Changing of the Guard

Some said it would never happen. They were wrong.

1978? Wrong. 1986? Wrong.

Some thought 1999 was the year. They were wrong.

Some believed it would be in the year 2003. Aaron Boone will be the first to tell you, they were wrong.

Some knew it was one minute after midnight on October 21st, 2004. And then again, after it was finally won after 86 years on October 27th, 2004. Contrary to popular belief, they were wrong.

It wasn't until Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 12:06 EST that the impossible finally occurred. The Boston Red Sox, NOT the New York Yankees became the team to beat, in the AL East, and in all of baseball.

There are a few reasons, the baton has finally been passed at this very moment in time, and not before. For decades upon decades the Yankees were considered the evil empire, they would constantly win, and continually spend more money to be better than everyone else. It worked, it worked well. Eventually, teams like the Red Sox and the Mets starting spending like the Yankees because they could, to make it a more level playing field, but did so unsuccessfully. For obvious reasons, no one, particularly the Red Sox had taken over the Yankees as the team to beat through 2003. No one could really beat them. Sure they lost to the Diamondbacks and the Marlins in 2001, and 2003, respectively, those were two different teams, and the Yankees couldn't win the World Series EVERY year. Plus, the Yankees were still continuously getting there.

In 2004, the Red Sox finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS (in record setting fashion no less, coming back from being behind 3-0 in the series). The Red Sox also won the World Series that year, but still, the Red Sox weren't the team to beat. The Yankees had still won the division that year, as well as 2005 (via tie-breaker) and 2006 (where the Red Sox didn't even make the playoffs).

But what makes this time around different is the fact that the Red Sox won the World Series in convincing fashion, starting the season as potential favorites to win it all, and ending the season hoisting the trophy. What makes this year different then any other year, and particularly 2004, is that the Red Sox have most if not all of there pieces coming back, and are only going to be better, whereas, the Yankees finally seem be in a little too much turmoil even with all that money to dig them out.

Let's analyze both teams heading into the offseason. The Red Sox have two key free agents to sign, World Series MVP third basemen Mike Lowell, and Curt Schilling. They need to sign Lowell, no doubt about it. A gold glover and RBI machine protecting Manny and Papi, they wouldn't have made it as far without him. I'm posting this under the assumption they will sign Lowell, if they don't, this whole rant might be considered irrelevant. Schilling is a different story. The Red Sox have always been good about letting their stars go when they feel like they are over the hill, even the beloved ones, i.e. Nomar, Pedro, Damon. They will offer Schilling a decent 1 or 2 year deal, and he will probably turn it down, move on, and accept more money somewhere else. But this leads me to the most important reason for why the teams are finally trading places in baseball, the Red Sox don't need Curt Schilling. Not only will they have almost every single key veteran back from this season, their rookies and younger players will all have another year under their belt and will only be getting better. I anticipate Theo Epstein to shop Coco Crisp for a power arm in the bullpen, and have Ellsbury start as the everyday center fielder next year. They bring back Pedroia, Ellsbury, Youkoulis, Papi (after recovering from whatever knee problems he's been having this year), Manny, Lowell, Drew, Varitek, and Lugo, everyone. In addition, they keep Beckett, Dice-K, and get back healthy Lester, and a MLB ready Bucholz, and of course Papelbon and Okajima whatever changes or not made to the bullpen in the offseason and you have your 2008 World Series favorites.

On the other side of the coin you have the Yankees. After any other season, I would not be so fast as to say the Red Sox had taken over, but when you look at what has happened so far this offseason with the Yanks, its hard to say they will be as competitive the next year and the years to come. First comes the bogus offer to Joe Torre and running him out of town. Then Arod opts out of his contract (that's a whole other post in itself) but I don't care what sort of discomfort he brought to the clubhouse, it will be impossible to replace his defense at third, not to mention the 54 home runs and 156 RBI. And finally the hiring of Joe Girardi and Donny Baseball bouncing (I actually think Girardi is the best man for the job in the short-term, but again, another post, another time). In addition, the looming negotiations with Rivera, Posada, Mientkiewicz, and Vizcaino all of which are not guaranteed to stay, and you have a totally different ball club from last year. Again, normally this wouldn't be such a bad thing, especially with the likes of Robbie Cano, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and of course Joba beginning to come into their own, but for at least the next 2 or 3 years, and can confidently say, the Yankees are no longer at the crest of the baseball world.

Yep...I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

• The Braves traded Edgar Renteria to the Tigers yesterday for young prospects, Jair Jurrjens, a 21-year old hard throwing right hander, and Gorkys Hernandez, a 19-year old speedy center fielder, with a terrific name. Good deal for both sides.
• Oh, and in case you've been living under a rock, the Huskies of UConn are now ranked #13 in the latest BCS poll, as well as receiving their first ranking in the AP and USA Today Coaches poll in their history just 5 years and 10 weeks after becoming a D-1A (or Bowl Subdivision as they are now calling it) football program, the second fastest program to do so behind Marshall. They play host to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this Saturday, primetime at 7:15pm. Red Sky NYC (the UConn Huskies bar) is the recommended establishment to enjoy the game this weekend.