The Yankees and Blue Jays have had their heated moments in recent years. Last season, it was Alek Manoah and Gerrit Cole feuding. Earlier this year, it was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stating he would never put on the pinstripes, “not even dead.”
This week, the rivalry was given another chapter when Aaron Judge stirred up controversy by glancing towards his first base coach before blasting a 462-foot home run, prompting Toronto to contact the league to ask that the Yankees base coaches be ordered to stay in their designated boxes, protecting against coaches picking up signs.
That turned into a childish back and forth of coaches barking at umpires when the opposing coaches were standing outside of their boxes, while Judge crushed another home run with no side-eye glances needed.
With all of that in mind, BT says the AL East foes have become baseball’s best new rivalry.
“The Yankees and Red Sox has lost juice exponentially,” BT said. “Now, it’s nothing more than regurgitating the old video, whether it’s Lou Piniella sliding into Carlton Fisk, or Pedro and Zimmer…those moments, you cannot replicate that energy. Yankees and Red Sox, to me, is dead. You might as well play the Orioles.
“The Yankees and Blue Jays, to me, is the best new rivalry in baseball.”
Both teams are competitive, both teams have individual rivalries, and both teams have star power. It’s the perfect recipe for an intense rivalry, with the only ingredient being watered down is the new MLB scheduling that cuts back on the amount of times division rivals play each other every season.
“Especially as they more frequently play for the same thing. Think about what spurs a rivalry, when two teams are chasing the same thing and get in each other’s way,” BT said. “That was the case for the Yankees and Red Sox back in the day, when the rest of the American League East was awful.
“It’s cyclical…but this Yankees/Jays rivalry, it’s got some fire to it. It’s good.”
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