Throughout the season the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we debated the best pitcher in baseball. This week we're going to tackle the best rivalry.
What is the best rivalry in baseball right now?
R.J. Anderson: I suspect we'll get some Yankees-Rays and Padres-Dodgers responses, so I'll say Mets-Braves for the sake of variety. Those two teams have a ton of star players; their fan bases do not like one another; and there's oftentimes stakes attached to the games. That's good enough for me. There's also enough history here to safely describe it as a rivalry. (I know some argue about when, precisely, a matchup can be labeled as such.)
Matt Snyder: There might be some legs to this Blue Jays-Yankees thing after the last few days. I'm still a fan of the bigger throwbacks like Giants-Dodgers, Cubs-Cardinals and Yankees-Red Sox, too, but right now there doesn't seem to be a ton of punch in any of those. I'll go with the Dodgers-Padres. If not for the playoffs last year, I'd say it's too one-sided in favor of the Dodgers. With the Padres having knocked out the 111-win Dodgers from the NLDS in four games, however, along with San Diego showing a willingness to spend like Los Angeles, I have very high hopes for this thing the rest of the season and maybe, hopefully, into the playoffs.
Mike Axisa: This is probably recency bias, but I'll go with Yankees-Rays. Their games are almost always close -- six of their seven games over the last two weeks were decided by one run -- and there's legitimate bad blood that dates back a few years. The two teams don't like each other and it shows on the field. The games are intense and entertaining. The best rivalries are competitive and Dodgers-Padres has been a little too one-sided the last two years. I'll be a prisoner of the moment and say Yankees-Rays.
Dayn Perry: My evergreen answer is Dodgers-Giants, but thanks to the Giants that one's not especially relevant right now. In lieu of that, I'll sign on to Dodgers-Padres. They share a division, there's geographical proximity, and they're both current big spenders and contenders. As well, there's also a "little brother" element to it given what a global brand the Dodgers are and how much they've dominated the Padres head-to-head in recent years.
