Yankees-Red Sox preview: Will New York's talent gap be on display?

Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jake Mintz and senior MLB analyst Jordan Shusterman break down the AL Wildcard matchup between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Will New York’s talent gap be on full display? Hear the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

The rivalry, the showdown.

The New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox.

A prospect as scintillating as it is overwrought, but I gotta say, this is perfect for a neutral.

Three games of this is the correct amount.

Obviously, we had the 1-game version of this, uh, a few years back, and we were lucky enough to be in the building at Fenway Park for that.

But in this case, the Yankees will be the hosts, and they have an opportunity.

To, again, for much of this summer, it was like, oh no, this team, they just don’t have it.

I mean, for pretty much all of June and July, even though this roster still looked great and Aaron Judge was Barry Bonds, uh, you’re like, no, it’s not happening for this team.

There is no way that this is a team that is going to go deep into October.

However, even winning this one series, and this is true for any team that wins a wild card round, feels like the ultimate springboard to something more.

And I think that that is very much right there for the Yankees, and being able to do it against the Red Sox would be all the more, uh, all the better.

I went back and forth on the Red Sox and the Yankees here.

I do think Boston has a real shot, but I’ll stick with the Yankees because, again, I do think that the talent gap is pretty significant.

I, and I, I do trust Max Fried.

I do trust Carlosrean.

I do think that they can get the crochet.

I think that they do have enough offense to make it happen.

We’ll see how they do against Toronto, uh, maybe they don’t get that far.

I will go Yankees in 3.

Also just do compared to last year.

Like when the Yankees lined up last year, like, was sneaky, not that good.

You know what I mean?

Like that was one of the big things for that team, and they went to the World Series anyway.

I mean, Ben Rice and Grisham just gives them so much more depth.

I’m gonna take them in two.

I think someone’s hitting a big homer off Crochet.

I think Fried keeps it close.

My biggest concern with the Yankees is the bullpen.

They have tried to band-aid it.

David Bednar has been big in the closer spot.

Devin Williams and Luke Weaver have struggled.

Weaver has had a really bad September, as has Fernando Cruz.

There are big names and big pedigrees in the bullpen, but it is not exactly a group that inspires confidence right now.

Yankees-Red Sox preview: Will New York’s talent gap be on display?

Tags: