Hal Steinbrenner expressed concern about losing twice — rather decisively at that — to the Mets in spring training.
You could understand Steinbrenner’s March Sadness. The Yankees have been the baseball kings of New York for so long that you have to travel to a time when Stump Merrill was their manager for that not to be true.
In the past 23 seasons, the Mets have had a better record than the Yankees one time. That was 2000. And the Yanks beat the Mets in the World Series that year.
So it is pretty much 23-0 in that timeframe.
Will 2015 be different?
Bovada has put the over/under win total on both New York teams at 81¹/₂ and made the odds 14-1 on each to win the pennant. This signifies a sense of the Mets rising and the Yankees falling. This should put even greater emphasis on the Subway Series games that count during the regular season.
Obviously, the Mets and Yanks are looking to win their respective Eastern divisions. But the secondary battle for the Big Apple is a wonderful subplot to this season.
Supremacy in New York could come down to who gets the best results in a few areas in which the teams have similarities such as:
Matt Harvey and Jake deGrom vs. Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda
Who has the best 1-2 in New York? The favorites are probably the Mets because — of all things — two alums of Tommy John surgery (Harvey and deGrom) are better physical risks in 2015 than Tanaka, who had a small elbow ligament tear last season, and Pineda, who has not pitched a full major league season since 2011, mainly due to shoulder issues.
All four righties are 26, which means — health permitting — this argument could go on for a while. You might want to check out just how similar the rookie seasons of deGrom (140 ¹/₃ innings, 2.69 ERA, 9.2 strikeouts per nine) and Tanaka (136 ¹/₃ innings, 2.77 ERA, 9.3 strikeouts per nine) were last year.
And there is some resemblance between the disjointed career numbers of Harvey (237 ²/₃ innings, 9.9 strikeouts per nine and .207 batting average against) and Pineda (247 ¹/₃ innings, 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings, .208 batting average against).
The best outcome for each squad is that their duo of aces make a combined 60 starts. Every missed start could shift the balance of power in the city.
Wilmer Flores vs. Didi Gregorius
Both New York teams were in the market for a shortstop this offseason. Both looked into Jimmy Rollins; both saw Troy Tulowitzki as too risky to expend too much; both could not pry a desirable shortstop from the shortstop-heavy Cubs. Still, the Yanks found a piece outside the organization while the Mets stayed internal with a player that, not long ago, they determined couldn’t play shortstop.
The Mets are encouraged that Flores, in better shape, will make the routine plays and that his bat finally will resemble his more positive minor league results. Scouts are more dubious of the defense and a few feel Matt Reynolds will be promoted at some point to take his shot at the position.
Gregorius has put on a defensive clinic this spring for the Yankees while hitting well. Keep in mind that Gregorius has a .743 career OPS against righty pitching. That is the same as the overall result last year for Washington’s Ian Desmond, who might be the best offensive shortstop in the non-Tulowitzki division. The AL East is light on southpaw starters, so if Gregorius can just keep up his career rate vs. righties and combine that with his defense, that would be an asset for the Yanks.
Lucas Duda vs. Mark Teixeira
This really should be does Duda regress vs. does Teixeira rebound?
At this point, Duda is the superior player. The question is do you believe fully in the 30 homers last year and that he has a chance to repeat, or even exceed, that? Duda came to camp in better shape than last year, and there is no doubt his power is real. The next progression step for him is proving — like Gregorius — that he can hit lefties. He hit .180 vs. southpaws last year and just .212 for his career. Michael Cuddyer could play first against lefties if Duda does not grow here.
Teixeira also arrived in excellent shape, having eliminated gluten and sweets from his diets. He said he believes he is fully beyond his wrist surgery. But he turns 35 a week into the season, and his game has been pretty much a nosedive the past few years. Even his once golden defense is down a grade or two. Can he hit .240 with patience and 25-plus homers?
Curtis Granderson vs. Carlos Beltran
Which right fielder will bounce back better: The former Yankee who had a down year for the Mets in 2014, or the former Met who had a down year for the Yankees in 2014?
A reunion with hitting coach Kevin Long (also late of the Yankees) seemed to have (at least in March) revitalizing results for Granderson. Beltran was not as robust in spring, but the Yanks insist the switch-hitter’s elbow is healthy, and they expect him to hit third and be effective.
Noah Syndergaard vs. Luis Severino
The Mets actually have an edge here because, in Syndergaard and Steven Matz, they have what generally are considered two of the better pitching prospects in the majors, while the Yanks just have Severino.
The ability of these talented youngsters to come up and be effective probably will be tested this season, considering the fragility of many of those currently in the rotations.
Maybe it will determine — in the end — which New York team wins more games in 2015.