The Yankees' weakness may be at the back of the rotation, where they are banking on arms like Freddy Garcia to come through.
The biggest free-agent signing the New York Yankees made this 2010-2011 off-season was the $35 million setup-man Rafael Soriano, a move made to tighten up their bullpen as well as give the team an outlet to a future closer if he holds up in the New York spotlight and follows up with the great year he had last season. But other than Soriano, and other than having to retain their own (Jeter, Rivera), the Yankees’ only big move was the signing of catcher Russell Martin to a one-year contract, and bringing in Pedro Feliciano on a two-year deal to be their lefty specialist.
Their rivals, on the other hand, have taken a more aggressive approach and have recruited a couple of superstars. The Boston Red Sox traded a few prospects for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a lefty that’s bound to take advantage of Fenway Park. Boston also signed Carl Crawford, the most coveted position player in the free-agent market with a tremendous amount of speed, agility, and power. Boston was also more conventional than the Yankees with their signing of ex-White Sox closer, Bobby Jenks, to a $12 million contract over two years – half the price, per-season, than Rafael Soriano.
So did the Boston Red Sox surpass the Yankees and Tampa Bay this season as the top team in the American League East?
Games aren’t decided on paper, but if they were, the Red Sox would have the early edge. Sure, they lost stars Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez, but Beltre only produced during his contract year (again) and is invisible every other season, and Martinez’s future is either as a first baseman or a designated hitter, something Boston has covered.
The Yankees’ only significant loss was the retirement of Andy Pettitte, but with that came the revelation that the Yankees’ starting rotation is only a notch above the New York Mets and probably of equal caliber if Johan Santana was healthy – not a good thing for Yankee fans.
C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes, AJ Burnett and two unidentified yet unnerving back-end rotation pitchers is being compared to Boston’s rotation that consists of Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester, a rotation that has a few aces and number two-caliber pitchers. Sabathia can only pitch so much, and the Yankees are hoping recently-acquired Bartolo Calon and Freddy Garcia can pitch like it was 2005.
Boston’s first six lineup spots tops the Yankees’ lineup through the same order, but tails off with the bottom three projected lineup spots, which is where the Yankees’ lineup remains solid and reliable. But which heart of the order would you rather face?
Boston is projected to have Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis batting 3-4-5 while the Yankees are projected to have Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano as their 3-4-5 hitters. I’d give it a push, at this point, before the season begins; either lineup could produce just as well as the other, though Teixeira is known to not show up until one month of the baseball season has passed.
The first two projected lineup spots are what give Boston the lead. The Yankees have Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher as the 1-2 hitters while Boston has a much younger and leaner top two hitters with Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia. If Derek Jeter were a few years younger I would give it to the Yankees, but he isn’t as quick as Ellsbury is in center field, and loses some flare when it comes to attempting to steal a base. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Granderson batting leadoff with Jeter hitting two if Jeter doesn’t get off to a fast start; at this point in his career he‘s more of a contact hitter than a speed threat.*
When the season ends Boston may be the division champion, but there’s no disputing that the Yankees will be close behind and should definitely secure a wild card spot. From there the Evil Empire can topple Red Sox Nation in the playoffs, because regardless of the year, importance of the game or timing of the series, the Yankees and Red Sox always play each other well, and if it comes down a New York/Boston series – as it seems like it does every season – it can go either way.
*Projected lineups were referenced from rotochamp.com as of Feb. 13, 2011; lineups this early are never permanent and are based off of pure speculation.
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