Red Sox 11, Yankees 6

The Red Sox beat the Yankees. Again. It's becoming a repetitive theme. And the reason for that is pitching. While Tim Wakefield was solid last night, AJ Burnett was his hapless self.

The Yankees have an offense similar to the Sox, but the Yankees' starting pitchers are a joke, apart from Sabathia. Even Colon, who's managed a solid record, struggles against the Sox. It's so sad that I'm actually starting to feel a little bad for the Yankees.

Starting to feel bad, not actually feeling bad.

Ortiz, Crawford, and Drew homered last night. Wakefield wasn't stunning, but he did better than Burnett. It should be a nice pitching duel tonight as Beckett goes against Sabathia.

-The Commodore

Mark-Mark and the Well-Paid Bunch

"%&$#* the Yankees!!!"

"Screw Steinbrenner and all his money!!!"

Sound familiar?

The same curses rampant in New England households yesterday were just as popular back in 2004 when Alex Rodriguez was introduced as a Yankee. We were pissed. I'm just as pissed about the Mark Teixeira deal. I can't wait to boo him next year and buy a clever T-Shirt degrading him because it's my duty as a fan.

My fan-hood aside, after some reflection, I've realized that our boys got beat at a game the Yankees are much better at. This is what they do: outbid teams. Any Red Sox fan who didn't think this could happen had their head in the sand...err ice I mean.

OK. I agree with you. Teixeira signing with the Yankees was worst-case scenario. I was not happy upon hearing about the deal and bemoaned the fact that this was a major opportunity lost. At the same time, if you know baseball and how the Bronx Bombers operate then this wasn't necessarily the most surprising news.

Who thought he wasn't this hired gun who would take the biggest deal put in front of him? He had no allegiances to the Red Sox and, for good reason, had the show-me-the-money mindset.

Now that the player we were all drooling over for the past month or so is in pin stripes it's time to face the facts, people. The Yankees are the most talented team in the American League as of right now and, on paper, will continue to be for the next 3 or so years. Let's also give credit where credit is due. They had a plan to reload, even if the way they did it was in excess.

This is the first time since they have had top-flight pitchers in their primes since the late '90s. Their rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes is most likely the deepest in baseball. Burnett is the only one who would scare me as a New York fan. He has yet to prove he can win a meaningful game and has a laundry list of injuries. Not hamstring injuries but elbow injuries that could flush the Yanks' investment down the drain. For the record, I'm not saying this because I don't like the Yankees (which is true, of course) but because the Marlins are my second-favorite team and they won a World Series without him in 2003. Not a coincidence.

They've had formerly great pitchers who hadn't been worth their salaries in years such as Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina (until last year) and Jaret Wright. Oops. Just kidding. Jaret Wright never really had a prime, did he?

My point is that not only are the Yankees spending an egregious amount of cash but they are spending it on players who can actually get them to the World Series on a consistent basis. Teixeira is a far better signing than Jason Giambi was after the 2001 season. As I've said before, he has no flaws and will be a great fit anywhere he goes. It was evident a guy like Giambi was a DH in waiting and even back then there were whispers of steroids.

There is another aspect of these signings to think about. I would compare their 2008 off season to the Celtics' of 2007. They are "going for it" and have about a 3 to 4 year window to do so. The difference is the Celtics have the likes of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce signed only for the duration of that championship window. The Yankees are on the books for CC Sabathia and Teixeira for long after that.

Obviously I'd be far more concerned about Sabathia down the road than Teixeira due to his penchant for staying at the dinner table too long but Teixeira won't have the same type of value as a 33-year-old. He is obviously a great player but I think he'll be a 25-homerun, 100 RBI type player by then. The deal is basically what the Braves did with Chipper Jones, who evolved into that kind of player, on steroids. Even as a Sox fan I know the latter half of the deal would've been too much money for a great-turned-good player.

The Yankees did pretty much everything right in terms of personnel this off season. You, nor I, should be complaining about their deep pockets. Notice I haven't conceded the East to the Yanks yet, just that they are the most talented team in the division. The Devil Rays proved last year that the amount of cash spent doesn't always translate to a deep playoff run. The Bombers have spent money in this manner before but on the wrong guys. It seems as though this time they've gotten it right.

I'll be checking back later with a Celtics-Lakers preview.

A.J. Burnett Goes To Yanks

Free agent right-hander A.J. Burnett has reached preliminary agreement on a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees, a baseball source told ESPN.com.

Thank god. I was really thinking the Sox were going to do something foolish and sign Burnett. Burnett is a classic injury prone/ contract year player. Now that he has got his huge contract, I believe A.J. is going to play 34 games total in a Yankees uniform. However, if Burnett stays healthy and pitches up to his potential, the Yanks have two great pitchers.

I wonder who is on their list now.

Sheet probably.

At least this really takes the Yankees out of the Teixiera talks.

Red Sox In Pursuit Of Burnett

The Yankees and Red Sox apparently are set to square off for the services of free agent pitcher A.J. Burnett.
The New York Daily News reported that the Red Sox plan to be "a major player" in the pursuit of Burnett. In addition, Newsday said that the Red Sox have become "serious competitors" to land the right-hander.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that the Yankees were preparing an offer to Burnett that could be worth $80 million over five years. ESPN

Bob and I have both said that we don't want this guy on the Sox. He has bust written all over him. I really hope that this guy goes to the Yankees and only pitches his 35 games in five years. In my eyes AJ Burnett's last year was a fluke, and he only pitched so well because he knew he had the option to make more money after the season. So if you are readint Theo, please don't sign Burnett.

Hot Stove

As you know this year's off season is filled with questions regarding Mark Texeira, Manny Ramirez, CC Sabathia as the big names. Personally, if I were a GM I wouldnt want any part of the latter two "big ticket" names. Before you start thinking that I am retarded let me enlighten you on why. Manny, I just plain dont like him, he is a great player but is a selfish prick and would be a detriment to any team he plays on. Now, CC is a proven stud based on what he did for the Brew Crew last year, but come on this guy is eventually going to break down.

The point of this article is not to highlight the big names, but the other free agents and/or deals that could be difference makers in the up-coming season. The list consists of position players of the likes of Orlando Cabrera, Orlando Hudson, Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn, and Edgar Renteria. I love both Orlando's because they are spark plugs at the top of the order and are solid defensive presences in the feild. It would be crazy for the White Sox and the D-Backs not to retain them. Bobby Abreu is a solid player who produces solid at bats and is a true grinder at the plate making opposing pitchers work for the out. Adam Dunn, he truly is a donkey, he has possibly the most power of any left handed hitter in all of baseball other than Ryan Howard, but this guy either hits a HR or strikes out. Although this is the case he would be a solid player on a good team that could afford his strike out per at bat ratio. He reminds me of a young Jim Thome, he has power and could drive in runs if he had the complementary players that got on base for him and he walks and strikes out a lot.

As for pitchers, you have A.J. Burnett, Ryan Dempster, Derek Lowe, and Ben Sheets as the other top pitchers out there. Personally, I think A.J. Burnett is a poor mans Josh Beckett who has not lived up to the potential and has underutilized his ability. With that said I personally believe that he will be heading to the NL where he can take advantage of only having to get 8 outs against sub par hitting. The team that will sign him, in my opinion will be the Cards, which will put them back at the top of the NL Central and will give them stability to completment the pure force of Albert Pujols. Ryan Dempster is an interesting pitcher, he has experience both starting and closing, but I am not convinced he will be worth the money his will end up getting this year. More than likely he will probably end up in a Cubies uniform, however I feel that he is nothing more than a 3rd starter but will put up numbers because the NL sucks so much. Ben Sheets has nasty stuff, but gets hurt way to much, he reminds me of Matt Clement because he just cant stay on the feild. But with that said, he is worth the risk of any team that signs him because of his number one starter stuff. I feel he will end up in the AL possibly in Baltimore, New York, and I would love to see him sporting a Red Sox uniform. With that said, Derek Lowe is the most intreguing free agent of them all. Hate him or love him, he is a solid starter and has the post season experience that teams desire. Its been said he wants to come back to Boston but I feel the Sox wont make that happen because they already has Justin Masterson, a young D-Lowe in the making. So, my feeling is that he will be a Detroit Tiger next season, pitching with a chip on his shoulder to prove that he still is a valuable pitcher.

Now the needs of the Red Sox have had me thinking a lot lately after seeing all the rumors that have been reported. All I know is that Lugo has to be moved to allow Lowerie a chance to prove himself as a full time player for a whole season. Despite how terrible he has been in Boston, much like Edgar Renteria a few years ago, I feel that he is one of those players that just cant play in the lime light. The good news is that there is a market for SS this year, with teams like the Tigers, White Sox, and others in need of one. My feeling is that no team is going to take a chance on him until spring training to see what he has after the injury pleagued season he had last year. Any deal including Lugo would be for a shitty prospect or another high priced contract that has not panned out. With that said the Tigers are probably the best suiters in any deal because of the apparent washed up D-Train. I just don't see how Dontrelle has gotten so bad so quickly, and I do believe that he will regain his form and become the exciting young pitcher that he once was.

The second issue is what to do with Coco. Should he stay or should he go? I believe that its time to go, not because he wasn't good last year, but because of his value at this point. I believe that he will be dealt in a situation that will include a young catcher such as one of the 3 in Texas or Jeff Clement of the Mariners.