Let’s be honest: The Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry ain’t what it used to be.
The arch nemeses have just two playoff appearances between them over the last three seasons — one of which was a Yankees loss in the American League Wild Card Game — as tensions have cooled considerably since the teams’ heated battles in the early 2000s.
But if this year’s winter meetings are any indication, a rivalry redux could be right around the corner.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman fired the first shot Tuesday, calling the Red Sox the “Golden State Warriors” of Major League Baseball after Boston landed another ace in left-hander Chris Sale.
On Thursday, it was Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s turn. The morning after Cashman opened his own wallet to sign reliever Aroldis Chapman to a lucrative contract, “The Pelican” swooped in with an awesome greeting for the Yankees executive.
Cashman, New York’s GM since 1998, has a long history of throwing money at players to win championships, and Dombrowski apparently believes the old Cashman has returned. Dombrowski also admitted he’d rather see Chapman land elsewhere.
“I wish that somebody else would have made him a better offer so he would have gone somewhere else, for sure,” Dombrowski said Thursday, via ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber. “No question.”
These are all good signs for the health of the Boston-New York rivalry — as are the states of both franchises. The Red Sox are serious 2017 World Series contenders after Dombrowski’s latest coup de grâce, while the Yankees added Chapman and star outfielder Matt Holliday to an organization brimming with young talent and top prospects.
Let the games begin.
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Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images
