Mostly for the same reasons — superior depth of starting pitching and potentially more outstanding contributions from their player development systems — I’m liking both the Yankees and Mets to win their respective eastern divisions this season.

Even though the Yankees start the season with their 1-2 starters, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon, not due back until May, they are still well fortified with Max Fried and Cam Schlittler at the top of the rotation; Will Warren, another homegrown talent who had a standout spring after his conversion to pitching from the other side of the rubber; Ryan Weathers, who they still believe will be an important factor despite a rough spring; and Luis Gil, who they won’t need until April 11.

But the real strength of the rotation may not be realized until later in the season in the persons of Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodriguez and Ben Hess, all of whom are regarded as elite prospects who, in the scouts’ opinions, might have made the rotations of a lot of other teams out of spring training.

“They’re all studs,” said one scout, “and as the season goes on it’s gonna be hard for the Yankees to justify keeping ‘em down on the farm.”

Similarly, the Mets, after David Stearns’ acquisition of Freddy Peralta to team with Nolan McLean at the top, ahead of David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea, go into the season with arguably the deepest rotation in the NL East — so deep that it resulted in their top prospect Jonah Tong having to be optioned to Triple-A for more seasoning.

Their prime NL East competitors, the Braves and Phillies, both have rotation depth issues. The Braves, as what seems to be their custom the last couple of years, open the season with three of their starters — Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep — all on the injured list and not expected back until at least June, while the Phillies took a major free agent hit when their No. 3 starter Ranger Suarez defected to the Red Sox.

In addition their perennial No. 1, Zack Wheeler, is slowly ramping up from thoracic outlet surgery last winter and isn’t expected to be ready until the end of April. The Phillies were heartened by the strong spring turned in by Andrew Painter, their 2021 No. 1 draft pick whose progress was slowed by 2023 Tommy John surgery. Painter made the team as their No. 5 starter, but they can ill afford any injuries in their rotation because after him there are no top pitching prospects anywhere near ready in their system.

The Yankees have been criticized for essentially running back the same team that won 94 games last year, but starting pitching is still the name of the game. And thanks to their player development system they are well covered in the event of injuries with Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez waiting in the wings at Triple-A along with the three starting pitchers.

By contrast, Stearns went out of his way to do a shake-well with the 2025 Mets. Gone are Pete Alonso (who was never going to get the five-year contract he got from the Orioles from Stearns) and Brandon Nimmo — and that’s a lot of offense to replace. But Stearns is betting this year’s Mets lineup will be significantly impacted by the emergence of Carson Benge as Nimmo’s replacement in right field, as well as continued improvement of Brett Baty in his all-purpose role. If he’s right, all the more reason to like the Mets to win the NL East.

IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD

Those Yankee fans who were actually able to find their Opening Day game broadcast on Netflix were treated to an interesting interview with Barry Bonds in which he revealed that, before he signed as a free agent with the Giants in December 1992, he got a call from George Steinbrenner in which he claimed the Yankee Boss offered to make him the highest paid player in baseball history. It created quite a splash for Netflix, repeated on various media outlets across the country the next day. There was only one problem: Steinbrenner was still serving a lifetime ban from baseball at the time and was prohibited from having anything to do with the Yankees. It was an extremely sensitive time for Steinbrenner whose lawyers were in negotiations with Commissioner Fay Vincent to get his ban lifted. It wasn’t until after the New Year that a deal was reached and Vincent announced Steinbrenner would be reinstated March 1. In other words, there’s no way Steinbrenner would’ve made such a call, and Bonds’ Yankee tale was as phony as all his steroids-driven homers. … I only wish this story wasn’t true either but prior to their Opening Day, the Dodgers announced a naming rights deal with the Japanese retail giant UNIQLO, and iconic Dodger Stadium will heretofore be called UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. Sickening as that is, you have to understand the Dodgers really do need more revenue.