Do the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees still have the best rivalry in Major League Baseball?
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal doesn’t think so. On Sunday, Rosenthal discussed two of baseball’s biggest rivalries, Red Sox-Yankees and the rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
“I want to talk about which is the better (rivalry) right now,” Rosenthal said during a new episode of the “Fair Territory” program.
“Frankly, I don’t even see it as close. Give me Dodgers-Padres right now over Yankees-Red Sox … the Dodgers and Padres are better teams.”
To strengthen his discussion, Rosenthal also spoke with a player who has experienced both rivalries recently.
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“I talked to Xander Bogaerts about this on Friday because I thought he was a really good guy to give his perspective on which is the better rivalry,” Rosenthal said.
“And what Xander said was quite obviously, ‘Hey, Red Sox-Yankees, that’s more historic. There’s no question about that. Goes back, I don’t know, 100 years plus’.”
“However,” Rosenthal continued, “Padres-Dodgers, in more recent times — in Bogaert’s opinion and mine, too — is the better rivalry simply because there are more established stars on both sides. Now, you (still) see it a little bit in Yankees-Red Sox, of course, with (Aaron) Judge and (Giancarlo) Stanton on the Yankees side … the Red Sox have (Alex) Bregman … Garrett Crochet is certainly a star.”
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“But in Dodgers-Padres, what are we seeing? We’re seeing all the MVPs with the Dodgers: (Shohei) Ohtani, and (Freddie) Freeman and (Mookie) Betts. We’re seeing (Manny) Machado, and (Fernando) Tatis, and Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill for the Padres. And that, in Bogaert’s view, is what distinguishes this rivalry and what makes him think … (it is similar to) what Red Sox-Yankees was in the 2000s.”
“Remember that?” Rosenthal continued. “Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter were on one side, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez on the other. That is what makes this so special, when you have stars of that magnitude, and let’s face it, when you have … a little animosity between the teams. … Dodgers-Padres is the new Yankees-Red Sox, and until proven otherwise, that’s how it stands.”
Do you agree with Rosenthal?
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While the current Red Sox-Yankees matchup might not compare to the hot-blooded vibes between the two clubs from the early 2000s, Rosenthal is probably underselling the current iteration, especially with guys like Roman Anthony entering the rivalry with a flair for the dramatic.
You can bet that if these two teams meet up in a playoff series, Rosenthal will be second-guessing his stance.