Their main problem last year is that nearly the entire team was broken at various points. That was also Boston’s problem, and they came out fine. The Yanks…not so much. The pitching staff appeared to be Mike Mussina and 4 various other guys.

Heck, as long as Burnett and Sabathia outpitch Darrell Rasner…(who also was lost, to Japan) but the point still stands; good luck beating Tampa Bay, guys. You’ll need it. Especially if David Price is as good as he’s projected (although all he has to do is be better than Edwin Jackson.)

I’ll dispute your remark about the Sox losing players, or at least irreplaceable players. So far, the Sox have lost Timlin (who was awful,) Casey, Kotsay who was only there because Lowell was broken, and all the catchers; Brown and Kottaras may not be as defensively hot as Tek, but they’re all 10 years younger and can make a good attempt at hitting .220. As for Timlin replacements, the Sox have enough other dodgy relievers in-house already. Casey will probably be replaced by Paul McAnulty. (He was a 1B half the time in the minors, and mostly LF the rest of the time.)

Hey, I’m not happy about it either. But consider:

• The last time the Yankees had a losing season? 16 years ago.
• Before this past season, the last time they missed the playoffs was 1993. (I’m not counting 1994, the strike year, when they were 70-43.)
• Even last season, their “bad year,” they were still 16 games over .500.

Of course, it’s all payroll-driven, and CC’s quote is probably just code for “Are you flippin’ kidding me? It’s 161 million dollars!” But his statement is an accurate one: if you had to guess who’s going to have the best winning percentage in baseball from 2009 through 2015, the Yankees is your best bet.

Just one more reason to root for the Rays. :)

was the wife saying she was okay with moving if she got to sit in the front row of the Macy’s Day Parade.

“In Milwaukee, they would have been looking at me to win every single game,” Sabathia told reporters in his first public comments since season’s end. “Of course, I expect to win, and I know that’s going to be here [in New York], too. But I think it would have been even more immense pressure there, because they wouldn’t have been able to put the pieces around to actually help me win. I think I can get that here.”

link

And he’s right.

Their offense is a known quantity and they’re looking to have the best pitching rotation in recent memory, especially if they go for Sheets. Injury is a possibility of any team, but when your opening day #3 is Ben Sheets…that’s a pretty good team.

I don’t know why people are complaining anyways, of course it was about the money. This isn’t Cordero turning down $4 million to get out of Milwaukee, which in the long run is essentially nothing. This would have been Sabathia turning down $40 million!!!

Yes, even a $120 million contract is far more than any athlete deserves, but can you blame Sabathia for taking the huge contract New York offered him? The Yankees style of building teams is completely unfair, but there isn’t a player in the league who would have turned down that much money, especially to play for what looks to be a very impressive team.

Luckily the pre-season favorites rarely win in baseball; especially next year when a surprisingly dominant Chris Capuano calls upon the uncompromising Gods of Averages to win twenty-two consecutive games and lead the Brewers to the World Series!

he’s getting 161M there. now as for whether or not this place actually gives him the best shot at winning…