They displayed a championship trophy Tuesday morning at Yankee Stadium … the George M. Steinbrenner III Trophy, which goes to the winner of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
The Yankees’ president, on site to plug his successful college-football creation in a news conference, feels the Stadium isn’t far away from showcasing a more famous trophy.
“I think we’re as good as the Red Sox right now,” Randy Levine said of the Yankees. “I think they had a better postseason than us. … I said that postseason could have gone either way with a couple of innings.
“They have a great team and they’re going to be a really great team for a long time, but I think we’re as good as they are.”
The Yankees fell to their rivals, three games to one, in the American League Division Series, although you could argue they gave Boston its toughest challenge en route to the Sawx’s ninth title. Two of the Yankees’ three losses came by one run — the other came by 15 runs, to be fair — and Gary Sanchez nearly sent the Yankees to a walkoff victory in Game 4 when his long fly ball to left field settled in the glove of Andrew Benintendi for a ninth-inning sacrifice fly. The next batter, Gleyber Torres, then ended the season on a ground out to third base.
Of course, the Yankees, who finished eight games behind the Red Sox in the American League East, are not resting on any such beliefs of what could’ve been. They already acquired left-hander James Paxton in a trade with the Mariners.
Asked about the recent comments of Phillies owner John Middleton, who told USA Today that his team may “even be a little bit stupid” about spending on free agents, Levine said: “We just do the best we can. We really don’t worry about anybody else. Last I looked, we were under the [luxury] tax. We’re pretty financially prudent these days.“
Nevertheless, Levine stressed the Yankees would exceed the luxury-tax threshold of $206 million in 2019 if general manager Brian Cashman made a strong case to do so.
Wisconsin and Miami will face off in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl here on Dec. 27.