The New York Yankees and Houston Astros have been on a collision course since spring training. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman began a little war of words with Astros owner Jim Crane, blaming the Yankees' lack of World Series appearances since 2009 on the Astros' cheating scandal.
"The only thing that stopped [us] was something that was so illegal and horrific," Cashman told The Athletic in March, referencing his 2017 club that lost to the Astros in seven games in the ALCS. "So I get offended when I start hearing we haven't been to the World Series since '09.