FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Yankees have much to worry about these days. One of their biggest concerns has to be the championship commitment from Red Sox ownership.
Not only in dollars spent, but in mindset as well.
Larry Lucchino, one of those Red Sox owners, recently got banged up in a motorcycle accident in California on a road leading to the Point Reyes Lighthouse.
Lucchino has been riding a motorcycle for many years and counts himself a big fan of "Sons of Anarchy.''
The Yankees and Red Sox have long had a turf war in the AL East, a war the Red Sox are winning on and off the field.
They have won three championships over the last 11 years. The Yankees have one over the past 14 years.
"We're in it to win championships,'' Lucchino said Wednesday at JetBlue Park. "We're not in it to be consistently second or consistently third. We want to win championships.''
Noted Tom Werner, another of the Boston owners: "We have a strong commitment to winning. We play for championships. We were all smarting over the [last-place] finish we had last year.
"It's our intention to play baseball in October every year. We know that we made some mistakes last year and those mistakes were compounded by injury.''
The Red Sox are beating the Yankees at their own game, with the signing this week of 19-year-old Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada the latest victory.
Some maintain the Red Sox have become the new Evil Empire, the nickname Lucchino mockingly stuck on the Yankees.
Lucchino, though, didn't want any part of that comparison.
"There are a lot of things people could get me to say, but I could never admit to that," Lucchino said. "Not by a long shot in my mind.''
The Red Sox have become more of an empire, evil or not.
The Red Sox outbid the Yankees for Cuban star Yoan MoncadaPhoto: AP
They have spent $329 million on acquiring players in recent months.
"We are different. We run our clubs differently,'' Lucchino said of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. "There's a commonality in our willingness to invest in sizable sums for baseball players, whether they be short-term additions or long-term development projects.''
It's not simply about writing checks, it's about identifying talent and the Sawx have found more ways to win championships than the Yankees have in recent history. That is a testament to ownership and management.
Even though the Red Sox have only one postseason appearance over the last five seasons, Werner looks at the 10-year window from 2004 to 2013. "I look at it that we've won three championships of the last 10,'' he said. "When I look at the group of players this year, it gives me a feeling similar to 2013.
"I feel a great sense of optimism.''
The signing of Moncada, who arrived here Wednesday and then headed to Boston for a physical, speaks volumes.
"Our baseball operations people all had a very, very strong review and recommendation for this player,'' Werner said. "We put a lot of weight into our baseball [operations] people. We wanted to add depth to our organization.''
The Yankees thought highly of Moncada, too, but didn't close the deal like the Red Sox did by spending $63 million.
"It speaks volumes about our commitment to winning that we've been talking about since we got here,'' Lucchino said. "That's the basic rock on which the church is built.''
The Red Sox will cross over the $200 million mark in payroll this season after finishing in last place for the second time in three years.
"In 2003 with a disappointing season, we increased our payroll about $35 million the next year because we didn't want to finish second,'' Lucchino said.
"In 2006 we increased our payroll about $30 or $35 million. So we have invested in the future. Many times it has worked out in the short-term, sometimes there are longer-term investments. We are willing to sacrifice some profits for a winning baseball team.''
That is the way to get the championship job done.
Evil or not, the Red Sox have become the better Empire.
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