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Bryce Harper and Noah Syndergaard are building an old-school feud

Noah Syndergaard (left) and Bryce Harper are not on the best of terms? (Getty Images)
Noah Syndergaard (left) and Bryce Harper are not on the best of terms? (Getty Images)

As if the escalating tensions at Yankees camp weren’t enough drama for the opening weekend of spring training, the rivalry between the Nationals and Mets — and specifically Bryce Harper and Noah Syndergaard — appears poised to continue.

After arriving to camp on Saturday, Harper was given an opportunity to fuel tensions or dismiss them with the Mets ace, who seemingly disparaged him with a one-word comment on Instagram.

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While Harper avoided dumping gasoline on the situation, he didn’t dismiss it either. Instead, he seemed to characterize it as behavior he expects from Syndergaard, whose tweets sometimes blur the line between playful and adversarial.

From the New York Post:

“I don’t know, Syndergaard does what he does and the Mets do what they do. So we are going to worry about what we do in our clubhouse and do everything we can do win ballgames and hopefully have a better record than any team in Major League Baseball.

“They’re a great talent over there,’’ Harper added of the Mets. “We are going to have some fun this year and hopefully enjoy what we do against them.’’

The involved parties aren’t throwing hay-makers here. It’s a subdued, almost passive-aggressive feud. But it seems clear that they’re more comfortable squaring off than hanging out.

Syndergaard told Sports Illustrated recently that he was messing around with that one-word comment, saying: “Bryce and I aren’t buddy-buddy, but we see each other out, we acknowledge each other. Everybody loves a little bit of rivalry. He and I have the same goal: to make baseball fun again. Draw more fans, draw more excitement to the game.”

As Kevin Kernan of the New York Post notes, they’re doing a good job building tension, subtle as it may be. He describes it as throwback baseball. An old-school rivalry between two alpha males used to succeeding who view each other as a challenge. But it also has some new school flavor given the different avenues players have to express themselves and fuel animosity.

Maybe they’re just stringing us along too, with the sole idea of generating interest. If that’s the plan, we’re cool with it. Sometimes the most engaging feuds are when the lines between what’s real and what’s not are blurred.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!