CC or Dice-K?

Last night, I was sitting around with a group of guys and baseball came up as a topic of discussion. As we were talking it came out that at the table we had a Yankees and Red Sox fan (really two Yankee fans, but one was a spectator for the most part). So as the nice guy that I am, I prodded both of them to get into a heated discussion about the teams. The Yankee fan was very loud and wouldn’t allow anyone to interject and the Red Sox fan sat back with a smirk knowing his team has two World Series trophies in the last five years.

I felt the need to shine some light on some general comparisons and the first thing I said was the Yankees have a better starting rotation. I followed up saying that the Red Sox are very good also, but the Yankees are better. My first goal was achieved, I got the Yankee fan to sit back in his chair and quiet down so the other five people sitting there could speak or at least hear someone else.

The Red Sox are very good and they’re rotation will be led by strong seasons from Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester. Even when John Smoltz makes his appearance sometime midseason, he will be very good. However, CC Sabathia will be better than Matsuzaka. Joba Chamberlain will excel as a starter, although innings will be limited. Phil Hughes will be brought back to the Yankees rotation at some point this season and will show the American League why the Yankees didn’t trade him for Johan Santana.

These two rotations are very close in talent. Both have an excellent mix of youth and experience. Both starting rotations will get 70+ wins.

The main reason I give the Yankees the edge is because of health.

Chien-Ming Wang was hurt on a freak injury because he forgot how to run down a third base line with a jacket on so his arm will be fine. A.J. Burnett is the only Yankee with a true history of injury and when misses a few starts, Phil Hughes will be more than an adequate spot starter.

Josh Beckett was hampered with back issues last year. John Smoltz is coming off surgery. Brad Penny was hurt for most of the season last year. All three more than capable of dominating any lineup with not only stuff but with their brains, but they need to be healthy. That’s a lot of injury questions that will need to be answered. With very good health to those three (not expecting complete seasons) there’s very high reward.