So now that December is here, we are just 2.5 months from Spring Training. Thank goodness huh? With the offeseason here at www.josereyesclub.com , what would you the fan like to see? What do you guys that show up day by day want to read/talk about here? Comment to this thread and let us know, and we would love to keep the Reyes fever alive!

Eighty-nine wins, seventy-three losses.

That was the 2008 record for both the Mets and Yankees. Not horrible, but not nearly good enough under the microscope that is the New York sports scene. And not good enough to actually play October baseball. What does 2009 have in store for the Big Apple baseballers?

The good

For the Mets: There is plenty of talent at key positions. Start with ace Johan Santana on the mound, move to Carlos Beltran roaming center field and shift to the left side of the infield with shortstop Jose Reyes and third baseman David Wright. Those players are all in the prime of their careers. Young starter Mike Pelfrey showed he belonged near the top of a major-league rotation, too. And there is money available to lure the free agents who could fill their needs in the rotation (Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett), in the outfield (Manny Ramirez) and at closer (Francisco Rodriguez, Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes).

For the Yankees: Money, money, money. The Yankees have tons of it with the opening of their new stadium, and they won’t rest until they’ve given lots and lots of big paychecks to baseball’s brightest stars. They’ve already made what is rumored to be the largest offer ever to a free-agent pitcher (CC Sabathia) and they’ll go hard after starters A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, too. And they have their sights set on a couple of free-agent hitters you might have heard of—Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez. The 2009 team shouldn’t look much like the 2008 version.

The bad

For the Mets: For two years in a row, the Mets have blown sizable leads late in the season. For the most part, the talent that will be there in 2009 was there in 2008, and it didn’t do much good (despite the Herculean efforts of Santana down the stretch). Some teams find a way to win; the Mets have found new and creative ways to lose games the past two Septembers. That’s not an easy funk to shake.

For the Yankees: The 2008 Yankees were a flawed team. There wasn’t any depth in the rotation, which showed when ace Chien-Ming Wang and then Joba Chamberlain went down with injuries (nothing in the preseason blueprints had Darrell Rasner making 20 starts). The offense struggled to find any type of consistency. And, though the Yankees have the money to spend, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll rope in the free agents they’re targeting. Sabathia, for one, has made his desire to play on the West Coast clear. If money isn’t everything for CC and others, the Yankees could be wanting next spring.

The primary hurdle

For the Mets: First, there’s the mental apprehension that is sure to arise in the Mets’ clubhouse as the schedule rolls into the final few weeks of the regular season. And then there are the reigning World Series champion Phillies, a team that for the past two seasons has done what the Mets have found impossible—win tough games down the stretch. The division-rival Phillies will bring back their core of players for 2009, and they have the most important intangible of all—confidence—resting squarely in their corner.

For the Yankees: Even after watching the Rays steamroll through the American League en route to a World Series berth, it might be tough for some Yankees fans to count the Rays as a serious threat. After all, they were just an upstart team that took advantage of a down season by the Bronx Bombers, right? Wrong. The Rays aren’t going anywhere. In fact, chances are they’ll be better in 2009 if they can stay away from the injuries that hounded them in 2008, especially late in the season. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see three A.L. East teams finish with more than 92 wins. Earning a playoff berth in that division will be brutal.

The verdict

The Yankees will be the better team, but the Mets have a better shot at making the postseason.