A year removed from baseball's fiercest rivalry, Alex Rodriguez can be found these days smiling back at you on Instagram, either in the pool with his new paramour, J.Lo, or yukking it up in the Fox broadcast booth. His Red Sox adversary, David Ortiz, is hawking a line of Big Papi cigars as well as a new autobiography.
Two of the most polarizing figures from the Bronx-Boston 100-year war already feel to us like they've been gone for decades. And as we look ahead to the Red Sox's three-game visit to Yankee Stadium that begins Tuesday night, this ancient rivalry finds itself in yet another transition phase, but with the same high stakes _ an unanticipated battle for first place in the American League East.
The game, however, has changed. Rather than A-Rod vs. Papi or Jeter vs. Pedroia or Clemens vs. Pedro, the way these two clubs measure up now involve more of a competition between Brian Cashman and his Red Sox counterpart, Dave Dombrowski.
For all the praise heaped on the Red Sox for developing a talented young core, the rapid acceleration of the Yankees' rebuilding process may overshadow them very soon _ if Cashman's crew hasn't done so already. Consider that the Red Sox, especially after the Chris Sale trade, were a favorite to win the division when this season began, and the Yankees figured to be too busy mentoring their prospects to be a serious contender.
Here's a reminder of what Sox manager John Farrell said Feb. 28 about the Yankees, which came off as a backhanded compliment.
"There's a growing list of young players," Farrell said. "Maybe similar to where we were two or three years ago."
In each of those seasons to which Farrell apparently was referring, the Red Sox failed to win 80 games. Heading into the series opener, the Yankees are 10 games over .500 (32-22) and lead the AL East, ahead of second-place Boston, by two games. The reasons for that? Primarily Aaron Judge, a 25-year-old rookie, whose offensive rampage (18 HRs, 1.110 OPS) has eclipsed anyone currently wearing a Sox uniform, and that includes Mookie Betts, last year's MVP runner-up to Mike Trout.
To be fair to Farrell, the Yankees didn't even give Judge the right field job until 72 hours before Opening Day, so we can understand if he slipped under Boston's radar. But powered by Judge, the Yankees are among baseball's leaders in most offensive categories, well in front of the Red Sox in runs per game (5.44 to 4.84), homers (84 to 53) and OPS (.794 to .751). That's with the Yankees still waiting for Greg Bird to heal up and Gary Sanchez to return to his mashing form of a year ago.
As lopsided as those plate numbers look, the matchup gets worse for Boston on the homegrown pitching front. Despite the early head-scratching struggles of Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees have received a huge boost from two of their fast-maturing starters. Luis Severino, only 23, is 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA and a 10.0 K/9 ratio through his first 11 starts. Jordan Montgomery, the 24-year-old lefty drawing comparisons to Andy Pettitte, appears to be improving each time he takes the mound. His six scoreless innings Saturday against the dangerous Blue Jays trimmed his ERA to a respectable 3.67 in 10 starts. And should any of the current starters falter, the Yankees also have Chance Adams waiting at Triple-A Scranton, where he has a 1.57 ERA to go with 27 Ks/7 walks in 23 innings.
The only homegrown pitcher in the Red Sox's rotation had been Eduardo Rodriguez, 24, but he's on the 10-day disabled list after injuring his knee warming up for Thursday's start. Boston does have two former Cy Young winners in Rick Porcello and David Price, along with Sale, but the Yankees rotation currently outranks them in ERA (4.13 to 4.27) and opponent OPS (.728 to .759).
It's still early June, but the Baby Bombers have accomplished much more than just getting the Red Sox's attention. And when Farrell was asked about the Yankees this past weekend, the manager sized them up a little differently this time. "I don't think anyone sees this as a fluke," Farrell said.
Maybe not. But unfortunately for the Red Sox, way ahead of schedule.
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