Have the Baltimore Orioles Overtaken Red Sox as the Yankees Most Bitter Rival?

The Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees may now have the most bitter rivalry in the AL East, leaving the Boston Red Sox behind.

Jul 13, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres (25) gestures following his double in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

For years, the rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox has dominated the AL East. Have the Baltimore Orioles budged one of them out of the way, though?

MLB's Will Leitch recently went through each division in the league to find the most bitter rivalry within it. When they got to the AL East, there was a bit of a surprise. Leitch listed the Yankees and the Orioles in the top spot.

As both teams continue to get better, tensions are going to continue to rise. There was a benches clearing brawl just last year and New York has to be getting tired of losing to Baltimore in the regular season.

With the Orioles finally back in the competitive realm, many would be surprised to learn that they have actually won the regular season series in each of the last two years. Before that the Yankees were on a six-year winning streak.

The East has gone to one of the two teams in each of the last three years and it looks as though it could be them at the top once again.

They have taken two completely different approaches this offseason, though. New York has undergone drastic changes to their roster while Baltimore is moreso relying on development and only a couple of replacements rather than true upgrades.

Obviously, the biggest difference is that the Yankees are now missing Juan Soto from last year's team. They won'y be able to replace that production, but they did add Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to their lineup.

The main impact upgrades came within their pitching staff. New York handed Max Fried a massive deal to be their number two pitcher behind ace Gerrit Cole. They also added one of the best closers in baseball, Devin Williams, to their bullpen.

Even without Soto, there is a good chance that they will be at least as good or better than they were a year ago.

In Baltimore the only real change to the lineup is swapping Anthony Santander for Tyler O'Neill. The best case scenario there, however, is a lateral move rather than a massive improvement.

Santander was one of the few things working on offense throughout the last campaign, hitting 44 home runs with 102 RBI on a .235/.308/.506 slash line. Perhaps O'Neill can get on base a bit more often, but he likely won't match that home run total.

Their pitching staff got worse with the loss of Corbin Burnes. They now have to rely on a group of solid veterans and young star Grayson Rodriguez to get the job done.

The Orioles will need their youngsters like Jackson Holliday and Adley Rutschman to be much better next year if they hope to stay competitive and push the rivalry with the Yankees even further.