Harvey Araton of the New York Times writes an very interesting and telling piece about the core four of the Yankees, and what might be their equivalent with the Mets.  We all can point to the suspected Mets core, but are they really the same as those on the Yankees?

And what is the difference?  Jason Bay shares some answers- and he may have exactly hit the nail on the head:

“Guys who have won have a presence about them,” Bay said, “certain things that put everybody at ease because, hey, we’ve got guys that have done that. And when you don’t, it seems like you’re searching for it. I don’t know if less prepared is the right term, but sometimes when you don’t have it, you press and try to find it.”

Jeter adds something else- and if this isn’t a lesson for all teams wanting to build a perennial winner, I am not sure what is:

I know that we didn’t just show up in New York and decide now we’ve got to win. Every level in the minor leagues, we were taught that the team came first. There were always a lot of rules. No facial hair. We had to have our pants bloused. Rules a lot of teams don’t have. People may laugh at a lot of them from afar, but it teaches you that it’s all about the team and everyone’s the same.”

And winning has to valued by everyone. Sometimes in the minors, teams get focused on making sure everyone is executing a specific way and not on the score. Its used as a teaching mechanism and focuses the attention on the individual. The score of the game doesn’t matter - if everyone moved forward developmentally. But, teaching players to like to win also matters. And Jeter learned that very clearly.

If you are a New York fan, you most definitely have to read this piece. It clearly tells you what is missing from the Mets, more clearly than I have ever seen written before. And its down there in black and white in the words that the players shared. No interpretation necessary.