Division by Division Preview: AL East

That said, the Yankees are going to have a lot of ‘white knuckle’ games as the rotation is not capable of going deep into games and the bullpen is not stocked with players to get the game into the eighth for Chamberlain.

Look out for Yankees fans to scream for bullpen help.

Offensively this team is stacked. One can make an argument that they still have a Hall of Famer at every position. The bench is relatively deep with extraordinarily flexible hitters.

However, how much more do Giambi, Abreu, Matsui, Posada, Jeter, and Damon have left? My assumption is that two or three of these players either suffers a major injury or regresses beyond recognition.

In fact, I also question what kind of attitude Alex Rodriguez will bring to the table now that he is no longer playing for an extension. The team will be alright, but don’t expect any one of the aforementioned seven to accomplish what they did in 2007.

Breakout Candidate: Edwar Ramirez

Despite the fact that he doesn’t really bring it, Edwar has an outstanding strikeout rate of 13.29 per nine innings (good for the best strikeout rate among pitchers with at least 20 innings).

If Edwar could find a way to more consistently be in the strike zone, there is no way he wouldn’t solidify the Yankees bullpen and make a Joba-to-starter move much easier to swallow.

Major Addition: NONE!

They brought aboard ex-Astros Ensberg and Lane, but I would be shocked to see either one have more then 300 at-bats this season.

Major Subtraction: Roger Clemens

While his stint with the Yanks was not as successful as he would have liked (or as the Yankees were paying him), he still pushes pitchers up the pecking order and takes away some of the team depth.

4. Boston Red Sox

While this may come as a huge slap in the face, the Red Sox scream ‘injury trouble’ to me from top to bottom. Even in areas where they appear safe

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