Melancon Excited To Be On 'Better Side' Of Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Mark Melancon may owe a lot to the Yankees organization for getting his baseball career started, but the new Red Sox reliever made it clear which side of the rivalry he's on now.
"Oh yeah, I'm so excited," Melancon told reporters on Thursday. "I've been on the other side for so long, it's bickering back and forth and you hear the differences but you always have respect for your competition. Now I'm on the other side of the fence, which is the better side. So I'm looking forward to it."
Melancon On Sox-Yankees Rivalry
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Melancon was drafted by the Yankees in 2006 made his MLB debut with them in 2009 before being traded to Houston in 2010 in the deal for Lance Berkman. Despite his new allegiance, he did express thanks to his former team. He even said the Yankees aren't all that different from his new employers.
"I respect those guys. I'm so appreciative that I came up through the Yankees organization. I have a lot of respect for them and they're first class," Melancon said. "It's very similar actually in the way they go about things. Winning is a priority, and that shows."
When Melancon was traded to the Red Sox in December, he was believed to be a contender for the closer's position left vacant by Jonathan Papelbon. The acquisition of Andrew Bailey later in the winter changed that, but Melancon said he'll bring a closer's mentality to whatever role he's given in the bullpen.
"Being in that role is kind of what I've been striving for my whole career," Melancon said of his 20 saves for the Astros last year. "Being here now, obviously that might change, but still, anywhere in the back end of the bullpen, you have to treat it like it's a save situation. I'll use that experience [from] last year to do that here."
Bailey has averaged 25 saves per season over the past three years, and Melancon said the former A's closer deserves that spot in Boston. However, Melancon won't let that affect the way he approaches the season.
"There's nothing in concrete ... it's wide open basically," Melancon said of the bullpen roles this year. "I think competition is good and I think everybody would agree with that."
