On the other hand… he is a year older.

I’m still not worried. Last year’s Spring Training was even worse for him. As long as he gets it together by Opening Day I could care less if his ST ERA is 57.00.

Now, now people. Kasey’s a Yankee fan (I think) he just happens to lean more toward the darker side of things. And in this case, his analysis isn’t far off the mark. The Yankees do have a lot of old pitchers and question marks in the rotation. There’s no way that they don’t get through the season without all of the non-Wang pitchers losing time to injury/non-effectiveness. Mussina and Pettitte have missed starts over the last two seasons to injurywant to be against it not happening again? Pavano hasn’t pitched in two years-there’s no way he’s effective for 180-200 innings. And despite some solid prospects and one premiere prospect at AAA, people seem to forget how difficult the transition to the SHOW is look at Clemens, Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Schilling, et al in their first taste of the MLB level. Dominant isn’t the word that comes to mind.

The Red Sox don’t have pitching question marks?

Let’s see…..Dice-K has never thrown a pitch in a major league game. I know some folks have him in the Hall of Fame but NOBODY, not Kasey, not Peter Gammons, not anybody knows how he will fare this year. Its all a guess right now.

Schilling? Still carrying 20 extra pounds and is now 40 years old.

Wakefield? Coming off an injury filled year and he hasn’t looked good at all this spring.

Beckett? Pitched to a 7 ERA the last 4 months of last year, has a history of shoulder problems, and has never put together a full season of success.

Papelbon? Coming off a dislocated shoulder and now has to start to save his shoulder from wearing down again.

Yes, the Red Sox have no question marks. Its all full speed ahead for them.

all excellent points (though i don’t think lester’s going to be in the sox rotation any time soon, they’re set with schilling-matsuzaka-beckett-papelbon-wakefield until they have to move papelbon back to the bullpen).

i don’t view the yankees so much in the context of the rivalry as i do the context of their competition for the AL east and, right now, it looks like that’s the red sox. toronto may make some noise, but i don’t think they’ll be there at the end of the year.

The Yanks could win a 102 games and miss the playoffs or win 92 and make the playoffs based on factors outside their own control. I don’t see what is gained worrying abou those factors. If Lester is lights out this year and Papelbon is as good a starter as he was a closer I’m not going to be disappointed. I’ll just wish the same for the Yankees young pitchers (who Cashman has wisely stockpiled). In the homegrown department the Yankees are more than keeping up with the Jones’ with Wang, Melky, and Cano in two years. If we roll out Hughes, Sanchez, Ohlendorf, Karstens, and Rasner and they all suck then we deserve to lose. At least we’re not going with Sidney Ponson and Scott Erickson anymore.

i wasn’t being serious.

but right now the yankees rotation consists of wang (a blossoming ace), pettitte (a 4.2 ERA in the NL last year and a history of elbow problems), moose (struggling in spring training, trips to the DL the last few years), pavano (torre has as much as said that all they’re hoping for is that he can take the ball every five days, any actual success is gravy) and igawa (the entire organization has warned us not to expect much from him). does that instill you with a ton of confidence in the yankees?

it’s just spring training, and every team has question marks, but people claiming that the red sox rotation is in far worse shape than the yankees don’t have a leg to stand on right now.

neither team should be heavily favored to win the AL east. it’s going to be a dogfight.

all i’m trying to do with my posts is temper the people who say that hughes is the second coming of christ, the red sox will be a third place team, and the yanks are a lock for the AL east. that talk is entirely unfounded at this point.

Pete – If you get a down moment with Moose ask him what he remembers about his MLB debut. It was Aug. ’91 and he went 7 2/3, giving up 4 hits and lost 1-0 to Charlie Hough. Frank Thomas took him deep. So he pitched a gem in his debut and still lost.

Nothing is ever easy for Moose (20 wins, no-hitters, WS ring, outpitches Clemens by a mile in ’01 – Clemens goes 20-3, Moose 17-11) but he grows on you for the professional effort he gives every day. I’m happy to see him on the mound in any game the Yankees play.

kidding. kind of.