Yankees and Mets fans are both living in the now this season, and with good reason. The Mets’ lead in the National League East is in the double digits and seemingly growing every day, while the Yankees made the biggest moves at the trade deadline and have taken over first place in the American League East.

According to our own Playoff Odds Report at Baseball Prospectus, the Mets have a 99.91% chance of making the playoffs, meaning only a historic swoon would keep them out of the postseason. At the same time, the Yankees are calculated to have an 83% chance of playing after the first week of October, more than double the possibility of the rival Red Sox.

So while even whispers of a repeat subway series are understandable, there are still many people in the business of baseball for whom their entire life is dedicated to the future. Major League teams employ tons of scouts, coaches, and player development personnel to find, sign, and groom the next wave of talent in baseball. Looking at both the Mets and Yankees minor league organizations, one finds some interesting similarities.

Both minor league systems are fairly shallow, featuring plenty of washed-up veterans at Triple-A.They also feature Aball teams filled with hangers-on and guys signed out of the independent leagues. So while neither organization features a plethora of prospects, they both have one thing in common when one talks about its elite minor league talent: Both have a near-ready starting pitcher with the potential to be a true no.1 stopper — the rarest of rare.

On the mound, the Mets’ top prospect is Mike Pelfrey, and the Yankees counter with Philip Hughes. While the Mets already got their sneak peak of the future when Pelfrey was called up in July for a quartet of starts, Hughes remains in Double-A although most scouts believe he’s ready for the big leagues now. In the end, the Yankees thought it best not to throw a player who just turned 20-years old into a pennant race in New York, giving their fifth-starter job to Cory Lidle.They plan to bring Hughes up next year, though a September callup just to get his feet wet is not out of the question.

Both are first-round picks. Hughes was the 23rd overall pick in 2004, and earned a $1.4 million bonus out of a California high school. Pelfrey was the ninth overall pick last year, though he was anything but the ninth-best talent. Generally considered the top-pitching prospect going into the draft, a fear of Pelfrey’s price tag and his agent, Scott Boras, dropped him into the Mets’ lap, where the team has a history of taking players others pass up for money concerns. Witness Scott Kazmir (2002) and Lastings Milledge (2003).

Not surprisingly, negotiations went well into the off-season, with Pelfrey finally signing a major league deal that could be worth as much as $6.6 million, including a $3.55 million bonus, which is the most the Mets have ever paid to a draftee.

For both players, 2006 has been a coming-out party. With Pelfrey signing too late to debut in 2005, he began the year with St. Lucie, in the High Class A Florida State League. He made a statement in his pro debut with five shutout innings, and he was up in Double-A by the end of April. Just 12 starts later, he was in the big leagues.

In 2004, Hughes pitched just five innings before being shut down after stubbing his toe in a hotel room. Last year, he was limited to just 87 innings before being rested because of soreness in his shoulder. Despite the limited workload, Yankees officials were abuzz about Hughes’s talent, with one official referring to him as a “Mark Prior starter kit.” Like Pelfrey, he started the year in the Florida State League and, also like Pelfrey, he didn’t last long, moving up to Double-A Trenton after just five starts. He’s remained there since May, though it’s hardly been a challenge, as he’s allowed just 65 hits in 91 innings while striking out 106.

The similarities remain on a scouting level. Both are tall righthanders (Hughes 6-foot-5, Pelfrey 6-foot-7) with long arms and fastballs that sit in the 92–94 mph range and get into the mid-90s when they need to dial it up a little. Both have good breaking balls and decent changeups, and both have an ability to throw strikes that make all of their offerings that much better.

Both are among the top five right-handed pitching prospects in the game but, in the long term, you have to give the slight edge to Hughes, because he’s nearly two-and-a-half years younger, and has achieved the same level of success.

Hughes and Pelfrey each give their respective teams a remarkable advantage in the off-season. With free agent pitchers at a premium, both the Mets and the Yankees can assume that they will be adding solid rotation performers from within, allowing them to focus more on offensive talent.

Next year they’ll be taking the mound every five days for their respective teams, and they both have the ability to become their team’s ace within three years, keeping the Mets and Yankees at or near to the top of our playoff odds reports for quite a while.

Mr. Goldstein is a writer for Baseball Prospectus. For more state-of-the-art analysis, visit baseballprospectus.com.