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Injuries change outlook on field

The scoreboard said "Yankees-Mets," but the scorecard didn't. With all their injuries, it's as if the two New York baseball teams were the two New York football teams.

The Yankees' lineup for Friday night's opener of the three-game interleague party at Shea Stadium had no Hideki Matsui (out until at least September with a broken wrist), and no Gary Sheffield and no Bubba Crosby (both also on the disabled list). Another absentee, the right-hander Carl Pavano, who hasn't pitched for the Yankees this season, won't pitch this season. He needs bone-chip surgery above the elbow.

The Yankees' outfield was reduced to the elegant but aging Bernie Williams in left, the sore-footed Johnny Damon in center and the rookie Melky Cabrera in right. That's not exactly what George Steinbrenner had in mind when he approved a Yankees payroll that approached US$200 million.

The Mets' starting pitcher was Jeremi Gonzalez, a 31-year-old right-hander who two weeks ago was at Triple-A Norfolk after five undistinguished seasons with the Cubs, the Devil Rays and the Red Sox. That's not exactly what Fred Wilpon had in mind as the ideal opponent for the Yankees' struggling future Hall of Famer, the left-hander Randy Johnson. The pitching matchups were scheduled to improve: Mike Mussina versus Pedro Martinez in what could be a classic on Saturday, and Aaron Small versus the 281-game winner Tom Glavine on Sunday.

For all their troubles, the Mets were still atop the National League East and the Yankees entered Friday night's game a half-game behind the Red Sox in the American League East. But as this season progresses, each team's eventual performance may depend on the "let's make a deal" performance of the rival general managers: the Mets' Omar Minaya and the Yankees' Brian Cashman. Will Minaya somehow discover dependable No. 4 and No. 5 starters to create a dependable pitching rotation? Will Cashman somehow make a deal for an established outfielder to tide over the Yankees in Matsui's absence?

"It's too difficult to get somebody special right now; too early," Minaya said. "Other teams don't want to give you anything good this early because it would look like they've given up on the season. You almost have to wait until later on, when a team realizes it's not going to do much, and even then they want to give you their guys that aren't any good for your best prospects."

The Mets' best prospects are the outfielder Lastings Milledge at Norfolk and the 6-foot-7 right-hander Mike Pelfrey at Double-A Binghamton. "We're not trading either of those two players," Minaya said. "We want to build a team with our farm system, and we expect them to be two of our core players."

Willie Randolph, the Mets' manager, has three dependable starters -- Martinez, Glavine and Steve Trachsel -- but he needs two more. Victor Zambrano and Brian Bannister were supposed to be those two, but both are on the disabled list. Zambrano is out for the season after tendon surgery in his right elbow, and Bannister was still unable to trust one of his hamstrings during a rehab start at Norfolk on Thursday. The right-hander John Maine, recovering from an inflamed middle finger, is also on the DL.

The Mets thought that the well-traveled Jose Lima, promoted from Norfolk after Zambrano was injured two weeks ago, might be the No. 4 starter. But for all of his experience, primarily with the Astros and the Tigers, he has talked a better game than he has pitched.
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