SNY's pointless Ben Rice-Carson Benge comp proves Yankees will always be Mets' big brother

The main difference between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets right now is that the Yankees are participating in the MLB playoffs while the Mets are planning Cancun getaways. The reason is simple: the Yankees had better players and therefore put together a significantly more successful 2026 campaign.

We can bemoan the fact that the Yankees yet again didn't win the AL East crown, but at 93-68 they were significantly better than the Mets' 74-88 record that was good for last place in the NL East and resulted in their second consecutive playoff-less October.

Mets fans (and their media arm) are desperate for silver linings after David Stearns' run-prevention mantra saw the club run fan favorites like Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil out of town and replace them with the underwhelming and injury-prone trio of Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., and Marcus Semien. Runs were prevented, alright, but it was the Mets' lineup that couldn't scratch things across the board, rather than their opponents being held down.

Still, the denizens of Queens had a couple of bright spots in Carson Benge and Nolan McLean, both of whom are frontrunners for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Rather than be content with that, however, the Yankees and their young stars are top of mind.

On a recent episode of Baseball Night in New York on SNY, a Mets-centric panel that included Mets beat writer Laura Albanese, Mets broadcaster Keith Raad, and sports talk personality Sal Licata couldn't help but bring Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler into the conversation while discussing Benge and McLean.

Licata started the conversation by asking if Mets fans could expect Benge and McLean to hit the levels that Rice and Schlittler have. The Yankees' duo is more experienced than the twosome in Queens, but as both have established themselves as top-tier stars in MLB, it's an insane set of expectations to hoist on a pair of youngsters who just finished their rookie campaigns.

"I do feel like eventually, while they might not be 100% comparable, we're looking at a future in New York of two very good young superstars on each team," Albanese said, taking a reasonable approach to answer an unfair question.

"Superstars is a good word for it, but I think Benge is going to be a better player than Ben Rice, just as a better ballplayer can hurt you in multiple ways," Raad replied. "You wouldn't mind someone with 40 home runs on the Mets. For McLean, he's not throwing 100 three different ways like Cam Schlittler is, but he's a 1A or 1B, just a notch below."

These comparisons between Yankees and Mets youngsters need to end

Let's call a spade a spade here and say that Benge had a super rookie season. He hit .282/.346/.430 with 20 homers and 22 steals while putting together a solid defensive showing in right field. It was a well-rounded performance and speaks to his tools.

However, Benge put up middling hard-hit, barrel, and exit velocity rates, coming in between the 40th and 44th percentiles in all three metrics. He did most of his damage against fastballs this season. And while the baserunning and defense were good, it wasn't an otherworldly showing.

Meanwhile, Rice hit 41 dingers, put together an historic postseason performance against the Red Sox, and has arrived as a legitimate superstar and worthy MVP candidate. His underlying metrics are elite, and while he doesn't have the speed and defense part of his game, his dominance as a slugger is far more important than those other secondary traits.

As for McLean, the 25-year-old put together an impressive year with a 3.16 ERA over 179 2/3 innings. Under the hood, metrics like his FIP (3.59), xERA (3.61), and xFIP (3.69) point to him performing more like a solid No. 2 or No. 3 starter, rather than a true ace. Schlittler, on the other hand, is a real MVP candidate and is staking his claim to the title of the best starting pitcher in the majors. They're in different stratospheres.

The real difference comes down to how these Yankees superstars have responded to the league adjusting to them. Rice has shown an ability to make the tweaks necessary not only to combat what pitchers are trying to do to him as he gains more exposure, but also to continue ascending in the process. Meanwhile, Schlittler is continuing to add weapons that make him even more lethal, as if he weren't already mind-numbling dominant.

Until we see how Benge and McLean respond to how the league adapts to them, it's premature to even put them in the same conversation as Rice and Schlittler.

This isn't the first time Mets fans have done this. WFAN host Paul Rosenberg compared Benge to George Lombard Jr. just a couple of weeks into Lombard Jr.'s big league career, invoking Mickey Mantle's name in the process.

Notice how it's never Yankees fans initiating these comparisons. That's for two reasons. One, the established young Yankees stars have already hit another level, to the point that comparing them is asinine. Two, trying to compare one set of young players against another is classic "little brother" behavior.

The fact of the matter is that both teams can have great young talents with bright futures. In fact, we should welcome that. Good baseball being played on both sides of the city is great for us all. After all, who wouldn't want to see another Subway Series World Series? Seems like that would be the best possible outcome for both sides.

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