Ahh, nothing like a good old-fashioned knock down, drag out brawl between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to spice up what has been a pretty dreary baseball offseason thus far in the Northeast.
We might just have one on our hands after all the reports that the Red Sox tried to snatch Mariano Rivera away from the Yankees with a two-year, $30-million offer.
The Yankees have been showing interest in free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford lately, something they had said initially they were reluctant to do. Is this payback to the Red Sox, who would also like Crawford?
The New York Daily News thinks so.
The baseball season is months away but it looks like it’s already “game on” between the Yankees and Red Sox. The ancient rivals have taken the competition into the offseason by injecting themselves into each other’s free-agent pursuits.
The Red Sox fired first by making an offer to the Bombers’ free agent closer Mariano Rivera shortly before, as the Daily News first reported, Rivera and the Yanks agreed to terms on a two-year, $30 million deal Thursday night. The Yankees have counterpunched by getting involved with free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford, most recently of the Tampa Bay Rays. Boston is in serious pursuit of Crawford and already has met with his side. A major league source confirmed the contact between the Yankees and Crawford.
“I really couldn’t comment about that,” Cashman said Friday morning in Stamford, Conn., where he rehearsed for Sunday’s Heights & Lights show by rappelling down the side of a 350-foot building five times.
“I’m doing everything I can to put the best team on the field,” Cashman added. “I wouldn’t want to say specific players. … I’d rather not point out individual players. I’ve reached out to some players that are obvious and some players that people would be surprised about.”
It would not be surprising, to be honest, if the Yankees seeks some type of retribution. Did Boston really think it could snag Rivera, or that the Yankees would take that move without some type of retaliatory strike?
The baseball offseason just got a whole lot more interesting.