10 Reasons The Yankees Vs Red Sox Rivalry Now Sucks

5. They're Willing To Trade With Each Other

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10UeUhkui8o One of the unwritten rules in professional sports is never to trade players within your division, especially not to your biggest rival. Why on earth would a team want to make a deal that could potentially make their rival a better team? For years, the Yankees and Red Sox subscribed to this theory. Prior to the 2014 season, the last Yankees/Red Sox trade happened in 1997, when the Yankees traded Tony Armas and Jim Mecir to the Red Sox for Randy Brown and Mike Stanley. That all changed this year, when the Yanks and Sox agreed to trade their struggling infielders to each other. On July 31, the Yanks sent Kelly Johnson to the Sox (who they later released, and he ended up on the Orioles) for Stephen Drew (who might start at shortstop for the Yankees next season after Derek Jeter€™s retirement). That ended a 17-year trade drought between the two teams. If the teams don€™t care about trading with each other, the rivalry loses a bit of steam.