If the Yankees can finish off the Red Sox in this American League Division Series, with Game 3 set for Monday night at Yankee Stadium and things tied up at 1-1, then they’ll record a franchise first in the age of the luxury tax:
They’ll overcome a team with a higher payroll than they have.
Then again, if the Sawx prevail, that’ll be a precedent, too: The Yankees have never lost, either, to a team spending more on talent since the luxury tax went into effect in 1997. From the ’97 ALDS through last week’s victory over the A’s, they are 22-13, including wild-card games, in playoff series against teams with a lower payroll and 0-0 against clubs sporting a higher payroll.
Why point this out now? Because so far, it appears the Yankees, with their $190-ish million payroll to the Red Sox’s $240-ish million, can boast of an advantage in this ALDS that often eluded them when they stood as the higher rollers:
Wouldn’t you give the Yankees an edge over their rivals in roster depth?
Consider that on Sunday’s off day, Red Sox manager Alex Cora received questions from media about his infield, his catching and his starting pitching during his news conference at Yankee Stadium. Whereas the only similar questions for Aaron Boone covered the hurting Aaron Hicks, whose replacement Brett Gardner performed well in his stead during Game 2 Saturday night, and one query about scheduled Game 4 starter CC Sabathia.
The Red Sox don’t simply face slumps. They have clear holes around which they must work to win. Whereas two of the Yankees’ ultra-talented players who raised concerns during the regular season — Game 3 starting pitcher Luis Severino and battery-mate Gary Sanchez — have honored that talent so far.
When a reporter asked Cora about changing up his infield, Boston’s rookie manager responded: “I knew that question was coming. I’ll go to experience from the World Series last year. That’s something I learned. Be patient. It’s such a small series that people get caught up on the whole small sample sizes. I always said that the difference between a .300 hitter in the postseason and a .200 hitter is 2-for-10 and 3-for-10, is one swing.
“So we go with the quality at-bats. We know we have to swing the bat better.”
That would be an outstanding answer … if Cora were managing the 2017 Astros, for whom he served as a bench coach under skipper A.J. Hinch. That infield earned the right to have slumps shrugged off. This 2018 Red Sox infield, though, possesses some issues. Not at shortstop, where Xander Bogaerts homered off Masahiro Tanaka in Game 2 for the Bosox’s first run, nor at first base, where Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce make a fine platoon, although Moreland departed Game 2 early with right hamstring tightness. Second base and third base, however, present real problems.
Veteran keystone man Ian Kinsler has been dreadful since coming over in a July trade and hasn’t performed particularly well at all for two seasons now. At the hot corner, neither youngster Rafael Devers nor Eduardo Nunez has excelled with the bat this year, and Cora cited Nunez’s defense in starting him in Game 2. Nunez committed one throwing error and nearly made a second one.
At catcher, both Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez represent offensive liabilities. And the Red Sox’s lackluster bullpen, too, turns up the heat on the starting pitching decisions Cora makes. Old pal Nathan Eovaldi will start Game 3, and New Jersey native Rick Porcello tentatively is set to start Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Boone, meanwhile, expressed hope Hicks (right hamstring tightness) would be available for Game 3 after sitting out Game 2. Asked whether it was easier to keep Hicks on the roster (rather than deactivate him) because of the presence of Gardner, who drew a pair of walks and played excellent defense in Game 2, the Yankees’ manager said: “Absolutely, yeah.”
For once in the Yankees’ world, the Gucci shoe is on the other foot. Can the leaner, meaner Yankees prevail? You know that a win in this series would mean even more because of this new imbalance.
