may be alot better than we all think. He did hit twenty dingers last year, and I’ve heard that since the David Wells trade he’s strictly been focusing on defense. But like revigik said, time will tell on that one. And I’m being comepletely serious when I say “push” for the first base position. One of the reasons I really hope Tek comes back is because he works so well with Dice-K, hopefully if he comes back another year Dice-K will feel even more comfortable to where he can easily pitch to anyone.

I have just a few issues. Penny pitched 95 innings to the tune of a 6.27 era and a 1.62 WHIP in the weakest division in baseball last season. There’s a reason he could only sign a 1 year 5 million dollar deal. Pettite is a horse who has pitched at least 200 innings in 10/13 years he’s been around. He’s an AL east vet whose peripherals last year were much better than his 14-14 record would indicate.Technically howeve,r andy isnt even signed so you would win by default, but I think Pettite should beat out Penny, and it really shouldn’t even be close. I’m on record saying I think Lester is a phenominal young pitcher, but his large jump in innings between 07 and 08 could be cause for alarm. Wanger was a back to back 19 game winner and well on his way to another good season (8-2) until his Lisfranc ligament was cruelly torn from his foot in a malicious attack by the astros’ basepath. Shit,, bobby abreu’s wall phobia (kind of humorous because the fenway RF fence is what 3 feet tall?) robbed him of a possible no hittah in beantown way back in april.
I also think that alot of the matchups are difficult to nail down due to weird circumstances. Dice-K had one of the luckiest seasons in the history of baseball last year which led to an awesome record. Is this a repeatable skill? History says no, but he could very well be a japanese houdini.. Burnett is another one thats hard to predict. I assume the yankees think his elbow problems are behind him and 08 was an indicator that he is fully healthy and ready to rock and roll. History however is not on his side either, hes only had 3 200Ip+ seasons out of 10 in the majors and two have conveniently come in contract years. My hope is that his elbow is fully healed from all those TJ complications, but we really wont know until the game are played. Youkilis is another tough one to try and predict. Stellar glove work is his card (that and the fugly ass goatee but ill leave that alone.. jk) but he had a breakout year with the stick in 08. A dramatic increase in both average and power, was it a fluke? a career year? the tip of the iceberg?? again, a tough guy to try and predict considering he will be 30 on opening day. Whats up with Robbie Cano? Contended for a batting title in 06, had a good but not spectacular season in 07 signed a bigass contract and was pretty crappy in 08. Supposedly he retooled his swing this season back down in the dominican and should be poised tor a comeback but talk is cheap. Dusty was obviously The Man in the AL this year, now he signed a big contract, probably won’t effect his play but it’s worth thinking about.. Anyway, it’s getting late and I’m rambling on very intriguing post though, 09 is gonna be a helluva season.

And those are the bench and the bullpen. Here’s how the BPs compare.
Red Sox: Papelbon, Masterson, Okajima, Ramirez, Delcarmen, Lopez.
vs.
Yankees: Rivera, Marte, Bruney, Albaladejo, Veras, Coke.

Sox have a big advantage in that category. As for the benches, the Red Sox haven’t really figured theirs out yet. I’m going to operate under the assumption that we resign Tek to play with Bard. Benches:
Red Sox: Bard, Bailey (?), Lugo, [4th OF, TBD]
vs.
Yankees: Molina, Swisher, Ransom, Gardner.

It’s hard to compare without knowing who the Red Sox might add. There has been talk of Baldelli, Byrnes, and some others. Time will tell, but at this point, Yankees have the advantage off the bench.

That would be so awesome! Except for the fact that we’d be paying our outfielder what? $20M? But it would be good to get rid of Lugo and Byrnes would fit in with guys like Papelbon, Pedroia, etc.

Hint they have a better 1-5 rotation than your team, and they beat you in one of the better series in a while last season.

When is the last time the Red Sox have beaten the Yankees in the season series?
Last year the Yankees were 9-9 against the Sox and 11-7 against the Rays. We finished in 3rd place. IN THE BEST DIVISION IN BASEBALL. You can finish in third place in the AL East and be the third best team in the league. Which they were. Without Wang, without Joba pitching every 5th, without C.C., and without Posada. We improved on defense, got younger, and gave up nobody! Yeah I think we might be able to hang.