Davidoff: Yankees-Red Sox rivalry? Wait till next year

Versus, the sports network, is planning a documentary on sports rivalries, using this weekend's Red Sox-Yankees series as the focus.

Doesn't quite sound like must-see TV, does it?

No, at the moment, this storied saga is on sick leave. The Yankees, using substitute starter Dustin Moseley, kicked around the Red Sox and Opening Day starter Josh Beckett last night, 7-2, as if they were the Royals or something.

You can't predict baseball, I once heard a dude say on the radio, but let's go for it: The Yankees, at 69-41 and with a 7-4 edge against Boston this year, simply won't be caught from behind by the 63-49 Red Sox. This on the heels of a 2009 in which the Yankees returned to the Canyon of Heroes and Boston got swept by the Angels in the American League Division Series.

So what's going on? Why has the rivalry tipped southward for the moment? A few reasons come to mind:

1. Money. The Red Sox began the season with a payroll of $162,447,333, according to USA Today's calculations, and the Yankees $206,333,389. That extra $44 million will buy you plenty of room for error.

It means that when A.J. Burnett turns out not to be worth anywhere in the neighborhood of $16.5 million annually - back problems scratched him last night - the Yankees can shrug it off. It means that when Alex Rodriguez often plays more like 45 than 35, you can hang in there.

Despite such underachievement issues - throw Derek Jeter in there, too - the Yanks have never spent their dollars more wisely, when you factor in fiscal overachievers such as Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and Phil Hughes. Which makes it more difficult for Boston when . . .

2. . . . Poor investments are made by the Red Sox. Beckett signed a four-year, $68-million extension, starting next season, on the second day of the season. Since then, he has a 5.97 ERA in 11 starts, missing more than two months with a lower back strain. He lasted only 4 2/3 innings last night, and in four starts against the Yankees this season, he has totaled 19 1/3 innings, less than five innings per start.

John Lackey, who left the Angels last December to sign a five-year, $82-million agreement with Boston, is putting together his worst full season. The number-crunchers could tell you that he had faded the last couple of years, so the signing seemed out of character for Boston. Do Mets fans still wish Lackey was theirs?

Throw in Mike Cameron (lower abdominal strain), probably done for the season after only 48 games after signing a two-year, $15.5-million contract, and you get the idea. And that also leads us naturally into the next item . . .

3. . . . Injuries. Besides Cameron and Lackey, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek, Clay Buchholz and Hideki Okajima have spent time on the disabled list, and the absolute killer occurred when Kevin Youkilis suffered a season-ending tear of his right thumb.

Nevertheless, as the wise people at Baseball Prospectus say, staying healthy represents a skill in itself, and the Red Sox medical staff has received much credit the past few years for being ahead of the curve. Just as the Mets' doctors and trainers had to at least stand in front of what transpired in 2009, so goes it with these Red Sox.

4. Mystique and aura. Yeah, not really. But any perceived "mental edge" the Sox held over the Yankees - remember when Boston won the first eight rivalry games last season - seems as long gone as the Macarena. Hey, Versus? Can I show you something in a Yankees-Rays series? Either check that out, or wait 'til Yanks-Sox 2011.