Hearing this, Ohtani Shohei laughed out loud on the other end of the phone: "Let me put it out there first—although your Yankees are the defending champions, I won't be afraid of you guys when we actually face off, so don't cry if you lose the game."

"I should be the one telling you that, high schooler—hope you'll manage to get at least one hit off me by then." Over the phone, Lin Guanglai bantered back with Ohtani Shohai without holding back, and even after he hung up, a smile lingered on his face.

Looking at the swaying palm trees and the blue waves not far away, Lin Guanglai felt his mood lift: "The new season is coming!"

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After a nearly half-year-long off-season, the defending champions New York Yankees hoisted their 28th World Series championship banner over the Bronx before the opening game, reigniting the flames of the 2018 Major League Baseball season.

In this past off-season, many prestigious teams have changed coaches, and many star players have switched teams... Including traditional powerhouses like the Red Sox and Dodgers, as well as rising young teams like the Nationals and Braves—all teams share the same goal: to overthrow the "evil dominion" of the New York Yankees and reclaim the championship from them.

Last season's championship experience brought a tremendous boost to this relatively young and inexperienced New York Yankees team: Compared to the postseason, where almost every game felt like dancing on a knife's edge, the regular season games were less intense, and the players faced them with a more relaxed mindset.

Besides, Cashman's off-season work was quite outstanding—not only did he retain most of last season's championship mainstays, but he also completed several noteworthy operations:

The catcher J.T. Realmuto acquired from the Marlins still has enormous potential to be tapped into, and many professionals consider him a strong candidate for the future top catcher in the majors; in the preseason, the cooperation between Realmuto and Lin Guanglai demonstrated considerable intensity, making many Major League hitters struggle to cope; 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

With Realmuto's arrival, Gary Sanchez, moved to first base, had his defensive duties significantly reduced, allowing him to focus more on offense, further unleashing the power of this promising young hitter;

Although the Yankees lost Todd Frazier, who performed well in the postseason, they promoted a promising rookie, Miguel Andujar, from the minor leagues and also acquired a utility infielder, Brandon Drury, from the Arizona Diamondbacks—these two are capable of holding up the Yankees' third base defense.

With these operations, the Yankees' roster depth has not decreased but increased compared to last season, and most importantly, the team's total salary has been reduced below the $195 million competitive balance tax—don't get it wrong, this doesn't mean the Yankees aren't planning to spend money; in fact, it's to allow them to spend even more in the future.

By keeping salaries low without affecting roster strength this season, the Yankees can endure fewer penalties and gain more flexibility when signing free agents in the 2018-19 season:

Note that at the end of this season, many stars, including Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, and Dallas Keuchel, will become completely free agents. With the Yankees' now extremely healthy salary structure and brand value, they can at least grab one Big Name, reviving the glory of the Evil Empire.

Right from the start of the new season, the newly revamped Yankees demonstrated very formidable strength: Lin Guanglai's pitching was invincible, and the Detroit Tigers had no power to parry in the opening game; Aaron Judge's artillery was still powerful, with hit after hit driving the home crowd at Yankee Stadium crazy—

At the start of the season, the Yankees pulled off a 10-game winning streak, averaging 6.7 runs per game off their opponents while conceding less than 3 runs. Such an outstanding state allowed them to quickly build a huge lead in the first month of the season, topping the league early and leaving many competitors far behind.

This form even continued until after the All-Star break: By the end of All-Star Game day, the New York Yankees were ahead of the entire league by 10 games, making it seem like only a matter of time before they secured the league's top spot.

However, just like other defending champions who failed in the past few years, injuries suddenly became a major obstacle stopping the Yankees from advancing further:

On July 26, 2018, in a home game against the Kansas City Royals, Aaron Judge, the team's main outfielder and top scorer, was hit on the right wrist by a 93 mph fastball thrown by Royals pitcher Jakob Junis, forcing him to exit the game immediately—the CT scan showed that this hit-by-pitch caused a fracture to Judge's wrist, and he would miss at least over a month in the most optimistic scenario.

This unexpected incident was a huge blow to the Yankees: The Yankees' lineup was dominant in the league, and many teams dared not easily use the intentional walk tactic on their power hitters because of the top hitters Lin Guanglai and Judge being strategically placed one before the other. Now, with a crucial power point missing, although Gary Sanchez can cover part of the power loss, he still falls short of the mighty Judge.

Marking Judge's injury as the turning point, the Yankees' performance in the second half of the season was not as outstanding as in the first half:

Without Aaron Judge, a major power threat, the Yankees' main competitors became increasingly fearless, intentionally walking Lin Guanglai in crucial moments, while the hitters behind him frequently failed to convert the on-base advantage into real scores;

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox, whose roster was significantly upgraded in the off-season and gradually seasoned, were led by their offensive-minded head coach Dusty Baker, advancing triumphantly and continuously closing the win-gap between them and the Yankees.

Starting from late August, with the formal arrival of the regular season's final sprint phase, the American League East Division became hell on earth for other teams: To compete for the league's top ranking, the long-standing rivals New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox battled fiercely, with every direct confrontation capable of igniting the entire North American baseball scene.

It was during this time that Aaron Judge, who had been out due to injury for nearly two months, made a comeback, and the newly reformed Yankees lineup finally dazzled once again:

The last three games of the regular season were precisely the three-match series between the Yankees and the Red Sox at Fenway Park; faced with the deafening boos and curses from the Fenway crowd, the United Yankees players stood united and completed a triple sweep of their archenemies on the road, turning the entire Boston into a library while topping the league with a 108-54 record by stepping over the Red Sox at their home.

"Since entering the 21st century, the word 'defend' seems to have been cursed by a wizard—in the past 17 seasons, the closest to achieving this feat was the Phillies, led by their four aces, who defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, but lost 2-4 to the Yankees in the following year's World Series."

"And now, with the glamorous return of the Evil Empire, the Yankees, who have thrice achieved this feat in their history, are set to start another challenge: A group of talented young people band together, stirring a youthful storm in the major leagues... Last season, they were the last ones laughing, and this season, they became league leaders again."

"At least from now, a brand new dynasty seems to be gradually taking shape..."