flame throwing talent. The Yankees have an aging CC Sabathia and 38 year old Hiroki Kuroda. Throw in ancient Andy Pettitte and you can see the danger signs.

Add to the Yankees woes that Mariano Rivera is retiring after this year, Alex Rodriguez' self inflicted steroid mess, a 40 year old Derek Jeter and, well, it isn't pretty.

The Mets have Legares, an in his prime David Wright, hopefully a productive Ike Davis, a young hot shot catcher in Travis D'Arnaud on his way and more prospects to fill in need and depth.

The Yanks have a banged up Michael Pineda and a couple of other young pitching prospects that all have had major surgery, Pineda included.

Make no mistake though Mets fans, our good times seem to lasted a second while the Yanks have been the big bully. The tide seemed to have started to turn with the Mets sweeping four games from the Yankees this season. That has never happened. It is usually the other way around. But the Yankees won't go quietly and Mets fans know how their owner, Fred Wilpon (known as Fred Coupon on my radio program - Game On With Bruce Jacobs) can easily botch up progress with an act of foolishness. The Mets are far from a finished or championship product. They need at least four to five more players by my count, including a top notch closer. Will the Coupons spend where needed?

Also let's remember never count out the Yankees. They have the YES Network riches, fat radio contracts, sales that top any team in baseball and are in the top echelon in sports as the world's most known sports franchise. If Hal and Hank feel the zeal to spend they have the means and will still turn a profit. The Mets margin for spending is thinner. If the Steinbrenner brothers feel the need and want they can drop a few big checks into the bank accounts of any player and improve their outlook virtually over night.

I don't write this or say this is any fashion of bragging as a Mets fan, it's just reality. The Mets are better right now, and the future looks good. But the Met way always leaves me concerned. However, on August 12th, 2013, we Mets fans can puff our sizzle chests out a tad cause we are better then the crosstown Yankees, and health willing, will stay that way for the near future!

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