The Yankees actually scare me this year (1 Viewer)

[David Yudkin]

Well, the Yans certainly are not getting any younger. Here are their ages as of opening day . . .

Randy Johnson SP 42

Mike Mussina SP 37

Gary Sheffield RF 37

Bernie Williams CF 37

Mike Myers RP 36

Mariano Rivera RP 36

Ron Villone RP/SP 36

Kelly Stinnett C 36

Tanyon Sturtze RP/SP 35

Jason Giambi 1B 35

Aaron Small SP 34

Jorge Posada C 34

Octavio Dotel RP 32

Johnny Damon CF 32

Hideki Matsui LF/CF 31

Miguel Cairo 2B/1B 31

Derek Jeter SS 31

Carl Pavano SP 30

Jaret Wright SP 30

Alex Rodríguez 3B 30

Bubba Crosby CF/RF 29

Kyle Farnsworth RP 29

Shawn Chacón SP 28

Chien-Ming Wang SP 26

Robinson Canó 2B 23

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

I think that Johnson's health is their only real concern.  Chacon will be nails and while Mussina isn't as dominant as he used to be he is still a quality starter.

How does their rotation stack up?

Unit

Mussina

Pavano

Chacon

then they have to rely on Wang or Wright.  Pavano is dinged up a little bit so if Unit isn't healthy they have major pitching issues.  I will go out on a limb and say that Chacon may wind up being their best pitcher this year.

I think Unit gets it back. He has his first year in NY under his belt, and I think things will be different for him mentally this year.I agree Chacon is going to be big for them. And nobody looked better than Wang when healthy last year.

They have 6 guys who have proved capable of being quality starters. With that lineup, they really only need 4 of them to pan out and 3 to be ready come playoff time.

No, it's no reverse jinx. I'm a Cardinals fan. I couldn't care less who comes out of the AL.

Hey, I'm a Redbird fan, too! I think the Cardinals are seriously overlooked this year in the talk that they did not make enough offseason moves. That is the way I thought at first, but my optimism has returned thanks to the shakeup in the bullpen.

C - Molina will be better offensively and he was already good behind the plate.

1B - Pujols is God.

2B - Hopefully Spivey stays healthy and I think he can adequately fill Grudz' position. Defensively a bit of a hit, but he should hit as good or better than Grudz (although Grudz did have a great year last). If Spivey gets hurt we always can fall back on Miles.

3B - Rloen must stay healthy (a BIG if). With the lost of Nunez we don't have much wiggle room at third.

SS - Eckstein - what a gamer. A true Cardinal.

OF - Encarnacion has never lived up to his potential. He will in St Louis. At the very least he is a younger model of Reggie Sanders. Edmonds is getting long in the tooth but is a stud in CF and I'm hoping his hitting does not continue to slide. As for the last OF position, I am not sold on Bigbie and I would like to see what Taguchi can do for a whole season. Rodriguez is a role player at best.

SP - Carpenter is nails, might fall off alittle bit but not much. Mulder will emerge as the staff ace this year, bank on it. Suppan is a decent #3, but steps it up in the playoffs. Marquis - blech. Someday it would be nice to see him realize his potential. Ponson is a wildcard. He has potential if he can stay off the bottle and away from the dinner table.

RP - didn't like the Looper signing, but if it helped get rid of Ray King I'm all for it. Isringhausen just keeps plugging along and adding Rincon was huge. Hopefully we work in some of the rookies and see what they have either in long relief or spot starting.

I am predicting 92 - 70 as a worst case scenario. that will put us in the division race or a wildcard at a minimum.

 

[Reaper]

The Yankees are the main reason that an awful lot of people cannot stand baseball.

Not only is it a boring sport but what fun is it if a team can buy anyone they want to put on their roster.

There is no challenge, they should win their division by 20 games and it will mean absolutely nothing.

How can you be excited about a bought team and championship.

Well, coming from "Baseball is boring" there's not much that's going to satisfy you.But, You CAN'T Buy EVERYONE you want for your roster..... If they could they have a completely different pitching staff and Manny. They wouldn't have Damon - he's not a Great outfielder but, the market for centerfielders was slim.

You can only bid for the guys available.

Forget about the money - If it was ALL about money the Knicks would have 3 Championships in recent years...

IF you like baseball and KNOW baseball, then Evalauate the TALENT and discuss that - If you think baseball is boring then that's another thing.

 

[General Malaise]

how do I go about getting this thread past 5 pages?

Jose Lima's wife might help...

 

[Thread]

Excellent.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Pitching wins in the playoffs, and unfortunetely for Yankee fans, your staff is old.  I like the White Sox to repeat.

Beurhle, Garland, F. Garcia, Contreras, Vasquez, and McCarthy is sick.

This is the question. Who can take down the Yankees? White Sox? Not a bad choice. Good rotation. I still question their ability to repeat the timely hitting.

Red Sox? I think this team is done. Pack it in nad look to reload next season.

As? Probably still a year or two away.

Blue Jays? Oh, now we're talking. I like their off-season moves.

Indians? Strong second half. May fight out with the A's for best young team in AL

NL possibilities:

Cubs? Suck

Astros? Suckle

Cardinals? Didn't make the moves I would have liked to see in the off-season, but a healthy Rolen and the addition of Encarnacion won't hurt.

Mets? After Pedro's arm falls off, they're history.

Braves? Please

Entire West -

Boston is not done by a long shot....They have 7 legit starting pitchers - about 4 more than the Yankees. There's a great chance they can trade a guy here and add depth in the bullpen or get a stick. I'm thinking ManRam sticks it out with the Sawx and when you couple him with Ortiz, we're talking about one of the best hitting pairs in baseball. I love the addition of Loretta and I still think Varitek is a luxury few outside of Boston truly appreciate.

D-u-n, done. Yankees-Blue Jays for the division. And it will be every bit as entertaining as that race out West. Maybe more-so, with the Red Sox looking up at the Orioles, too.

 

[Reaper]

how do I go about getting this thread past 5 pages?

Jose Lima's wife might help...

The Yankees should buy some of THAT.

 

[General Malaise]

Pitching wins in the playoffs, and unfortunetely for Yankee fans, your staff is old.  I like the White Sox to repeat.

Beurhle, Garland, F. Garcia, Contreras, Vasquez, and McCarthy is sick.

This is the question. Who can take down the Yankees? White Sox? Not a bad choice. Good rotation. I still question their ability to repeat the timely hitting.

Red Sox? I think this team is done. Pack it in nad look to reload next season.

As? Probably still a year or two away.

Blue Jays? Oh, now we're talking. I like their off-season moves.

Indians? Strong second half. May fight out with the A's for best young team in AL

NL possibilities:

Cubs? Suck

Astros? Suckle

Cardinals? Didn't make the moves I would have liked to see in the off-season, but a healthy Rolen and the addition of Encarnacion won't hurt.

Mets? After Pedro's arm falls off, they're history.

Braves? Please

Entire West -

Boston is not done by a long shot....They have 7 legit starting pitchers - about 4 more than the Yankees. There's a great chance they can trade a guy here and add depth in the bullpen or get a stick. I'm thinking ManRam sticks it out with the Sawx and when you couple him with Ortiz, we're talking about one of the best hitting pairs in baseball. I love the addition of Loretta and I still think Varitek is a luxury few outside of Boston truly appreciate.

D-u-n, done. Yankees-Blue Jays for the division. And it will be every bit as entertaining as that race out West. Maybe more-so, with the Red Sox looking up at the Orioles, too.

I'm not sure you get the fundamentals of baseball....But since I'm here to help you, the odds on the Red Sox winning the WS are shorter than that of Toronto and Baltimore for a REASON. The biggest reason for this is that their starting pitching is, if as advertised, perhaps the deepest in baseball. That is a luxury that, in this watered down day and age, is extremely rare.

I'd rather have question marks in my lineup than in my rotation. Any day of the week.

 

[bialczabub]

My prediction for the AL East:

1. Yankees

2. Red Sox

3. Blue Jays

4. Devil Rays

5. Orioles

 

[Yankee23Fan]

The Yankees are the main reason that an awful lot of people cannot stand baseball.

Not only is it a boring sport but what fun is it if a team can buy anyone they want to put on their roster.

There is no challenge, they should win their division by 20 games and it will mean absolutely nothing.

How can you be excited about a bought team and championship.

 

[General Malaise]

My prediction for the AL East:

1. Yankees

2. Red Sox

3. Blue Jays

4. Devil Rays

5. Orioles

1. Red Sox2. Yankees

3. Blue Jays

4. Orioles

5. Devil Rays

Toronto should consider moving to the NL.

 

[General Malaise]

AL West

1. Angels

2. A's

3. Rangers

4. Mariners

 

[General Malaise]

AL Central:

1. Chicago

2. Cleveland

3. Minnesota

4. Detroit

5. Kansas City

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

how do I go about getting this thread past 5 pages?

Jose Lima's wife might help...

Why do you want this thread to go five pages? Post padding?

 

[bialczabub]

My prediction for the AL East:

1. Yankees

2. Red Sox

3. Blue Jays

4. Devil Rays

5. Orioles

1. Red Sox2. Yankees

3. Blue Jays

4. Orioles

5. Devil Rays

Toronto should consider moving to the NL.

While I wouldn't say the Red Sox can't win the AL East this year, they can't be the favorite.Essentially the Yankees cannot have as many starting pitching problems this year as they did last year, and their lineup is better. Fewer starting pitching problems = less used middle relievers, which plugs the Yankees main weakness over the past 3 seasons or so.

Furthermore, the Red Sox have lost a bit with their lineup, and a lot of their pitching is IMO a question mark. Wells and Schilling? Who knows how they'll do this year? And I've stated this before, Josh Beckett in his last season with the Marlins looked a lot more like Carl Pavano in his last season witht he team than the Josh Beckett of the 2003 playoffs. Can Clement be as good as he was for the first half of last season? Will his overall play this season eclipse the "half-phenom/half-horrible" year he had last year? Will Foulke be effective at all?

I'm not saying the Sox can't do it, but I think the Yankees clearly have to be considered the favorite.

 

[General Malaise]

how do I go about getting this thread past 5 pages?

Jose Lima's wife might help...

Why do you want this thread to go five pages? Post padding?

While I strive to be a post padder most days, Bob Sacamano responded to me that if this thread went past 5 pages, he would play in a Fantasy Baseball League I'm organizing and hope to finalize by tomorrow. We're looking for 12-14 teams with the following rules:5x5, mixed

Runs, RBI, HR, On Base Pct, SB

Wins, SVs, K, ERA, WHIP

1450 max innings

1 C

1 1B

1 2B

1 SS

1 3B

1 MI

1 CI

5 OF

2 UTIL

9 P

5 BENCH

2 Disabled List

In so far:

GM

JTC

Bobby Sac (if this goes to 5 pages)

Melvin

Zilla/Jet

Tough as Nails

JoeT

Sofa Kings

Anybody with an interest, let me know. We can keep the discussion here if need be.



Fatguy, play with us.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

how do I go about getting this thread past 5 pages?

Jose Lima's wife might help...

Why do you want this thread to go five pages? Post padding?

While I strive to be a post padder most days, Bob Sacamano responded to me that if this thread went past 5 pages, he would play in a Fantasy Baseball League I'm organizing and hope to finalize by tomorrow. We're looking for 12-14 teams with the following rules:5x5, mixed

Runs, RBI, HR, On Base Pct, SB

Wins, SVs, K, ERA, WHIP

1450 max innings

1 C

1 1B

1 2B

1 SS

1 3B

1 MI

1 CI

5 OF

2 UTIL

9 P

5 BENCH

2 Disabled List

In so far:

GM

JTC

Bobby Sac (if this goes to 5 pages)

Melvin

Zilla/Jet

Tough as Nails

JoeT

Sofa Kings

Anybody with an interest, let me know. We can keep the discussion here if need be.



Fatguy, play with us.

I'll play if you stop posting in this thread.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

We can keep the discussion here if need be.

Bobby Sac is a scoundrel.

 

[General Malaise]

My prediction for the AL East:

1. Yankees

2. Red Sox

3. Blue Jays

4. Devil Rays

5. Orioles

1. Red Sox2. Yankees

3. Blue Jays

4. Orioles

5. Devil Rays

Toronto should consider moving to the NL.

While I wouldn't say the Red Sox can't win the AL East this year, they can't be the favorite.Essentially the Yankees cannot have as many starting pitching problems this year as they did last year, and their lineup is better. Fewer starting pitching problems = less used middle relievers, which plugs the Yankees main weakness over the past 3 seasons or so.

Furthermore, the Red Sox have lost a bit with their lineup, and a lot of their pitching is IMO a question mark. Wells and Schilling? Who knows how they'll do this year? And I've stated this before, Josh Beckett in his last season with the Marlins looked a lot more like Carl Pavano in his last season witht he team than the Josh Beckett of the 2003 playoffs. Can Clement be as good as he was for the first half of last season? Will his overall play this season eclipse the "half-phenom/half-horrible" year he had last year? Will Foulke be effective at all?

I'm not saying the Sox can't do it, but I think the Yankees clearly have to be considered the favorite.

I agree with them being the favorite, but the favorite doesn't always win. They were heavily favored to beat the Marlins in '03...that didn't work so well. You could have made a fortune if you put 100 bucks on the Red Sox to win the ALCS in '04 down 3 games to none.I think the Sox have the right mix at SP, even if Wells or Schilling dies. I also think they have veterans in the pen who can close if Foulke struggles again.

I'd like to see more from the back end of my rotation before calling what the Yankees have "less problems" than the prior year.

 

[General Malaise]

We can keep the discussion here if need be.

Bobby Sac is a scoundrel.

I wonder if Larry Boy would like to talk Brewers....

 

[Bob Sacamano]

We can keep the discussion here if need be.

Bobby Sac is a scoundrel.

I don't know if I'm laughing harder at you or fatguy. But while I'm posting...Somebody (Besides GM) give me an idea what fantasy baseball is about. Never played before. Give me the low down. Where can I find rankings to help a noob, etc?

 

[bialczabub]

I'd like to see more from the back end of my rotation before calling what the Yankees have "less problems" than the prior year.

They had exactly 2 pitchers start over 20 games. They had 12 different pitchers start a game, 9 of whom started at least 9.Chien-Ming Wang was their third most used pitcher at 116.1 IP!

Being that they're all returning this year, sure they're a year older, but last season for the Yankees starting rotation was about as unlucky as possible in terms of injury.

If they had just sucked, that would be one thing, but they were constantly being injured and replaced, thereby forcing Torre to rely more on his middle relief.

Can you say Tanyon Sturtze?

The Yankees top three relievers last year all threw over 75 IP. Even without Eric Gagne to close, the Dodgers didn't match that last season.

Now once again, I'm not confident in this year's starters, but last year's injury rate had to be an anomaly.

 

[Dreamer]

Having Wright and Pavano trying to make your rotation as the 6th and 7th starter isn't too shabby.

And the lineup is the scariest in baseball.

How can a Sox fan be optimistic?

 

[Jefferson the Caregiver]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like. Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department.

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

 

[ThisGuy]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like. Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department.

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

Really not any more suspect as say, Boston. The only team in the AL with a solid rotation 1-5 is Chicago.

 

[curta269]

My Predictions for the upcoming season:

AL East-Red Sox

AL Central-White Sox

AL West-Angels

Wildcard-Yankees in a close race over Cleveland and Texas

NL East-Mets

NL Central-Cardinals

NL West-Diamondbacks

Wildcard-Brewers

My NL picks have some sleepers, I know. I think the Mets are the best team in the East, with all teams in the division being pretty good. I would take a wild card from there, but I think they will beat each other up. I think Arizona is a lot better than people realize and will win a weak division. I took Milwaukee because they are really up and coming with some good, young pitching. Overall, there are much better teams in the AL this year, than the NL.

I predict the Cards over the Chi Sox in 7 games.

Oh by the way, I am a Cards fan and I pick them to win every year. I don't think they are as good a team as last year, but still the best team in the NL.

 

[bialczabub]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like. Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department.

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

Really not any more suspect as say, Boston. The only team in the AL with a solid rotation 1-5 is Chicago.

If the 2003 Red Sox make the playoffs, I can't see why anyone would be certain that the Yankees this year won't make it.

 

[Jefferson the Caregiver]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like. Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department.

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

Really not any more suspect as say, Boston. The only team in the AL with a solid rotation 1-5 is Chicago.

Boston has depth which the Yankees just dont have. If any of the NY geriatrics go down, they are going to have problems. Meanwhile Boston has 7 guys that can start: Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield, Wells, Clement, Arroyo, Papelbon. That's a much better position to be in.

 

[Jefferson the Caregiver]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like.  Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department. 

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

Really not any more suspect as say, Boston. The only team in the AL with a solid rotation 1-5 is Chicago.

If the 2003 Red Sox make the playoffs, I can't see why anyone would be certain that the Yankees this year won't make it.

Re. 2003: The Central and West were not as strong at the top as they are now (esp the Central), the AL East was also not as difficult top to bottom. In 2003, you had guaranteed wins against the D Rays, now there is no such thing. The guaranteed victories are against teams like the Royals. This is the problem the teams of the AL East are up against. They are going to beat up on each other and the wildcard will come from the West or Central.

You need to win the AL East to make the playoffs this year. I don't think it will be the Yankees.

 

[bialczabub]

Re. 2003: The Central and West were not as strong at the top as they are now (esp the Central), the AL East was also not as difficult top to bottom. In 2003, you had guaranteed wins against the D Rays, now there is no such thing. The guaranteed victories are against teams like the Royals.

This is the problem the teams of the AL East are up against. They are going to beat up on each other and the wildcard will come from the West or Central.

You need to win the AL East to make the playoffs this year. I don't think it will be the Yankees.

The Blue Jays are the reason an AL East team probably won't get the wildcard this year. 2003 had the Angels coming off the World Series, a 93 win Mariners team, and the A's still with their holy trinity of pitchers (and 96 wins) out of the West.You cannot write off Johnson and Mussina as old and fragile, but then lump Schilling and Wells in amongst Boston's sure-things. Also, LOL at calling a guy who threw 34 innings last season (his entire MLB career) "a guy that can start." What exactly does it take to be "a guy that can start?"

The Red Sox have the pitching edge, but it has a lot of question marks in it.

 

[Tony Jabroni]

Milwaukee Brewers at 45:1 represents great value.....

Pitching staff is good now, could be great with Sheets, Davis and Caupano leading the way. Bullpen fortified by an emerging closer in Turnbow. A MI that has All Star potential in Hardy/Weeks. Overbay poised for a great season.

Doug Melvin, the GM, has put teams in the playoffs before...historically bad teams like Texas.

We got the Prince on 1st now, Overbay's in Toronto.I still you though.

GO BREWERS!

 

[ThisGuy]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like.  Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department. 

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

Really not any more suspect as say, Boston. The only team in the AL with a solid rotation 1-5 is Chicago.

Boston has depth which the Yankees just dont have. If any of the NY geriatrics go down, they are going to have problems. Meanwhile Boston has 7 guys that can start: Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield, Wells, Clement, Arroyo, Papelbon. That's a much better position to be in.

That's right. I forgot how young the Boston rotation is. Schilling did not get younger last year, and wasn't that effective when he pitched.

You have no idea what you're going to get from Josh Beckett (Carl Pavano had a pretty good World Series vs the Yanks too.)

Wakefield is old.

Wells is old

Arroyo is a head case.

But not nearly as bad as Clement.

And although Jon Papelbon is one of the greatest pitchers to have ever pitched, he's still young and untested.

Basically Boston has just as many "ifs" as the Yanks rotation. The Yanks have the better offense. Advantage: Yankees.

 

[BGP]

I would just like to hear discussion about ANY clubs except the Yankees and Red Sox. Let me hear about the White Sox. The Cardinals. The Devil Rays even. Please.

 

[prosopis]

Diamondbacks are going to surprise some people this year. Some really good up and coming talent.

 

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

Until somebody proves worthy, the Chicago White Sox are the World Series Champion this year.

World Series aren't won in March.

 

[Michael Brown]

Until somebody proves worthy, the Chicago White Sox are the World Series Champion this year.

World Series aren't won in March.

No, but they can be lost in December when you go off trading one of the best CF in the game for a washed-up Jim Thome. Sure, it's a big bat in the lineup if he's healthy. But he's also a rally-killer. The Sox baffled me this year. They win the WS with pitching and defense, then go and trade away a key piece of the defense in order to "Yankeefy" their offense and get the big name slugger. Thome isn't going to move a runner along in a 2-1 playoff game in the 8th inning like Rowand did.As for NY, I agree with the poster above who commented on Boston's rotation not being very stable either. I wouldn't say the Yankee rotation is stacked by any means, but it's not fair to say Boston has 7 solid starters and NY only has 3. There is probably 1 guy who can be relied upon to produce this year for Boston, and that's Wakefield. For NY, their one guy is Johnson. The rest of them have varying levels of reliability, though I believe strongly that Beckett, Chacon, and Wang will all turn in excellent seasons. In any event, it's not 7-3...not by a longshot.

Fact of the matter is, the NY pitching should be better than in '05 and the offense as well. But the biggest difference is some bullpen arms. They finally spent some money on a number of quality relievers to bridge to Mo, which should ease the burden on everyone. It matters little that they're not set up 1-5 because they'll have enough offense to carry their #5 starter most days. And in the playoffs, you need just 4. I think Johnson, Chacon, and Wang can be counted on 1-3 and then Mussina can be a solid 4 (I'm counting on nothing from Wright or Pavano and I think Small was a fluke last year). The Myers and Dotel signings were a godsend for NY and in my opinion will be the difference this year.

 

[ditka311]

Who cares what the Yanks lineup looks like.  Pitching is what wins and the Yankees are very very suspect in that department. 

Yankees are going to be all out to make the playoffs.

Really not any more suspect as say, Boston. The only team in the AL with a solid rotation 1-5 is Chicago.

Boston has depth which the Yankees just dont have. If any of the NY geriatrics go down, they are going to have problems. Meanwhile Boston has 7 guys that can start: Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield, Wells, Clement, Arroyo, Papelbon. That's a much better position to be in.

1-5 they aren't nearly as solid as the White Sox. They do have depth though. Having a couple of those guys in long/middle relief is a nice position to be in. People forget the A's have some serious talent at SP. Harden, Zito, Haren, Blanton..not bad. Really depends on if the young guys continue to improve, Harden stays healthy all year, and Zito continues from where he left off in the 2nd half from last year.

 

[ditka311]

Until somebody proves worthy, the Chicago White Sox are the World Series Champion this year.

World Series aren't won in March.

No, but they can be lost in December when you go off trading one of the best CF in the game for a washed-up Jim Thome. Sure, it's a big bat in the lineup if he's healthy. But he's also a rally-killer. The Sox baffled me this year. They win the WS with pitching and defense, then go and trade away a key piece of the defense in order to "Yankeefy" their offense and get the big name slugger. Thome isn't going to move a runner along in a 2-1 playoff game in the 8th inning like Rowand did.As for NY, I agree with the poster above who commented on Boston's rotation not being very stable either. I wouldn't say the Yankee rotation is stacked by any means, but it's not fair to say Boston has 7 solid starters and NY only has 3. There is probably 1 guy who can be relied upon to produce this year for Boston, and that's Wakefield. For NY, their one guy is Johnson. The rest of them have varying levels of reliability, though I believe strongly that Beckett, Chacon, and Wang will all turn in excellent seasons. In any event, it's not 7-3...not by a longshot.

Fact of the matter is, the NY pitching should be better than in '05 and the offense as well. But the biggest difference is some bullpen arms. They finally spent some money on a number of quality relievers to bridge to Mo, which should ease the burden on everyone. It matters little that they're not set up 1-5 because they'll have enough offense to carry their #5 starter most days. And in the playoffs, you need just 4. I think Johnson, Chacon, and Wang can be counted on 1-3 and then Mussina can be a solid 4 (I'm counting on nothing from Wright or Pavano and I think Small was a fluke last year). The Myers and Dotel signings were a godsend for NY and in my opinion will be the difference this year.

By getting rid of Rowand, the Sox traded defense for left handed power. They were trying to trade for this last year (see Griffey) but came up short. In the end it worked out though. The Sox have a lot of depth in the OF positions in the minors. They really like Brian Anderson who is supposed to have some speed, Jerry Owens who DOES have speed (question about his arm though), Ryan Sweeney...to name a few.

I am not so sure why Yankees fans think Chacon is so good. In the second half last year he showed some really positive signs - I will give him that. However, he has never won more than 11 games in his career and has a career ERA of 4.90. Then again he played for the Rockies and in Coors doesn't help. Maybe his time in NY last year is a sign of things to come but I wouldn't pencil him in as a sure thing just yet.

 

[Reaper]

I would just like to hear discussion about ANY clubs except the Yankees and Red Sox. Let me hear about the White Sox. The Cardinals. The Devil Rays even. Please.

A thread with Yankees in the title is a bad place to look for that.

 

[Lehigh98]

The Yankees are the main reason that an awful lot of people cannot stand baseball.

Not only is it a boring sport but what fun is it if a team can buy anyone they want to put on their roster.

There is no challenge, they should win their division by 20 games and it will mean absolutely nothing.

How can you be excited about a bought team and championship.   

Obviously by being a Yankee fan. Or by just being a typical NY fan and hopping bandwagons if the Mets start to surpass them somehow.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

The Yankees are the main reason that an awful lot of people cannot stand baseball.

Not only is it a boring sport but what fun is it if a team can buy anyone they want to put on their roster.

There is no challenge, they should win their division by 20 games and it will mean absolutely nothing.

How can you be excited about a bought team and championship.   

Obviously by being a Yankee fan. Or by just being a typical NY fan and hopping bandwagons if the Mets start to surpass them somehow.

 

[TLEF316]

I definetly agree that the sox fans are overestimating how good their rotation is. Neither team has many sure things in that area.

The yankees have a much better bullpen and a better lineup, so they should win the east, barring a huge SP collapse. The SP is no sure thing, but they have enough arms that at least a few of Chacon, Pavano, Mussina, Wang, Small should be solid enough to help RJ support that awesome lineup.

playoffs are a crapshoot for the most part. Everyone knows that. All about who gets hot at the right time

 

[ThisGuy]

The Yankees are the main reason that an awful lot of people cannot stand baseball.

Not only is it a boring sport but what fun is it if a team can buy anyone they want to put on their roster.

There is no challenge, they should win their division by 20 games and it will mean absolutely nothing.

How can you be excited about a bought team and championship.   

Obviously by being a Yankee fan. Or by just being a typical NY fan and hopping bandwagons if the Mets start to surpass them somehow.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

You people all suck!

 

[Raider Nation]

1-3..... they're all done.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Pitching wins in the playoffs, and unfortunetely for Yankee fans, your staff is old.  I like the White Sox to repeat.

Beurhle, Garland, F. Garcia, Contreras, Vasquez, and McCarthy is sick.

This is the question. Who can take down the Yankees? White Sox? Not a bad choice. Good rotation. I still question their ability to repeat the timely hitting.

Red Sox? I think this team is done. Pack it in nad look to reload next season.

As? Probably still a year or two away.

Blue Jays? Oh, now we're talking. I like their off-season moves.

Indians? Strong second half. May fight out with the A's for best young team in AL

NL possibilities:

Cubs? Suck

Astros? Suckle

Cardinals? Didn't make the moves I would have liked to see in the off-season, but a healthy Rolen and the addition of Encarnacion won't hurt.

Mets? After Pedro's arm falls off, they're history.

Braves? Please

Entire West -

Boston is not done by a long shot....They have 7 legit starting pitchers - about 4 more than the Yankees. There's a great chance they can trade a guy here and add depth in the bullpen or get a stick. I'm thinking ManRam sticks it out with the Sawx and when you couple him with Ortiz, we're talking about one of the best hitting pairs in baseball. I love the addition of Loretta and I still think Varitek is a luxury few outside of Boston truly appreciate.

D-u-n, done. Yankees-Blue Jays for the division. And it will be every bit as entertaining as that race out West. Maybe more-so, with the Red Sox looking up at the Orioles, too.

looking up at the orioles...