The Yankees can boast of leading the Red Sox in the marathon that is the 2014 season, but the Red Sox possess a powerful protein bar — or maybe even some of that “goo” that runners use — in their pocket. The Yankees must ensure the Red Sox never even reach for it.
So when The Rivalry resumes Friday night at Yankee Stadium, with the underwhelming Vidal Nuno going against Boston’s impressive Brandon Workman, the Yankees won’t merely be trying to keep the Red Sox down in the American League East standings. They also will want to render Boston irrelevant in the July trade market.
For though the Yankees possess an improved farm system — and therefore better trade chips — than they did a year ago, they still can’t match the Red Sox’s firepower when it comes to desirable talent.
Workman and fellow starting pitcher Rubby De La Rosa have infused the Sawx’s starting rotation with some much-needed life. Infielder Xander Bogaerts has petered out after a strong start. At Triple-A Pawtucket, infielder Mookie Betts has excelled offensively, and infielder Garin Cecchini (brother of Mets shortstop prospect Gavin Cecchini) has gotten on base, while pitchers Matt Barnes and Alex Webster have displayed flashes of promise.
At Double-A Portland, you can find promising youngsters like infielder Devin Marrero and pitcher Henry Owens.
The Red Sox possess depth, particularly in their pitching corps and in their infield, which should allow them to play for virtually anyone out there besides Tampa Bay’s David Price, whom the Rays won’t deal within their own division.
Their current top weakness is their outfield, where youngster Jackie Bradley Jr. has faltered in his attempt to succeed new Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. Yet their starting rotation has been fluid all season, with Saturday’s starter Jon Lester and Sunday’s starter John Lackey the two steady contributors. If the Red Sox wind up looking for starting pitching help, they will be in direct competition with the Yankees.
It’s their booming farm system, ranked No. 2 in the industry by Baseball America this past April, that leads many competing officials to believe the Red Sox won’t be down for long.
They are down for now, however, and therein lies the Yankees’ opportunity. Boston brings a lowly 36-43 record into the Bronx after concluding a 2-5 swing through Oakland and Seattle. It trails the third-place Yankees (40-37) by five games, six in the loss column.
More than most large-payroll teams, the Red Sox own an impressive history of not giving in to sentiment and signing huge contracts. They let Pedro Martinez walk after 2004 and didn’t retain Johnny Damon after 2005. Similarly, they watched Ellsbury jump to the Yankees following their 2013 championship and barely broke a sweat over it.
When they did give in to temptation a few years ago, signing Carl Crawford and trading for and extending Adrian Gonzalez, they needed a miracle trade with the Dodgers in August 2012 to climb out of their hole and reset their course.
So though they want to honor their fan base and try to defend their crown, it would be highly out of character for them to make a Hail Mary trade, leveraging a controllable quantity for a short-term boost, if the math doesn’t work in their favor.
The Yankees know they’ve been fortunate to get by with Chase Whitley and David Phelps anchoring the starting rotation in the wake of injuries to Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia. They know, too, their best hopes for an offensive boost come from highly compensated internal options like Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Alfonso Soriano.
They will focus on starting pitching, even with Sabathia beginning his 30-day rehabilitation clock Saturday, and you know the names out there — some already available and some headed that way: the Cubs’ Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija, old friend Ian Kennedy of San Diego, the White Sox’s John Danks. Their longtime man crush, Cliff Lee, is working his way back from the disabled list, though even the Yankees figure to be cautious given Lee’s age (he turns 36 in August), his salary ($25 million this year and next year and a $27.5 million vesting option for 2016) and his recent elbow injury.
There will be plenty of other suitors for starting pitching, from Toronto to Baltimore to Seattle to San Francisco. If the Yankees can knock one such suitor out of contention, and that suitor just happens to be their historic rival?
That’s double the incentive. They can help turn that fantasy into reality starting this weekend.