Tigers Tamed, Yankees Up Next
It's hard to commend the Red Sox for winning 2-out-of-3 when the team they played is currently sporting a 1-8 record. The Tigers woke up a bit during their three day stay at Fenway, but only enough to scrounge up one victory. It's amazing how much additional pressure the Tigers will feel now that they have catapulted themselves into second place on the payroll chart (at $137.6 million), behind the $209 million New York Yankees. The Sox, thanks to some young talent brought up from the farm system and Matt Clement's annual $9 million albatross finally off the books, have dropped to fourth place ($133 million) behind the Mets ($137.3 million).This weekend series against the Yankees should be intriguing given that neither team is hitting or pitching consistently and both are due to break out. Here are the matchups:
Friday - Wang vs. Buchholz
Saturday - Mussina vs. Beckett
Sunday - Hughes vs. Matsuzaka
Considering the threat of rain and cold weather, anything's possible, but the edge goes to the Yanks tonight and to the Sox on Saturday and Sunday.
Must be too early in the season. Not feeling the rivalry yet. I hope Buchholz mans up and tosses a gem tonight. That could set the tone for his whole season.
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Steve-
Thanks for updating the link. I've been meaning to e-mail my fellow MLBloggers asking them to do that but I still can't add links on my site. One of the reasons I moved the blog.
I'm with 2team in his comment about not feeling the rivalry. I'm into it but it's not at the fever pitch that it used to be. It's dipped a little in intensity since 2004.
i think the Sox get the edge tonight. The Yanks always struggle with pitchers they've never seen before. The offense is already struggling and it'll be tough for them to hit Buchholz if he has decent stuff. And no Jeter. That doesn't help.
I think the Yanks best shot at a game is tomorrow. Admittedly I don't know how healthy Beckett is but the cold weather can't help his back. He may need a start or two, as well as some warmer temps, before he's his old self.
However things go, I think the Sox take 2 of 3.
J-Boogie
http://boogiedownbaseball.blogspot.com
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The further the Sox fall down the payroll list (as long as they continue to win) the better
http://statisticianmagician.mlblogs.com/
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I don't ever see the Sox dipping below $125 million at this point. I do expect the Yanks to drop under $200 million next year, but not too far below.
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