New York’s newest Yankee, Juan Soto, has never met the Fenway Faithful.

The only three games he’s ever played in Major League Baseball’s oldest ballpark were in August 2020, when fans weren’t allowed in the stands.

Of course, if the Red Sox don’t make any marquee roster additions of their own, Fenway might be nearly as empty when the Yankees next come to town in June (14-16).

During their last visit to Boston in mid-September, bleacher seats could be had for a mere dollar (plus taxes and fees). A far cry from the titanic clashes that have defined this storied rivalry for over a century, the four-game set was embarrassing: two teams jockeying to stay out of last place, on the road to nowhere.

New York finished fourth, but eked out an 82-80 mark to extend their winning-season streak to 31 years. Boston finished last, and with a losing record, for the third time in four years. So, if the Red Sox were already under pressure to make a statement this offseason, the Yankees’ acquisition of outfielders Soto and Trent Grisham on Thursday evening ups that pressure tenfold.

Soto is a game-changing addition, a defibrillator to the struggling Bronx lineup. The ‘23 Yankees had the second-fewest hits (1,207), fewest doubles (221), and were fifth-worst in driving in (650) and scoring runs (673) in the AL. Their collective .223 average, .304 on-base, and .397 slugging percentage ranked second-, fourth-, and fifth-worst, respectively. Soto’s 156 hits – one shy of his personal best – would’ve put them above AL-average. He homered a career-high 35 times, which would’ve ranked second to Judge, and fifth in the league. (Rafael Devers finished fifth and led the Red Sox with 33.)

Drawing walks is one of the only things New York did well; their 557 free passes ranked third in the AL this year. Soto drew 132, and led the Majors for the third consecutive year. He’s also consistently healthier than current Yankees sluggers. He played all 162 regular-season games, something no Yankee has done since Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodríguez in ‘05. The last Yankee to play 160 games was Robinson Canó in ‘13.

Good for the Yankees. Bad for the rest of the AL East. Especially the Red Sox.

Getting Soto signals that the Yankees want to be The Yankees again, and only makes the Red Sox look worse; they’re in a significantly better position to make blockbuster trades and signings, and have been beaten to the punch by their biggest rival.

As of August, MLB, Baseball America, and ESPN all rank Boston’s farm system better than New York’s. FanGraphs currently has Boston No. 2, the Yankees No. 24. Boston’s biggest trade of the offseason thus far? Alex Verdugo … to the Yankees.

Money should never be an issue for franchises as wealthy as the Red Sox and Yankees, but it’s worth mentioning that the former is currently without a Competitive Balance Threshold penalty, while the latter has already been in excess for two years, and is likely to make it a three-peat. The Yankees finished this season second only to their crosstown rival Mets in payroll, and by going more than $40M above the $233M threshold, will incur draft penalties as well as heightened financial repercussions. And yet, they’re showing no sign of scrimping; according to MLB Trade Rumors’ projections, arbitration salaries for Soto ($33M), Grisham ($4.9M) and Verdugo ($9.2M) could add nearly $50M to the Bronx books.

In terms of guaranteed salaries, New York already has at least $108M committed annually until ‘28, while Boston has no more than $80M committed beyond the upcoming season, and only Devers’ contract beyond ‘27. But while both teams are reportedly in the mix for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Yankees have made him their top free-agent priority. They’re currently a stronger contender to sign the star Japanese pitcher – and Masataka Yoshida’s friend and longtime teammate – who’s expected to command a long-term deal worth upwards of $200M.

Yamamoto has reportedly narrowed his potential destination to seven teams; the Yankees are among five known suitors, while the Red Sox may be one of the unidentified two.

The Yankees are flexing their muscles; Boston’s seem atrophied from years of playing it safe. Being interested, waiting and seeing, and lack of aggressiveness defined the Red Sox since their last championship in ‘18, and reporters heard those buzzwords plenty during this week’s Winter Meetings.

“There are a bunch of guys that we’re interested in,” Craig Breslow told the Herald and other reporters at the Winter Meetings on Wednesday. “I’m very, very confident that those groups know that we’re interested in them, and to some degree, we’re kind of subject to those timelines. But I do think that we’ve been adamant and aggressive in ensuring that our interest is known.”

According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Boston “showed interest” in re-signing Eduardo Rodriguez, “but preferred to wait” on Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga. They’re “one of many in on” Imanaga.

One team source told The Athletic that so far, Breslow’s first offseason has been “remarkably similar to the past four under Chaim Bloom.”

The Yankees are clearly operating differently.

“They were aggressive,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller told reporters on Wednesday. “They clearly made it known that this was a deal and a player (they wanted).”

In the technical sense, it’s true that the first week of December is too early to panic. But the optics are frustrating and less than flattering. Until proven otherwise, the general consensus is that the Red Sox are staying on the same path that’s led them nowhere.

If the uphill battle seemed as tall as Denali before, it’s Everestian now that Soto is wearing pinstripes.

The real question, though, is whether the Red Sox want to attempt the climb at all.