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The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees both had reason to change their franchise, and with the slight advantage of hindsight, we can now say that the Red Sox have won the winter.
That's because the Red Sox also won the post-season series with the Yankees, which allowed New York to defeat with a 3-1 win in the Division Series of the American League.
As for the winter, each team made two very important decisions. New York has recruited Aaron Boone as director, while acquiring Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins, to join the midst of composition. The Red Sox also made a change of direction by hiring Alex Cora, in addition to strengthening their alignment by signing J.D. Martinez.
The Red Sox kept the advantage in every sector throughout the season and continued into the playoffs.
Cora managed the circles around Boone. While it was clear that the rookie skipper of the Red Sox had absorbed a lot in one season as coach of the Houston Astros, he had undoubtedly benefited from the hiring of his former coach, Ron Roenicke.
Meanwhile, the Yankees turned their club over to Boone, who had no experience as a coach (he may have coached Little League teams for his kids?) And was coming out of the broadcast booth. ESPN. It sometimes seemed that things were moving too fast for him, especially at Games 3 and 4, and his decisions in the game have already been thoroughly examined.
With regard to the boppers, Stanton and Martinez have each had a good season, but there is no doubt that Martinez – a legitimate candidate for the MVP – was the best batter and player overall. In the playoffs, Martinez set the tone for the Red Sox by scoring a point home in the first heat and three innings in the opening game. He also started the score in the fourth game with a sacrificial volley in the third inning to trigger an inning.
Stanton, on the other hand, will probably do everything in his power to forget his first contact with baseball in October. The huge DH seemed at times lost, waving helplessly on the grounds inside and outside the strike zone. When he came to the plate, representing the tied race of the ninth inning Tuesday night, he was smothered by waving two curved Craig Kimbrel balls that missed the one-foot strike area each.
(His over the broken bat in the fourth inning on a 2-0 pitch was probably not very well received by the Yankees fans.)
The final line ALDS Stanton: 4-in-18, six strikeouts, a double play and zero points.
These two things are far from being the only reasons why the Red Sox leave and the Yankees return home, but they certainly played an important role.
Here are some other takeaways from the ALDS.
– Talking about acquisitions, Dave Dombrowski got all the points for two changes during the season that paid off. Negotiating for the pitcher Nathan Eovaldi – and then the organization's decision to give him a playoff start – worked great, as he brilliantly pitched in the Boston match 3 rout. The first-baseman Steve Pearce, acquired earlier in the season in Toronto, also had a great run: 4-on-12, with a pair of RBIs while playing an excellent first-base defense instead of the wounded Mitch Moreland.
– After all the speeches (deserved) on the fact that the Yankees had a better scorer than the Red Sox, the relievers of Boston even surpassed those of New York.
These numbers would have looked even better if Kimbrel had not nearly turned into Wicked Witched of West in the ninth round of Game 4. Defenders who did not call Craig Kimbrel had a life of 2.45.
The decisive advantage of the Red Sox was partly due to the intensification of these guys, but do not neglect the roles played by the managers. Cora allowed his players to succeed, and virtually every lever he shot worked, while Boone could not get his best substitutes for the game at times when they needed it the most.
– If the Red Sox want to win the pennant, they will probably need more Mookie Betts, who has only scored 3-for-16 in the series and now has a .238 playoff batting average.
– You can not say enough about the work done by the catchers of Red Sox in the series. Sandy Leon was a rock behind the plate. His blocking of land in games 1 and 2 helped preserve the opening win of the series and keep them in the defeat of match 2. Christian Vazquez produced at the plate, highlighted by his home run Game 4 , but he was also stellar on the defense with a couple of huge blocks on Kimbrel's pitches in the ground at the ninth inning. This duo far outstripped Gary Sanchez, who was once again a defensive mess.
– The Red Sox have won seven of their last eight playoff games against the Yankees.
Miniature Photo via Brad Penner / USA TODAY Sports Images
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