Neverending Rivals

This Yankee/Red Sox rivalry has been piping hot now for about five years. Red Sox fans may want to say it has been going on for for decades, but for the most part the Yankees and their fans did not really care much about Boston and the Sox. At least as a kid growing up in Manhattan, I did not hear much talk about the Red Sox, while I'm sure my counterparts in Brookline or Wellesleywere taught to hate the Yankees from the womb. I am not saying there were not heated moments over the years (1949, 1978, etc) but nothing compares to these past five years. It has been interesting to watch the development from the Yankees being the elite dynasty and the Red Sox barely putting up a fight, to the Sox paying the big bucks and throwing everything they had at the Yankees, which led to two classic ALCS seven game series (2003, 2004). The Sox ended up winning the World Series in '04 and in the two years since the battles have been just as close fought, but neither not only to the World Series, but even back to the ALCS since. Through it all though the Yankees won every division title since 1998 and have been viewed as the favorite.

We now get to this past weekend. The first time in 17 years that the Red Sox swept a series against the Yankees. For April, it was a tremendously electric series and for the first time since the Joe Torre era began, the Red Sox may actually be the true favorite in this rivalry. While it is still very early and I do not want to get ahead of myself, I thought I would list five things about each team I have come to realize after this series is over. As the resident Mets fan on this blog, I feel that I can be pretty impartial since I strongly dislike both teams.

Red Sox

1. Friday nights' game was tremendous from a Red Sox perspective for a number of reasons, but one overlooked one is the balls of Terry Francona. While he has never been mistaken with Tony LaRussa as an in game manager, he showed some true courage at the end of Fridays' game. After the Sox game back form an improbable four run deficit (much against the Great Mariano) Francona stuck with his commitment to not pitching Jonathon Palpebon on a third consecutive day. He knows it is still just April and it would be foolish to wear Palpebon out now. There is a lot of baseball to be played and he needs him for the long haul. This is especially striking when you see what Joe Torre did with Rivera in bringing him into the game in the 8th inning in this game. Look, it could have backfired with Francona, but he has a plan and is not gonna stray from it for one win in April. Francona knew if his bullpen blew it and Palpebon never came in he was going to get roasted in the media and he was ready for it. I like the confidence and composure Francona showed.

2. While each Red Sox pitcher went deep into the ballgame, they each were touched up pretty good by the Yankee hitters. It takes a pitching being on his absolute A game to shut down the Yankee lineup, but it still needs to be pointed out that the Yankees did not exactly struggle against the Boston "Big Three". I still like the Boston rotation better than New Yorks' even if everyone is healthy and Mr. Clemens ends up in pinstripes, but so far the Yankees have shown Boston that they will be tough to shut down.

3. Jason Varitek is the most underrated player on Boston. He is the captain of the team, and when he is hitting adds another dimension to this lineup. He can hit righties and lefties, still has pop and provides great depth to the bottom of the lineup. He was the best catcher in baseball only two years ago, and since has seemed injured or in decline. If he can stay healthy and fresh for the end of the season, the Red Sox will have that leadership that they sorely lacked at the end of last year.

4. Dice-K is the real deal. I know he did not pitch great on Sunday night, but you can see the amazing stuff he has. So many pitches, with usually great control and unreal changes in velocity. Also, he is a horse. When he does not have his best stuff he will still battle for six inning and keep you in a ballgame. I also like his eagerness to pitch inside (Arod). He is a true ace and in my mind is well worth what the Sox paid him. While Schilling is older and Beckett is still a headcase, Dice-K is the best starting pitcher in this Yankee/Red Sox rivalry.

5. Not 100% sold on Palpebon. I know his stats are incredible, but I need to see two things from him before I am on the bandwagon. First is to stay healthy an entire year. Second is to pitch in October. Until then I can not act like he is the second coming of Mariano.

Overall, the Sox have to be happy with where they are at. They seem to do every well (offense, defense, pitching) and have nice balance on the roster. I do worry about age in certain positions, but with their pitching I think they will win between 95-100 games.

Yankees

1. AROD

2. AROD...I thought I would never say this but this guy is on a Barry Bonds 2001-2003 level right now. He deserves two of the Yankee talking points because he is that good. He hit two more homers last night in Tampa and looks so calm on the field. While this is a much different situation it reminds me of Bonds in the 2002 playoffs. Before this playoffs Bonds had like a .150 batting average in October. It hung over Bonds like ARODs treatment by the NY fans and media has hung over him. People did not know how Bonds would do, but all of the sudden it was like the past was long gone and Bonds just continued his regular season tear and dominated the playoffs. Right now all the AROD questions seem far away and he is just in a zone where nothing can touch him. I can't believe I am writing this, but I think the guy could hit 60 homers this year, or end up batting over .340 or something. The Yankees are 8-10 and would probably be at best 6-12 without AROD playing at this level. This performance though just makes it that more interesting with what will happen after the season considering his contract/opt out clause. If Soriano got $130 million from the Cubs are you saying you couldn't see a team signing AROD to 7-8 years $150-$180? Soriano and AROD are the same age...

3. Joe Torre needs to chill out with his bullpen. I touched on this in the Red Sox section, but Torre is blowing out two or three of his guys for the season right now. Scott Proctor and Luis Vizcaino are gonna have Spaghetti strands for arms when the season is over at this rate. I know the starters have not been good, but you need to at least try to have them give more innings. Even when they are healthy, Pavano and Mussina (at this age) are not exactly considered innings eaters. Torre needs to not have such a quick hook and let some of these starters fight and give him six innings and give up five or six runs if thats what it takes. I know managing in New York can be tough in this regard, but Joe needs to not worry about the bullpen so much and have more faith in the starters to gut through tough innings and in turn give him more innings.

4. Glass half full? Yanks rotation is banged up and it is showing right now. Glass half empty? The rotation is old and this will not get much better. I look at it in the respect that Mussina will end up pitching well, Pavano will give you next to nothing and Wang will be the best innings eater on the team. Will the bullpen still get overused? Yes. Will Phil Hughes, Roger Clemens, or some other acquired pitcher need to be brought in to help? Yes. In the end, this rotation will be patched together and fight through injuries, but it is definitely good enough to bring home another division title.

5. It will be fun to see the Yankees as the hunter instead of the hunted this year. I promise you that unless something crazy happens (major injury, etc) the Red Sox will be up in the division for a while. They are already five games ahead of the Yanks. Its early, it will just be interesting to see the Yanks come into Fenway in August if they are behind by five games. Usually it is the other way around. This Yankee team (similar to other post O'Neill, Tino, Clemens) has lacked a certain fire. Sheff and Randy had some intensity but they are gone now as well. I am not saying it would have been the right move, but maybe if Chase Wright threw at a Red Sox player after AROD and Jeter got hit it could have lit a match up this team. Watching baseball for so long, there is nothing that brings a team together more than walk offs and brawls/sticking up for your teammates on the field. The Yankee record is not good, and I would like to see a player do something beyond making a good play to pump up this group. Thinking about it, I honestly do not know who that would be. The Sox have a Varitek or a Palpebon or a Beckett/Schilling. The Mets have a El Duque or a Loduca. You can win without this sort of person, but when you are slumping a player like this can lift the the whole team up without even doing something on the field. To be honest, a manager can do the same (thing Lou Pinella, Ozzie Guillen), but that is not really Joe Torres' style.


Side Note:

Phil Hughes will make his MLB debut Thursday night. I think it is the right move for the Yanks at this time. If he pitches well, keep him up for a bit and give him a chance. If he pitches poorly then send him back down. You are bringing up with no expectation of keeping him around and just giving him a taste of the majors. I don't see how this can "stunt" his growth. They need pitching, and he has great stuff. He can't do worse than Karstens or Rasner right? There is no right way to bring a top prospect to the minors. Look at Alex Gordon. Before the season everyone said he was ready and a widely considered choice for AL ROY. Now he is batting .100 and in risk being sent down. No matter how you play it sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn't. The Mets played it almost the same way with Wright, Reyes and Milledge in bringing them all up in the middle of a season. While Wright and Reyes have worked out great, Milledge has not so much. There is always a little luck involved, but I think this is a good time to give Hughes a taste and if he does the job he can stay for longer.

STKAFI