By C.J. SULLIVAN & DAVE HOLLANDER

SULLIVAN: We are due, once again, for our Mets and Yankees to meet in the Fall Classic. One time (in 2000) in the 45 years the Mets and Yankees have been competitors in baseball is just not enough. New York has brought so much to baseball that baseball needs New York far more than New York needs baseball. New York is owed another Subway Series, and this year we just may get it.

The Mets are tearing up the NL East and they look like a done deal to make the playoffs. But they may have created some bad ju-ju in trading away the X Factor, Xavier Nady. Last year, the Mets had Roberto Hernandez and let his old ass go to Pittsburgh. Hernandez and a lame Perez for Nady? Omar has Latin America on the brain with this one. Nady had a real team spirit, now watch Wright go into a slump as his friend goes to the hell that is Pittsburgh. Team chemistry is a tricky thing and Minaya may have angered the baseball gods with this one. If the Mets lose their lead, it will go down as one of the biggest collapses in baseball history.

The Yankees have really impressed me this year. Joe Torre should be the manager of the year for leading this rag tag bunch of broken toys to a possible playoff spot. With Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle added for minor prospects, the Bronx Bombers just may take over the lead from Boston and away we go.

Granted both teams look good to make the playoffs, and it is a long road from here to the World Series, but I am getting my MetroCard ready.

HOLLANDER: Not you too, C.J. You’re buying into the “Abreu = Subway Series” talk? It ain’t gonna happen. There’s a reason that (in addition to Larry Bowa) the Phillies couldn’t get over the hump for the past seven years with Abreu as their centerpiece. The guy is soul-less. Billy Wagner left the Phillies complaining that the introverted Abreu was nothing more than a high-powered leadership vacuum. Plus, I saw the guy botch two totally catchable fly balls in a key early series against the Mets this year because he was scared to hit the outfield wall. In the same series—30 yards away in centerfield—his teammate Aaron Rowand breaks his nose running face first into the wall, making the catch of the year. Abreu makes any team’s clubhouse chemistry worse. And if you thought the dysfunctional Yankees’ clubhouse could not become more tense, watch the effect Abreu has on this ship of fools.

The last thing the Yankees need is another tacit, sensitive, mega-salaried superstar who cannot connect with others or inspire his teammates. That clubhouse feels like a friggin’ morgue as it is. No music, no laughing, nobody talking to nobody. A-Rod walks around all psycho. Giambi totally lost his rowdy sense of humor since his steroid problems. Mussina is a humorless prick—and that’s when he’s in a good mood. Randy Johnson emanates misery and contempt toward all. Jeter leads admirably by example on the field but is a bit of a cornball off it. Damon, the only cool guy in there, must feel like he’s speaking in tongues. He’s given up trying to humanize these head cases.

So, yeah, I agree Torre has done an incredible job this year. But he can’t change the basic socio-behavioral inadequacies of his leaderless cuckoo’s nest. In the future, Cashman should consider team chemistry, not just individual statistics. He must evaluate character.  

Ask the Mets what 47-year-old Julio Franco means to that team. Ask Omar Minaya why the Mets’ clubhouse sounds like a beach barbecue. And while the Mets joke and support each other toward a Division Championship remember these four names: shortstop C.J. Henry, lefthander Matt Smith, catcher Jesus Sanchez, and righthander Carlos Monasterios. That’s who the Yankees let go for Bobby Abreu. 

SULLIVAN: Dave, your outlook is so dark you could dim the lights that line Times Square. Mental health issues aside, you may be onto something with the psyche of the Yankees. The team from the Bronx has showed a lot of heart this year. Two key players go down (Matsui and Sheffield) and still the team finds a way to win. If the Mets lost Beltran and Delgado to injury do you think they would still be in contention? The Yankees win/loss record for this whole year has been neck and neck with the Mets, and let us not forget the Yankees play much better teams.

I agree that Abreu is no savior, but you forget that Lidle—a needed starting pitcher—was also in that deal. I would rather have Abreu than Sheffield so this trade will play out well for the Yankees.

C.J. Henry? Besides his cool first name, he’s a couple of seasons away from even being called up to the big time. Matt Smith? He’s already pitched 12 mediocre games for the Yankees and the kid ain’t ready for showtime. The other two are all of 18 and 19, so it will be years before we see if they even make the major leagues.

You and I both know Steinbrenner is inching closer to spinning off this mortal coil. This could be the last Yankee push. If the X-Factor doesn’t ruin the Mets there will be a New York Subway Series, but the Yankees will go down in six games to the 2006 World Champion New York Mets. There it is in print, and I am ready for a New York War to end all Wars.

HOLLANDER: The Yankees were a better team last year but could not make it through the play-offs. This year, their pitching is measurably worse. Pitching wins playoffs. If they run into Detroit or (gasp!) their 21st century post-season nemesis, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, they will encounter a far superior team. I am dubious of the Yankees chances in those scenarios.

Speaking of superior pitching, wouldn’t you love to see Minnesota in the post-season—a little Liriano and Santana, and two days of rain?

Look, I don’t want to throw too much water on your prediction for a Subway Series. The Mets look terrific. They are not a great team, but a very good team with lots of intangibles.  David Wright looks every bit the part of a true baseball hero. As a Met, Pedro Martinez has become positively endearing. Carlos Beltran plays the best centerfield in Shea since Tommy Agee. And on top of it all, these guys are having fun. Walk in the Mets’ clubhouse before a game and you hear music, you see 60” plasma TVs, you hear men ribbing each other like boys. They truly like each other. That goes a long, long way. 

Getting past St. Louis won’t be easy. But Tony LaRussa is another guy who needs to take the stick out of his ass. If not for himself, then for the sake of his players. The Mets will roll into the playoffs loose, laughing and totally focused. Willie Randolph couldn’t be more ready for his moment. 

Predictions? I’d like to see a 20-year reunion of the Mets vs. Red Sox 1986 World Series. I’d like to see Jim Leyland turn the Tigers all the way around and get them to the fall Classic. But in the end, I guess I’m with you. I too would like to see a subway series because I’d love to see the Mets kick their ass. That would provide me a full year living next to Yankees fans who won’t find an escape from the daily reminder of their inferiority.