Yankees, Mets taking different routes to what they hope will be 2021 success 

Unfinished business.

That’s the New York vibe as we enter the 2021 season, based on the incomplete, empty sensation left over from last year’s pandemic-chopped 60-game schedule.

Don’t get us wrong. Just making it through 2020 was a major accomplishment. Playing the game is hard enough without having to meticulously follow a 101-page coronavirus operations manual. And even then, teams were haunted by potential outbreaks, with a handful of teams disrupted by them, including the Yankees and Mets.

For the Yankees, the reward for all that perseverance was more frustration, as they lost the deciding game of the ALDS by a run. Of course, it was the Rays — their AL East nemesis all season — who did them in.

Over in Flushing, October remained beyond reach, with the Mets pushing to within three games of a wild-card berth. The crumbled rotation ultimately cost them a place in the expanded playoffs and a first trip to the postseason since 2016.

Once the long winter arrived, however, the two New York teams embarked on very different roads to redemption.

The Yankees, mindful of nearly $450 million in lost gate-related revenues, chose to run it back in 2021 using almost an identical roster, with general manager Brian Cashman believing that the same group could succeed where its predecessor failed.

Aside from the $90 million investment in DJ LeMahieu’s return, the Yankees spent roughly $32.5 million for their 2021 title pursuit, and mostly on the margins, doling out only $13 million to bolster their rotation with relative bargains in Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon. The previous winter, Cashman signed Gerrit Cole, whose annual salary is almost three times as much as those two combined.

This 2021 strategy is a calculated risk on Cashman’s part, gambling on a pair of oft-injured starters. The general manager won’t admit it, but there’s little doubt that Hal Steinbrenner directed him to stay under the $210 million threshold this year after going beyond $250 million for last season. Cashman insists these Yankees, just like the 2020 version, are talented and deep enough to win No. 28. As does manager Aaron Boone.

"Talk is always cheap, obviously," Boone said. "But I really liked the winter that we've had with some of the additions we've made that I think are going to be impactful to go along with already the makeup of this team that is of championship caliber. Hopefully this is the year we get to the top of that mountain. We certainly feel like we have a club that’s in that mix."

Boone is just being modest. The Yankees are above the mix (No. 1 in our American League power rankings), and it would take a significant breakdown at a number of positions to prevent this team from going deep in the playoffs. We’re not saying such an epic failure is impossible, just unlikely, especially with much of the AL in such a state of disrepair.

"I’m as fired up as ever," Aaron Judge said. "We're playing 162 games; it's not a sprint like it was last year. But every game still matters. We want to go out there and win our division and put ourselves in a good position in the postseason. With this depth, with the pitching we have, with this lineup — we can be in the right position to go out there and win a championship."

The Mets certainly are in a better position after Steve Cohen’s purchase of the franchise in November, which was followed shortly afterward by his pumping more than $90 million into the 2021 payroll alone. The hedge-fund titan is worth an estimated $14 billion, so there’s plenty more where that came from — with approximately $300 million earmarked for Francisco Lindor’s extension.

Cohen pledged to build a winning culture with the Mets, and he proved that wasn’t all talk during the offseason by signing six major-league free agents to upgrade positions of need. That doesn’t include bringing back Marcus Stroman on the $18.9 million qualifying offer or the blockbuster trade for Lindor and Carlos Carrasco.

"I’m pretty excited by this ballclub," Cohen told SNY in spring training. "I think Sandy [Alderson] and the crew have done a really good job assembling some depth. Really, really interesting ballplayers on all positions. I think we’re going to be significantly improved. I’m hopeful. You never know until they get out there, right?"

Even when the Mets do get out there, the best-laid plans don’t always work as designed. Many pegged them to be a playoff team last year — especially with the expanded October field — but the rotation disintegrated, ruining it for an offense that led the majors in batting average (.272) and was third in OPS (.807), behind only Atlanta (.832) and the Dodgers (.821).

The lineup is even more potent this season with the addition of Lindor and James McCann, whose .808 OPS the past two years ranked fourth among all MLB catchers. As for Lindor, whose offensive numbers dipped in 2020, he alleviated those concerns in spring training, hitting four homers in a five-game stretch.

"I just want to be a part of what they have," he said toward the end of the Grapefruit League season. "I just want to be one piece of the puzzle."

The puzzle that is the 2021 season is starting to take shape. On time, and with less uncertainty than a year ago. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.