The Yankees and Red Sox are reportedly engaged in a $200 million bidding war for Ace

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are currently two of the five remaining teams in the Juan Soto Sweepstakes. However, neither American League East contender is widely viewed as the favorite to land the outfielder. Many believe the New York Mets will land the $700 million superstar.

If that happens, these two rival AL East teams will find themselves in a bidding war for the next tier of free agents. Max Fried and Corbin Burnes are two pitchers linked to both the Red Sox and Yankees.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale recently reported that the Yankees and Red Sox were the top two teams in the bidding war for Fried this winter.

“If Matthew Boyd gets a two-year, $29 million contract without throwing more than 79 innings since 2019, if Luis Severino gets $67 million over three years, and Blake Snell gets an average annual salary of $36.4 million Earned, Burnes and Fried should be at the top. “$200 million,” Nightengale wrote. “The San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are all lurking. The only drama is whether Fried signs before Burnes or lets Burnes set the bar. Fried has ruled himself out of Atlanta but is expected to sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. If Soto goes to the Mets, Fried could find himself in a nice bidding war between the Red Sox and Yankees.

Both AL East teams have the money, especially if they waive Soto.

When the Soto sweepstakes comes to an end, the teams that missed out on him will quickly move to very expensive replacement options like Fried and Burnes. I expect both starters to end up with one of the five Soto contenders (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers).

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