Plenty of Rivalry Weekend intrigue, plus Babe Ruth-Frida Kahlo connections

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It’s Rivalry Weekend! Today, we talk about three of the rivalry lid-lifters — the Subway Series, the Freeway Series and the Silver Boot Series.

Plus: a connection between Babe Ruth and Frida Kahlo? I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!

Don’t Miss This: Soto Subway Series begins tonight

This is far from the first Subway Series between the Yankees and Mets. It’s not even the one with the highest stakes, if you count the 2000 World Series. But it feels like it’s the most anticipated one in quite some time, for a couple of reasons.

First of all, both teams lead their respective East divisions — the Yankees at 25-18 and the Mets at 28-16. It’s far too early (and the Tigers and, well, a few NL teams are far too good) to say this is a World Series preview, necessarily. But it helps make things more interesting when both teams are good.

• In fact, I think it’s a bit more interesting when the “little brother” Mets are slightly better than the Yankees. But that’s old thinking, really. The Mets haven’t been anyone’s little brother since Steve Cohen bought the team.

And that leads us to the second (and main) reason this one seems bigger: Juan Soto. 

As you might remember, Soto helped lead the Yankees to the World Series last year and then signed with the cross-town Mets this offseason for a record $765 million.

Maybe this is also old thinking, but it seems like outbidding the Yankees is a particularly offensive slight, given their decades-long reputation as the Monopoly Man of baseball teams. That’s not true anymore, though. In fact, the Yankees have the fifth–highest payroll, behind the Phillies, Mets, Dodgers and … Blue Jays?

At any rate, the metaphorical white glove has been whipped across the Yankees’ face. The Bronx faithful should be in prime form, and Soto is likely to hear the loudest of boos. (He says he doesn’t mind that.)

It should be a fun one. (All Rivalry Weekend games are free on MLB.TV, by the way.)

More Subway Series:

Ken’s Notebook: Angels’ glaring Ohtani missteps in focus

From my most recent column:

Just wondering: When owner Arte Moreno watches his last-place Los Angeles Angels face Shohei Ohtani and the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, what will he see?

Here’s what Moreno should see, if he is looking at things objectively: how he blew one opportunity after another when Ohtani was an Angel, setting his franchise back in innumerable ways.

Moreno never built a winner around Ohtani, failed to recognize the historic financial potential of a once-in-a-lifetime player and blocked the front office from trading him when it became clear the team was not close to contending for a World Series title.

If Moreno had shown vision, the Angels could have planted a flag in Japan the way the Dodgers did, becoming a destination for players from that baseball-obsessed country — and a money-making machine to rival and perhaps even surpass their neighbors to the north.

As Ohtani approached free agency, Moreno on multiple occasions could have authorized his front office to trade the two-way superstar, with future San Diego Padres superstar Jackson Merrill among the prospects in play at the 2022 deadline.

And when Ohtani became a free agent, Moreno could have said yes to the same terms the Dodgers did — 10 years, $700 million, with all but $20 million deferred.

Ohtani still might have bolted for the Dodgers, who won the World Series in his inaugural season, rather than remain with the Angels, who are headed for their 10th straight losing campaign. But Moreno seemingly did not even grasp that Ohtani was offering a gift, one that enabled the Dodgers to load up on other high-priced talent while simultaneously transforming their franchise into an economic powerhouse.

The Angels had Ohtani first. The Angels could have built a worldwide empire. But while the Angels surely benefited financially during Ohtani’s tenure from 2018 to ‘23, they didn’t sufficiently leverage his presence to attract additional Japanese players, build a massive portfolio of Japanese sponsorships and beat the Dodgers to the punch.

More here.

Duels: Brown vs. DeGrom did not disappoint

For Yankees-Mets, Angels-Dodgers and a number of other Rivalry Weekend matchups, it’s a head-to-head that we get once or twice a year. For the Rangers and Astros, both denizens of the AL West, the matchup has grown into one of the better division rivalries of the last decade — 11 of the last 15 AL West pennants have gone to a Texas team.

Last night marked the beginning of the first of four series between the teams this year, and it promised to be a doozy. Here are the lines for the starting pitchers (before last night).

• Hunter Brown, Astros: 6-1, 1.48, 58 Ks 14 BBs, 48 2/3 innings
• Jacob DeGrom, Rangers: 3-1, 2.72, 46 Ks, 10 BBs, 43 innings

Sometimes, these matchups blow up into 12-8 barnburners. Not last night. Here’s how each of the starters did:

• Brown: 8 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts (new ERA: 1.43)
• DeGrom: 8 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts (new ERA: 2.29)

The difference maker? A solo home run by Jake Burger in the sixth inning accounted for all the scoring in the 1-0 Rangers win.

Chandler Rome has a full write-up here on the pitchers’ duel that lived up to expectations. Tonight’s matchup is slightly more lopsided: Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 1.78 ERA) has been one of the league’s best starters, while Lance McCullers Jr. (four innings pitched across two starts) is still trying to find his sea legs after a multiyear absence.

More Rivalry Week: Braves-Red Sox? (It’s because the Braves resided in Boston seven decades ago. Yeah, it’s a stretch.) Anyway, Chris Sale will start against his former team.

Puzzles: Let’s link Frida Kahlo and Babe Ruth in 2 steps …

Handshakes and High Fives

You’ve heard a lot about the “Era Committee” this week. Our resident Hall of Famer Jayson Stark tells you everything you need to know about it. I’m a member of the BBWAA, and even I learned a lot about the process from Jayson here.

I also learned a little more about “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from Jon Greenberg’s column, which includes quotes from a surprising number of Joe Jacksons (all of whom are related).

Tyler Kepner’s “Sliders” column starts with Paul Goldschmidt’s base-running and ends with a rap battle between Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen. No, really.

Former MLB shortstop Rafael Furcal was arrested. He is facing two felony charges, including throwing a “missile” into a public or private dwelling (it’s not clear what type of item the “missile” was).

Hitting nerds: Jen McCaffrey has a great one for you, reporting on Alex Bregman’s pregame cage routine, which has led to a renaissance in 2025.

Twins Win Streak Counter: 11 games! The Twins beat the Orioles 4-0 yesterday as Chris Paddack went seven scoreless. Of concern: Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa left the game after a collision on a pop-up. Also: The Twins shook up their rotation, sending Simeon Woods Richardson to the minors.

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(Top photo: Cary Edmondson, Tim Vizer / Imagn Images)

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