It was going to be a dream year for baseball in New York. The New York Yankees were coming off a 99-win season and a trip to the ALCS in 2022 and had re-signed Aaron Judge while adding coveted free agent pitcher Carlos Rodon. The New York Mets had recorded their first 100-win season since 1988, signed free agent starters Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana to go alongside Max Scherzer, and rolled out the highest payroll in MLB history. It wasn't a stretch to envision a rematch of the 2000 Subway World Series, with Mike Piazza throwing out a first pitch at Citi Field and Roger Clemens throwing out a first bat at Yankee Stadium.

Instead, it ended up as the most miserable baseball season in the Big Apple since the early 1990s. The Yankees missed the playoffs and finished with their worst winning percentage since 1992 while the Mets floundered to an 87-loss season and traded away Verlander and Scherzer.

"It was awful. We accomplished nothing," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said at the team's end-of-season news conference. "The fans didn't get anywhere close to what they deserve." The Mets fired manager Buck Showalter and hired former Brewers executive David Stearns to run baseball operations.

The offseason goals for both teams aren't exactly the same. For the Yankees, the objective is clear: Find a way to get back on top -- and by back on top, that means snapping their 14-season World Series drought. For the Mets, it's a little more complicated, trying to win now without mortgaging the future and possibly avoiding another record-breaking payroll.

What might the perfect offseason look like for both teams? With the winter meetings going on in Nashville, Tennessee, it might be time for the two teams to make some big decisions. Let's dig in.