All-time NY Mets lineup of players who also spent time with the Yankees

New York is one of the biggest markets in sports. NYC is considered the largest sport market in the United States, even over Los Angeles. The New York Mets and New York Yankees are two very historic franchises in Major League Baseball’s history. The two have also shared many great players. However, what would a line-up of players who suited up for both the Mets and Yankees look like?

Infield

Starting off behind the plate, we have Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. Berra went down in baseball history as one of the best catchers in the game. He hit .285/.348/.482 with 124 wRC+. The quotable catcher had ten seasons where he had at least 20 home runs and spent at least 75% of his games as a catcher, which is the second most in baseball history, behind fellow HOF backstops Johnny Bench and Mets legend Mike Piazza. Overall, he has the 4th most homers for a backstop at 358. Berra spent 18 of his 19 big league seasons with the Yankees. Although his tenure in the Mets’ organization is mostly remembered for his time as a coach and manager, Berra also appeared in four games as a player for the Mets in 1965.

Moving over to first base, we have John Olerud. The first baseman might be one of the most underrated players in history at his position. Olerud is a career .295/.398/465 batter with a 130 wRC+ and 255 homers over the course of 17 big league seasons. Olerud is one of just 34 players all-time with at least 250 homers and an OBP of over .390. Despite never making an all-star game for the Mets during his three-season tenure from 1997 through 1999, Olerud batted over .300 at .315 with an OPS well over .900 at .926. His time with the Yankees was much shorter, as he only played in 49 games for the Bronx Bombers in 2004. He also played for the Toronto Blue Jays (which he spent most of his career playing for), the Seattle Mariners, and Boston Red Sox.

The keystone holds Willie Randolph. Randolph appeared in parts of 18 MLB seasons from 1975 through 1992, 13 of which were with the Yankees. All told, Randolph batted .276/.373/.351 with a 110 wRC+. He collected over 2000 hits with 2210 in total, but his defense was his calling card. Randolph had 20.2 defensive WAR for his career, making him 54 players all-time to reach at least +20. Randolph spent his final season in 1992 for the Mets, where he appeared in 90 games. Throughout his long career, he also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, LA Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, and Milwaukee Brewers.

One hot corner defender the Mets and Yankees shared was Robin Ventura. Ventura was a 16-season MLB veteran who batted .267/.362/.444 with a 113 wRC+. He is one of just 23 players of all-time with at least 3000 total bases (3133) and spent 75%+ of their career at the hot corner. Ventura spent three seasons with the Mets from 1999 to 2001, hitting at least 20 homers every season. The Mets then traded him to the Yankees for David Justice, where he made his last all-star game in 2002 before being shipped out to the LA Dodgers at the ‘03 deadline. Ventura, however, spent 1254 of his 2079 career games and ten of his 16 MLB seasons with the Chicago White Sox.

Rounding out the infield at shortstop, we have Jose Vizcaino. Vizcaino was a journeyman utility infielder who hit .270/.318/.346 with a 76 wRC+ from 1989 through 2006. He played for eight teams throughout his career. Ventura played for the New York Mets in 1994 through the 1996 trade deadline. He would return to New York, this time with the Yankees in 2000, playing in 73 games after getting traded from the LA Dodgers. However, Vizcaino ironically was an important part of the Yankees’ 2000 World Series team, as he delivered a walk-off single during Game One of the World Series over the Mets.