One day after the trading deadline, the Yankees and Red Sox face off as one team continues to go for it in 2014 and the other looks ahead to next year.
Tonight's lineup vs #BOS (Pregame at 6 on YES) Gardner LF Jeter SS Ellsbury CF Teixeira 1B Beltran DH McCann C Headley 3B Drew 2B Suzuki RF
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 1, 2014Stephen Drew gets his first start for the Yankees at second base, taking over for the recently DFA'd Brian Roberts. He'll wear #33, the number Kelly Johnson wore. Martin Prado is listed on the roster but is not starting tonight due to the fact that he has not yet arrived. The Yankees expect him to be there before first pitch, but that means Ichiro is still playing right field for tonight. Prado will wear Roberts' #14. The top of the lineup remains the same with Brett Gardner leading off ahead of Derek Jeter, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mark Teixeira. With the exception of Ichiro in the outfield, there's a good chance that this is the lineup you will see going forward with Prado and Drew likely switching places at the bottom.
The Red Sox traded their ace Jon Lester to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes, however, while Boston was open to deal him to any team in the league, they were not going to trade him to the Yankees. They ended up trading Stephen Drew to New York and sent Andrew Miller to Baltimore, but Lester was a different story. An ace pitcher is a game-changer in a division, and while Lester is a free agent after the season, having him on the team could have given the Yankees a leg up in re-signing him. Now he's in Oakland, where he won't sign long-term, and it gives the Red Sox a shot at bringing him back into the fold. What the trade did do for the Yankees, though, was that it took away any kind of draft compensation that Lester would have had attached to him if he stayed with the Red Sox. Now it will only cost money, so the Yankees will likely be all in on him this winter.