Cashman: Yankees ‘not on equal footing’ with Red Sox

The New York Yankees have vastly improved this offseason, but GM Brian Cashman still thinks they’re underdogs in the American League East.

The New York Yankees struck gold when they acquired Giancarlo Stanton for a bag of baseballs this offseason. Furthermore, the club has searched for pitching help but wanted to stay under the luxury tax threshold. Unfortunately, they missed out on righty Yu Darvish. Even with the missed opportunity, the Yankees are in a strong position. The Boston Red Sox, meanwhile, added a huge hitter in J.D. Martinez to combat the Yankees’ addition of Stanton.

GM Brian Cashman met with reporters on Wednesday to talk about the team’s outlook, per the New York Post:

"“They are the American League East champs so we are not on equal footing. We were a wild card. They are the American League East champs and we are not. We are not on equal footing until we take it away from them.’’"

This is somewhat surprising given the improvements New York has made. The club looks to be right in the thick of the fight for the division title, but Cashman is right to point out that the Yankees haven’t won anything yet. Then again, the duo of Aaron Judge and Stanton in the middle of the lineup will make them one of the storylines of the season, regardless of how they play.

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However it plays out, it will be nice to see a real race for the division for the first time in a long time. If we’re lucky, we might see these two teams duke it out in October for the first time since their epic ALCS in 2004.