The Red Sox and Yankees rivalry is about to heat up. These two teams are probably the two best teams of the past 10 years, but which one has been better?
So lets get this going...
Overall regular season record: Over the past eight seasons, the Yankees' overall regular season record is 775-521. That includes three straight seasons of over 100 wins and seven seasons of over 90. This also includes six division championships.
The Red Sox record over that time period is 740-555. The Red Sox do not have one season over 100 wins, but did come close with a 98 win season. They had six seasons of more than 90 wins. They also had one division championship.
Overall, it isn't that hard to see that overall in the regular season the Yankees have the better numbers. With six division championships the Yankees definitely have the regular season advantage over the Red Sox.
Overall postseason record this decade: I have to be honest but this stat shocked me. The Yankees are 29-29 in post season play from 2001 to the present. They won six division championships, went to two World Series and only managed a .500 record in the postseason. They did not win a World Series in any of those years. They had three ALCS appearences.
The Red Sox have an astounding 31-16 record in the postseason since 2001 and they didn't even make it to the playoffs until 2003 when they lost to the Yankees in seven games. They have had four sweeps, including two World Series titles. In World Series play, they are 8-0 this decade.
Overall I think the edge clearly goes the the Boston Red Sox in this department.
The next category I want to talk about is the future of the teams.
The Yankees just made three huge signings with Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixeira, but how will that work out for them? I believe that Teixeira was the best free agent that they got this offseason, and he could turn out to finish his career there.
Sabathia is a move I am a little pessimistic about. I am not even talking about his opening day start since he has a history of starting out really bad. I am more worried about if he will be able to get out of that beginning-of-the-year slump with the amount of pressure that is on his shoulders in New York. Then again, A-Rod had a rough start as a Yankee too. We will just have to see how he does over the years. A concern for him also is (like A-Rod) can he get it done in the post season? Past reputation would say no, but once again we do not know what will happen.
The last big market player they got was A.J. Burnett. I have rather serious doubts about how productive he will be as a Yankee. Last year he pitched over 200 innings for just the third time in his career, and every year following that kind of season he has gotten injured. If this trend continues then about every other year (this year included) he will have problems, something the Yanks cannot afford.
That being said, I do like where one of their young stars is heading. Joba Chamberlain looks like he could be a Cy Young pitcher some day. He has been a real bright spot for this club. Another homegrown player is Robinson Cano. Cano has been tremendous for this team and could very well fill Jeter's role when he decides to retire.
Now to the Red Sox. This club has been all about home-growing their stars over the last decade. The first big star would easily have to be Dustin Pedroia, who won ROY and MVP in consecutive years. He is a Gold Glover, and in control of the Red Sox for many years to come. His batting average was good for second in the American League, and for a guy who is 5'9, he drove out an impressive 17 home runs.
The next home grown steal is Kevin Youkilis. He hit .312 with 29 home runs, 115 RBIs and 43 doubles. Those numbers are pretty even with Teixeira. This guy has always been a consistent player and has won a Gold Glove. They also have him locked up for a long time.
Then there are Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon, who are both top of the line pitchers in this league. Lester being a starting pitcher last year that had an ERA of 3.21, and Papelbon a guy that has saved over 40 games the last couple of years. Both came up through the farm system, and both are going to be members of the Red Sox for a long time.
I think that overall the Red Sox future is looking brighter than the Yankees at this point. They have a better shot at returning to the World Series and winning another one, maybe even before the end of the decade. They have done an excellent job of preparing for the future this decade, and that is a huge accomplishment. I give this one the the Red Sox.
So when it comes down to it, there appears to be a clear winner being the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees certainly make it close to call, and yes they did win four World Championships in five years. But this is a new era and now a different team is on top.
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