Stripes or Sox? Rivals’ biggest offseason moves

The Red Sox and Yankees boast one of the most storied rivalries in all of sports. For more than a century, the two franchises have met in 2,156 regular-season games and in three postseason series, compiling a rich history of competition.

On occasion, the rivalry has extended into the offseason, when the American League East foes have competed in a number of free-agency battles. Just this month, New York and Boston were among the teams vying for Carlos Beltran’s services before the free-agent slugger signed with the Astros.

Perhaps the most famous instance of these historic franchises facing off on the open market took place 14 years ago today. That Christmas Eve centered around Cuban hurler Jose Contreras, a coveted free agent who defected from the island nation in 2002. Contreras’ signing prompted Boston’s team president, Larry Lucchino, to declare the Yankees as baseball’s “evil empire.”

“The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” Lucchino told the New York Times after Boston fell short in the bidding war for Contreras. The Red Sox had just finished as the runner-up to the Yankees in the AL East for a fifth consecutive season, and now New York had signed the right-hander to a four-year, $32 million deal.

Contreras’ stay in New York was ultimately short-lived — he was traded to the White Sox for Esteban Loaiza at the non-waiver Trade Deadline in 2004 — but it was successful nonetheless. In his rookie season, he posted a 3.30 ERA through 18 games (nine starts) and helped the Yankees claim yet another AL pennant.

Contreras wasn’t the first (nor the last) free agent to find himself courted by both the Yankees and Red Sox. These long-time rivals have enjoyed their share of success in recent years — with the Red Sox holding the edge in championships since the turn of the century (3-2) — but these offseason clashes have traditionally been dominated by the deep-pocketed Yankees.

“The Yankees have more resources than any other club in baseball,” former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein told the New York Times in 2003. “They’re always going to be a force in the market. That’s something other clubs have to deal with in developing strategies and executing them.”

On today’s anniversary of the birth of the “evil empire,” here is a look at a few other notable free-agency bouts the Yankees and Red Sox have engaged in over the years:

Bernie Williams For a …

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