The Boston Red Sox are always competing with the New York Yankees on the field, but when it comes to personnel, the Red Sox have their rivals beat.
When the Yankees traded for the National League’s Most Valuable Player in mid-December, all eyes were on the lineup that included All-Stars Aaron Judge, Stanton, and catcher Gary Sánchez.
But so far, the eyes are on the leaders of the American League East and their duo of Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez who are on a roll each with a batting average of over .300.
Fans hounded at Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski for standing pat during free agency and waiting until the last-minute to sign Martinez to the deal he wanted.
Now for almost $2 million less, the Red Sox are getting what the Yankees should be getting from Stanton.
Now that’s not saying that Judge is not having himself a year so far either. In his second season, the slugger has seen a great uptake in field discipline so far batting at .339 with four home runs and 11 runs batted in.
But the fact of the matter is this—Betts is just playing much better. The 25-year-old is batting .390 with five home runs and 13 RBI.
It just keeps going as Sanchez—who was the league’s best hitting catcher and Silver Slugger winner last year—is disappointing this year with a .190 batting average and 11 hits in 58 at-bats. While he does have three home runs and 13 RBI, his atrocious batting average doesn’t match the player he was last season.
That’s where first baseman Hanley Ramirez has shined as he has taken to a mean hot streak with a .322 batting average and three home runs. At the moment, Ramirez looks like the slugger the Red Sox paid for a few years ago.
The vision of a “Murderer’s Row” remake has taken a backseat to a so far docile Stanton who in a week accumulated 16 strikeouts in one week, which is three more than Yankee’s great Joe DiMaggio had in the entire 1941 season.
The Yankees may have gotten their vision on paper of a league-best slugging unit but right now, the Red Sox beat their bitter rivals in that aspect.
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And of course, these trends will stick exactly until October. The red sox will win 160 games and Betts will be the next .400 hitter while Hanley Ramirez continues to hit like Lou Gehrig. And, of course, Stanton and Sanchez will both bat below the Mendoza line. What would happen if the sox historical start was overcome by the Yankees? That’d be embarrassing.