I agree with your assessment of Sox vs. Yankees.

One of the biggest advantages the Red Sox have over the Yankees is a lot of the core players a younger and younger players tend to not break down.

One of the biggest advantages the Yankees have over the Red Sox is they just happened to pick up the best pitcher available and will plug him into a rotation and relieve the pressure from some of the other pitchers.

Sometimes that’s what it takes (a la Liebrandt coming to the Braves in 1991, Morris going to the Blue Jays in 1992 and Schilling coming to the D’Backs and then the Red Sox)

I also am not drinking the Tampa Kool Aid yet.
The current state of baseball means teams can skyrocket up fast and collapse just as fast.

Remember how the White Sox were supposed to win a bunch of titles with that pitching?
And then the Tigers were going to be a powerhouse?
Then the Indians?

A lot broke the right way for Tampa. Yes they had injuries but they also had the “Man, nobody expects us to do anything” looseness.

When they won their 71st game, it was the highest the franchise had ever climbed.

I think the Red Sox and Yankees are actually pretty evenly matched.
They also have tons of “ifs” in the pitching staff that if one or two break their way they could indeed both win 95 games.

But there will be a team that makes us all say “Who would have guess them?”

(Oakland? Toronto? Texas? Seriously after Tampa last year what guess could sound far fetched?)

New York Yankees 5/2
Chicago Cubs 7/1
New York Mets 7/1
Boston Red Sox 15/2
Los Angeles Angels 11/1
Philadelphia Phillies 11/1
Tampa Bay Rays 12/1
Los Angeles Dodgers 17/1
Detroit Tigers 20/1
Minnesota Twins 25/1
Cleveland Indians 25/1
Chicago White Sox 25/1
St Louis Cardinals 30/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 30/1
Atlanta Braves 35/1
Milwaukee Brewers 35/1
San Francisco Giants 40/1
Houston Astros 40/1
Florida Marlins 40/1
Cincinnati Reds 50/1
Oakland Athletics 55/1
Colorado Rockies 60/1
Texas Rangers 60/1
Toronto Blue Jays 60/1
Seattle Mariners 100/1
Washington Nationals 150/1
Baltimore Orioles 150/1
Kansas City Royals 150/1
San Diego Padres 200/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 200/1

feeling Arod wasn’t being sincere. Now that differs from the spinning Torre did elsewhere. It removed it from the realm of “just a funny joke” to “a joke that came from player comments that weren’t a joke.”

Torre wouldn’t know truth if it hit him in the face.

“But make no mistake: Torre is doing more than spinning now; he’s backtracking on the A-Fraud stuff to soften its impact”

I don’t think anyone would accuse Kepner of having an axe to grind here. We know that Verducci is a Torre sycophant and has been for a long time.

At this point I don’t think many are fooled by Torre’s attempted snowjob.

So be it.

Betsy even more interesting because this flies in the face of what Borden said about privacy being out widow and the clubhouse no longer being a place of sanctity.

And so, I’m sure, was it understood that when the press wasn’t around, what happened in the clubhouse was also off the record – until Torre made it otherwise.

“But make no mistake: Torre is doing more than spinning now; he’s backtracking on the A-Fraud stuff to soften its impact”

Funny, Derek Jeter came out and said that nobody on the team referred to Arod as “Afraud” – but Torre came out and said the opposite on Letterman (tripped himself up once again) and tonight’s “version” was that while it turned into a joke between Bowa and Arod, it was borne of comments by players feeling that Arod

Betsy even more interesting because this flies in the face of what Borden said about privacy being out widow and the clubhouse no longer being a place of sanctity.

And so, I’m sure, was it understood that when the press wasn’t around, what happened in the clubhouse was also off the record – until Torre made it otherwise.

“But make no mistake: Torre is doing more than spinning now; he’s backtracking on the A-Fraud stuff to soften its impact”

Funny, Derek Jeter came out and said that nobody on the team referred to Arod as “Afraud” – but Torre came out and said the opposite on Letterman (tripped himself up once again) and tonight’s “version” was that while it turned into a joke between Bowa and Arod, it was borne of comments by players feeling that Arod