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7 hours ago
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Are the Boston Red Sox still the New York Yankees' top rivals right now?
It's a fair question, if only because of one man: Juan Soto. Soto's perceived betrayal of the Yankees and subsequent $765 million deal with the New York Mets made this past weekend's Subway Series one of the most memorable regular-season clashes of all time.
When the Red Sox and Yankees match up for the first time this season, though, we'll likely remember many of the past and present reasons these two fan bases despise each other. And if the Red Sox have improved their position in the standings by then (Jun. 6), the matchup could be even spicier.
However, what would truly make Red Sox fans hate the Yankees more than ever would be if New York poached their newest superstar after he was there for only a year.
On Wednesday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic named the Yankees as one of the top free-agent fits for Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, who has an opt-out in his deal after year one of a three-year, $120 million contract.
"Bregman, who is making $40 million this year and signed for two more years at that rate, will likely opt out of his deal," Bowden wrote.
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"His free-agent market should be even more robust than last offseason with the Red Sox joined by the Yankees, Tigers, Astros, Phillies and even the Dodgers; he would be an upgrade for all of them at the hot corner."
With no clear solution at third base now, the Yankees certainly could use Bregman. But they had a shot at him, just like everyone else did, this past winter, and never made him a competitive offer.
Bregman is performing much better so far this year than he was a year ago, so perhaps the Yankees' interest will be piqued. But they've hardly got any money coming off the books this winter, so it will be interesting to see how high they're willing to push the payroll in 2026 and beyond.
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