Former Yankees, Mets doing just fine elsewhere

Maybe it wasn’t Yankee magic. Or mystique. Or aura.

We try to figure out why players come here and suddenly shine and, perhaps, we miss the most obvious reason — they are pretty good players.

To appreciate that, look not at the recent imports such as Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells, but how those they replaced are doing elsewhere. For the Yankees had a large class move on from last season’s team, and that group has pretty much universally done at least as well in their new locales.

Russell Martin is hitting homers, drawing walks and catching superbly for the Pirates. Nick Swisher has an .867 OPS for the Indians.

Eric Chavez is still wrecking righty pitching (1.050 OPS), just for the Diamondbacks. Raul Ibanez continues to hit clutch homers, though he is playing home games in big Safeco Field now and not Yankee Stadium.

This got me to thinking about which ex-New York players are doing the best, especially with Yankees-Mets upon us. So let’s catch up with old friends (OK, maybe that is not the term Met fans would use for Jason Bay and Oliver Perez), but here is our Subway Out of Town Team:

CATCHER: Russell Martin (Yankees 2011-12). Using Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which attempts to compute a player’s offense, defense and baserunning into one formula, Buster Posey and Joe Mauer were the only catcher having better seasons than Martin. Dishonorable mention goes to Jesus Montero, whose offense (.208 average) sank to the rancid levels of his defense, leading to the Mariners demoting him to Triple-A and pretty much giving up on the idea that he will ever be a full-time major league catcher.

FIRST BASE: Nick Swisher (Yankees 2009-12). He has handled a bigger payday and greater responsibility (cleanup, playing first and right field) splendidly.

SECOND BASE: Marco Scutaro, Giants (Mets 2002-03). He showed up for the Giants last July 27 hitting and hasn’t stopped yet — .323 average this season with a .373 on-base percentage.

SHORTSTOP: Jose Reyes, Blue Jays (Mets 2003-11). In 10 games with Toronto, he was hitting .395 with five steals before badly spraining his ankle — and the Blue Jays really never recovered. Special notice here to Ramiro Pena, who left the minors-to-majors shuttle of the Yankees to become a valuable reserve for the Braves (.838 OPS).

LEFT FIELD: Melky Cabrera, Blue Jays (Yankees 2005-09). After being suspended for PED use, Cabrera has gone from one of the majors’ best hitters last season with San Francisco to a .718 OPS, or nearly identical to the .716 of his Yankee years, when he was a supplementary player. Bay has returned to being a lefty masher for the Mariners (.302 BA, .912 OPS).

CENTER FIELD: Carlos Gomez, Brewers (Mets 2007). Two of the better center fielders now are Gomez and Austin Jackson, former New York farmhands who have transformed from high-end athletes into top-notch baseball players. Jackson had regressed some from a breakout 2012 before injuring his hamstring. Gomez, though, has been a two-way force (.987 OPS, arguably the best defensive center fielder in the game), emerging as the one piece from the Johan Santana trade still active in the majors.

RIGHT FIELD: Carlos Beltran, Cardinals (Mets 2005-10). Many Mets fans might not like this question, but here it goes: Is Beltran a Hall of Famer? He has 344 homers, an .856 OPS, 306 steals (and an amazing 86.4 percent success rate), three Gold Gloves and, in 34 postseason games, 14 homers and a .470 on-base percentage. He is adding to his credentials this season (10 homers).

DESIGNATED HITTER: Lance Berkman, Rangers (Yankees 2010). Berkman contemplated retirement, but came back to remain a tough out (.389 on-base percentage).

STARTER: A.J. Burnett, Pirates (Yankees 2009-11, Mets farmhand 1995-97). He is leading the NL in strikeouts in his second strong season as a Pirate.

STARTER: Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks (Yankees 2007-09). Since being part of the Curtis Granderson deal, the righty is 47-29, with a 3.65 ERA and has thrown the 13th-most innings in the majors (685.2), though he was scratched from his start yesterday with a cut on his right index finger.

STARTER: Zach McAllister, Indians (Yankees farmhand 2006-10). Was the player to be named later in the Yanks’ 2010 deadline deal for Austin Kearns. He has evolved into a quality starter (4-3, 2.89 this year).

STARTER: Jose Quintana, White Sox (Mets farmhand 2006-07, Yankees farmhand 2008-11). An under-the-radar White Sox signing after the 2011 campaign, the lefty has been a steady performer, including 3-2, 3.75 this year.

STARTER: Jason Vargas, Angels (Mets 2007). He pitched well over four seasons with the Mariners, but there was concern if he could succeed without Safeco as a home field. But he has gone 4-3 with a 3.43 ERA this year. Meanwhile, R.A. Dickey’s walks and ERA (4.85) are up. A tip of the cap to Scott Kazmir (5.94 ERA) for making it back to the majors. Honorable mention to Oakland’s Bartolo Colon, who is 5-2 and a strike-throwing machine (four walks, 61.1 IP).

CLOSER: Rafael Soriano, Nationals (Yankees 2011-12). Not dominant, but he has 14 saves and a 2.86 ERA. For what it is worth, Jose Veras has eight saves for the Astros and so does Arizona’s Heath Bell in place of another ex-Met, J.J. Putz.

RIGHTY SET-UP: Darren O’Day, Orioles (Mets 2009). Pittsburgh’s Mark Melancon is having a better year, Washington’s Tyler Clippard has been among the best set-up men/closer hybrids the past five years and Cleveland’s Joe Smith has been consistently good since leaving the Mets. But O’Day represents a good decision gone horribly wrong for the Mets — A Rule 5 pickup whom they gave up on two weeks into the 2009 season to get (close your eyes, Mets fans) Nelson Figueroa on the roster to make a start. Since then he has held righties to a .186 average and been instrumental in helping the Rangers and Orioles become playoff teams.

LEFTY SET-UP: Oliver Perez, Mariners (Mets 2006-10). Miami’s Mike Dunn, Detroit’s Phil Coke and St. Louis’ Randy Choate all were considered, but how do we ignore Perez, who in the last two years (1.88 ERA in 53 games) has made himself into a relief weapon? This season he has held lefties to a .188 average with no extra-base hits in 32 at-bats.