Who has the 2008 AL East's top rotation (front three shown)?
| BAL (Bedard, Cabrera, Loewen) |  0 (0.00%) |
| BOS (Beckett, Schilling, Dice-K) | 23 (21.50%) |
| NYY (Wang, Pettitte, Hughes) | 2 (1.87%) |
| TB (Shields, Kazmir, Garza) | 2 (1.87%) |
| TOR (Halladay, Burnett, McGowan) | 80 (74.77%) |
- I'm sure any number of Bauxites will think I boofed up one or more of the "front threes" listed. Offer your suggested revisions here, certainly!
- As much as doing so pains me as it is so distasteful, I voted for Boston.
- I was tempted by the Yankees (though a decent argument can be made they actually should rank anywhere from third to fifth!) -- after the front three, they have Mike Mussina and Joba Chamberlain. Nice.
- The Jays have the best #1; Boston probably the best rotation
overall; NYY maybe the deepest rotation (but no real stud); and
Baltimor and Tampa have a fair shake of talent, too. This is a HELL of
a division, starting-pitching-wise!
This is an incredibly tough call. Baltimore's out. One can defensibly claim that the Rays have the best pair of aces (!!! I wouldn't though) but the Sox, Yanks and Jays all have a better and more established 3-4-5 punch than Garza, Sonnanstine and Big Scary High 90s Not Quite Ready Yet Top Pitching Prospect beta release 1.87B. So Tampa's out.
The Jays are tempting. I believe Burnett is very underrated... but he's always hurt. The Jays do have the best aces in the division. They may even have three of them. But... young pitchers, heart, splat. There's a pretty good chance one or more of Marcum and McGowan disappoints - slightly overrated in Marcum's case, underrated in McGowan's. Lots of uncertainty beyond Halladay.
If you're risk-averse you probably like Boston. They have four known quantities and Buchholz. If you're risk-loving, the Yankees or Jays are probably your pick, Yanks with two known quantities and Joba, Hughes, Moose and Moose Jr., Jays with the best known quantity in the division and then a ton of upside. I fall into the latter category. So Boston's out. Just to be weird I voted Yanks. They have less injury risk than the Jays, they have a lefty, and their kids apparently have more upside than the Jays'. Deep down inside I like the Jays' rotation best though.
This poll would have been better served taking place a week from now, after the Johan sweepstakes are over.
I actually thought about that but personally don't believe he will be traded at all, and if he is, despite all the east coast media, it's not a slam dunk it will be to Boston or New York.
Personally, I think it's as/more likely he ends up in LA, with either of those teams, but overall, again, don't think he's going anywhere.
Next year the top front-3 will be the Yankees with Hughes/Joba/Kennedy, but this year a top3 of Wang (who is not that good and overrated because of WINS), Pettitte (1.4+ WHIPs for two straight years), and an innings-limited Hughes is probably 4th ahead of only Baltimore's circus of clowns. Kazmir/Shieds/Price could also make a run at that, but that's in the realm of unlikely because Hughes is god damn amazing.
Or what A.J. Burnett likes to call a good year.
"Or what A.J. Burnett likes to call a good year."
At least A.J. is consistent .
I went with the home team.
However, Beckett, Buchholz and Dice-K are Boston's best three - Big B is already better than Schilling. Hughes and Joba are two of NY's top three. Baltimore could surprise. TB could surprise as well.
AJ plays all of 08 and Roy plays 5 months of 08 as 31 year olds. McGowan plays 08 as a 26 year old. These three should all be in their "prime." The other "prime" aces in the East are Shields 26, Kazmir 24! and Beckett 28. Young guys Hughes, Joba, Kennedy and Buccholz look to have some fantastic years ahead. However, in 08 I think their youth will limit their innings and as all young pitchers (no matter how talented) they'll be inconsistent.
Down the road, the loss of AJ coupled with the growth of NY and Bostons youngsters does not bode well for the Jays. Sigh.
At least A.J. is consistent .
Yeah, you wouldn't want an unexpected 30-start season from Burnett throwing a wrench into the team's master plans.
"Yeah, you wouldn't want an unexpected 30-start season from Burnett throwing a wrench into the team's master plans."
Now watch A.J. go 30+ starts, be in the running for the cy young and walk at the end of the season for 20 per..... nah, that's way too unlikely to ever happen. Then again look what Beckett did in 2006 and 2007 and consider that A.J. threw 204 innings in 2002 and 209 innings in 2005. Sometimes pigs can fly.
I voted Boston.