The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox rivalry is one
of the most storied and at times hated rivalries in all of North American
sports. While the rivalry has taken a back seat in recent years these two teams
are always a high-and-tight fastball away or two good teams away from
rekindling the flame. That season could come in 2016 as the Red Sox look to
rebuild and retool in hopes of getting back to the playoffs and out of the
cellar of the American League East Division. We will do a run of these lineup comparisons
now, as they stand, today and we will have to do another the closer we get to
the regular season. A trade in Boston is coming, you don’t give former Yankees
outfielder Chris Young a multi-year deal if you’re not about to trade one of
your talented outfielders, and that trade may change the entire landscape of
the AL East.
Catcher
Brian McCann/ Ryan Hanigan
First Base
Mark Teixeira/ Hanley Ramirez
Second Base
Robert Refsnyder/ Dustin Pedroia
Third Base
Chase Headley/ Pablo Sandoval
*could be a push. Homer in me makes me go Headley
Shortstop
Didi Gregorius/ Xander Bogaerts
Left Field
Brett Gardner/ Rusney Castillo
Center Field
Jacoby Ellsbury/ Jackie Bradley Jr.
Right Field
Carlos Beltran/ Mookie Betts
Designated Hitter
Alex Rodriguez/ David Ortiz
Looking at the final tally I have the New York Yankees
“winning” five spots out of the nine. Remember, bolded player wins. I think we
all thought the Yankees would have the advantage in the lineup department over the
Red Sox, especially now, but I think we all know a lot of change is coming to
Bean Town. With Dave Dombrowski at the helm and a plethora of prospects for him
to trade for established talent I don’t expect the Red Sox to stay down long,
especially in David Ortiz’s last season. I can see the Red Sox going all in
this season with their young core and established farm system. This is not good
news for the New York Yankees so enjoy the “victory” while you still can.
Also it’s worth mentioning that the Boston Red Sox had one
of the worst records in the American League in 2015. They finished in last
place in the AL East Division and were a whopping 15 games behind the Toronto
Blue Jays for first place. I’ve already shown why I think the Yankees have a
better offensive player in six or seven of the nine positions over Toronto but
have New York winning less positional
battles here. This goes to show you that it is a team sport, not a sport for
individuals, and it all comes down to actually putting in the work and getting
the job done. Winning on paper is fun, winning in real life is so much better.
This is the perfect example, to answer a question I received on the Toronto vs.
New York lineup comparison, of how the Blue Jays can outscore the Yankees by
over 120 runs and lead the league in offense and still “lose” the head-to-head
battles.
Burch some of these I agree with some I don't but the most outlandish one I see here is SS. Lets look at the stats for both players
ReplyDeleteBO 196 Hits
DI 139 Hits
BO 35 doubles
DI 24 doubles
BO 3 Triples
DI 2 Triples
BO 7 HR
DI 9 HR
BO 81 RBI
DI 56 RBI
BO 320 BA
DI 265 BA
FIELDING
BO 11 errors
DI 13 errors
BO 984 fielding %
DI 979 fielding %
You know Hans, you're right. I'll be honest, on that one I didn't even look at the stats and I let my homerism cloud my judgement. I concede.
DeleteBogaerts has a better WAR and many other advanced metrics. You got me there.
And to make Levin happy lol I think I would honestly take Gardner over Castillo and I would take Sandoval over Headley and to me I would call first base a wash as Tex will be hurt by pre-season. If he sticks around the edge goes to him
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I was sitting down for that Hans. At first base, I would still take the Yankees. Even if Tex goes down, I'd take Bird over Ramirez. Second base should at least be interesting as well. We don't know whet we'll actually get out of Refsnyder, and Pedroa seems to be getting more injury prone recently.
Delete