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From Bill Madden:
Indeed, the fact that Francona is boasting about a five-strong rotation of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz, with 43-year-old Tim Wakefield, a first-half All-Star last year before he sustained back problems that required surgery, in reserve, should come as unsettling news to Yankee legions watching Joe Girardi conduct endless tryouts for the fifth spot in his rotation.
This is pure silliness from Madden. If all of the Red Sox starters were healthy, they too would be having a competition to figure out the 4th and 5th spots, with Dice-K, Buchholz, and Wakefield vying for the two spots. As it is, the Red Sox are fairly thin in terms of bottom of the rotation starters, with Matsuzaka already hurt and Junichi Tazawa currently the 6th starter. Now, being thin at 7th starter is a problem that most teams would love to have, but the idea the Red Sox have an advantage because their rotation is currently settled is ridiculous.
By contrast, the Yankees have a handful of guys fighting for the 5th spot, but that is in no way indicative of a lack of talent. Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Alfredo Aceves would all be solid options in almost every rotation in baseball, and the losers of the rotation battle will give the Yankees enviable starting pitching depth should one of the top 5 get hurt. Both teams have solid depth and are among the best rotations in baseball, and the idea that competition for one spot makes the Yankees weaker is typical myopic thinking from Bill Madden.
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7 Responses to Madden: Red Sox Rotation Should Make Yanks Worry
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TIQ IQ
Counterpoint: Yankees rotation should make Sox worry.
the “legendary depth” jokes will never get old. Ever. And yeah, I had to laugh at the article considering that Dice-K is already hurt. The Red Sox have an awesome top three, but after that, it’s very sketchy.
Bill Madden is a real JERK and has been for years. The Red Sox rotation is over-rated. Dice K can’t stay healthy, and other than Becket has any one of these characters won at leaswt 15 games once in their career?> As far as the Yankees holding “endless” tryouts is really ammusing. The battle is between three guys who would probably automatically start for the Red Sox. Its nice to have a battle between Hughes, Chamberlain and Aceves as opposed to Clay Bucholtz versus Tim Wakefield. I’m sure the Red Soc would love to have the Yankees problem.
Funny how the ‘egg-heads’ (not Madden, for sure) love to jump on Theo’s bandwagon. Boston has a rotation that could implode at anytime, top to bottom. Dice-K is, I would bet a lot more hurt than anyone in Boston wants to admit. Beckett and Lackey have been brittle their entire careers. And Wakefield? Seriously? One sprint to first base or a cough could shelve him for the season. Finally, Epstein is going to have to cough up a lot of his chips in the minors to buy some offense. No way, no how, does that line-up gets to the play-offs.
I’ve been ignoring Madden for years and am a much happier person as a result.
Just like last year, Red Sox have all the depth and their staff is best, what happened, Penny and Smoltz gets DFA and Dice-K gets hurt. Remember this classic line from ESPN Penny and Smoltz will win more games than CC and AJ.
that’s not from ESPN, that’s from Jeff Pearlman
“Possibly the greatest starting rotation in the history of the game” re: Boston is from ESPN prior to last season though… thanks Ravech