The state of baseball in New York could not be more clear.

The Yankees own the Big Apple while the Mets are, well, the Mets.

The Yankees begin play on Friday tied for first place in the AL East and the owner of the best winning percentage (.700) in all of MLB.

The Mets begin play on Friday in fourth place in the NL East, losers of 10 of their last 13 games.

During that time, the Mets dumped Matt Harvey to the Cincinnati Reds and placed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on the disabled list.

So GM Sandy Alderson will have a decision to make in the near future. Does he hold the core of the team together and hope for a turnaround, or does he start selling off parts before July's non-waiver trade deadline?

If he sells, pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom would be his most valuable assets.

At the same time, if Yankees GM Brian Cashman wants to upgrade the team for the stretch run, starting pitching would be his most likely need.

Would a Yankees-Mets trade be out of the question?

New York Daily News columnist John Harper imagined what a deal would look like:

The idea of a Mets-Yankees trade has gotten a lot of talk-radio buzz the last couple of days, and for good reason considering that deGrom could help put the Yankees over the top while blue-chip prospects like Estevan Florial, Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield could give the Mets the young players they desperately need.

The Yankees might just do such a deal, but there's no chance the Mets would send deGrom to the Bronx to win championships. For one thing, they certainly could bring back a haul from a lot of other contenders for their ace.

...

Yet it would also be foolish not to at least evaluate all possibilities, because it sure feels as if the Mets are headed for a crossroads faster than anyone could have imagined, with what seems to be a glaring lack of talent at the upper levels of their farm system.

DeGrom is 3-0 this season with a 1.83 ERA, which is third-best in the National League.

Syndergaard is 3-1 this season with a 3.14 ERA.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.