l do not know if you've guys have been paying attention to what the Red Sox have done to their pitching staff, but those guys are LOADED.Some people have already crowned the Yankees to go the World Series, but they need to take another look. My prediction is that the Red Sox will not only win the AL East but reach the World Series. The Yankees bullpen is not a guaranteed with arms and while they have starters, what good is that if you do not have relief (Those guys are not going to pitch completes every game) ? . If we go on the theory that pitching wins games (and this is proven) then clearly the Red Sox have to be the favorites to come out of the AL right ?
Remember guys, it came down to the wire between the Red Sox and Rays for the division. Smoltz and Penny are not going to be Ace's. What about Lester, Okijima, Papelbon ? The Red Sox bullpen was already good, with these addition it can only get better.
The part you guys are missing is that the Red Sox already had a pitching before Smoltz and Penny. Their offense is better than the Rays so that is what puts me over them. The performance the Rays displayed last season was remarkable, but it is not going to happen again. We've seen the same thing with the Detroit Tigers (Who had a better team last season, than the one who went to the World Series).

Speculations and all these theories are irrelevant. We will see who does what when the man throws the ball to the plate so the other man can hit it. We will know after the fact.

l think the Yankees and Sox are considered the favorites to appear in the ALCS. Do l think that is what will happen? No. l believe one of them will choke in the playoffs. Look at the Yankees in the past. How much money have they put in to their team and they do not have one thing to show for it. If you ask me the Minnesota Twins will be representing (and winning) the American League in the 2009 World Series.

no, l disagree because the penny & smoltz signings r very risky. one is coming off a terrible year & the other is very old, as of right now, l still see the Rays as favorites to win the AL because they're such a young & dynamic group, they will only get better.

the yanks spent about 430 million but all they really did was replace giambi is bat production & mussina is wins. can tex be that much better than giambi? not much. can CC win that many more games than mussina is 20? l dont think so. And ofcourse, AJ will always be AJ.

so the sox with beckett, lester, dicek, then what? penny & smoltz? thats a great looking 5 on paper, but remember the fine print too.

i still like the rays, remember they r so loaded they had to trade away 24 year old 14 game winner Edwin Jackson!

LMFAO

Red Sox have the 3rd best pitching staff in the AL East man. Rays have the best, followed by the Yankees, followed by the Red Sox. l am not scared of of a 40+ year old Smoltz. Name one guy who pitched well in the AL who was over 40. Wakefield? Well we all know, or at least l hope we all do, that he throws what is called a knuckleball. l laughed my butt off when they signed Penny. He is fat, lazy, rides two months of good pitching & has been in the NL all his life. Oh he is also coming back from shoulder surgery. People with TJ & other elbow problems r easy to nurse back, they come back stronger, but u NEVER come back stronger when u have a shoulder problem. Anyways l would not even notice Penny if he was 100% healthy as l feel he could never pitch in the AL. Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Price & Sonninstine. Open ur eyes man, thats sick. l know mets fans hate Kazmir, but the dude is sick, when he is healthy.

Yankees may have a young bullpen, but do not count Mo out yet. He is the best closer ever in baseball & l think he still has somethign left. Edwar Ramirez is flithy. Can u say 2.00 ERA? Other than 1.1IP against his former team, the Angels, that was his ERA last year. Bruney, Coke, Melancon & Sanchez all power arms. l am not a fan of Veras so l will skip over him. Dave Robertson is a huge sleeper man. l see no flaws in the Yankees bullpen since its like a roman army, if one falls the guy behind u steps up & thats what they have for a bullpen, an army.

the yankees bullpen is going to be one of the brighter spots this year, like it was last year. They r loaded with arms & if healthy should be strong in the late innings. Surprising to hear a bullpen comment from a met fan, lol. But seriously, l agree that pitching wins, no doubt. l do not think the yankees r the clear favorite for the division, l expect the sox to be formidable as always & the rays r a better team this year & 1 yr older so to speak. Who knows, its gonna be a good year throughout the mlb in my opinion.

Glad u feel that way let is see Smotz has been an NL pitcher for 20 yrs,BIG difference when u go from the NL to AL look at what happend to Zito & Dontrelle Willis when he signed with the tigers last yr,not to mention Smotz is what 50 yrs old? And Smotz is not expected to pitch untill June.Now lets get to Penny another NL pitcher
with a history of injuries he can be good but The Red sox do not scare me.The rays scare me more then the Red sox because the Rays have YOUTH! So no the Red sox r not the favorates to win they should of signed Lowe.Oh l forgot Beckett has fallen appart he proved it last Oct in the AlC is with the Rays,Dice K walks soooo many ppl. l will give them Lester .Paps is a closer & the yankees own him.Oh yeah l forgot the 1996 yankees also owned Smotz in the Alc's!! So let them bring it on.

Well it all start with one of their aces Jon Lester, the sensational lefty youngster who pitched amazingly for the Red Sox last year. l think he can build on his succsess. Then they have Dice-K. He proved last year that he was great by having an amazing era but his stamina is questionable. Then there is Josh Beckett, who for some reason people forgot about. last year seems to be a fluke for him & maybe he can return to 2007 form this year. That is three exceptional pitchers. & then theres Brad Penny, who had an injury last year which is the main reason he only went 6 & 9. in the two years previous, he was a combined 32-13. & then John Smotlz. It is kinda stupid that people say old guys can not pitch. Jamie Moyer disproved that theory last year. He is 47-26 since being converted back into a starter from the closer role. He has not had an ERA over 4 since 1994. He can still be dominant. They have a great bullpen with the best closer in the game, Jonathon Papelbon. They also have Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, Tim Wakefield, & Takashi Saito, all who have been great. How is this not the best pitching staff in the Majors?

The Yankees have better pitching. Even if you are just looking at the bullpen, the Yankees have one of the strongest. That half way decent guy named Mariano Rivera also contributes quite a bit. Look at the whole thing. The Yankees got much better.

Dude thanks for posting this question. Maybe l am being bias on this since l am a Red Sox fan. But you are right. They should be the favorites to win the American League. Hands down. Their pitching only got better. l am looking forward to this season. Hopefully they will have a healthy club this season.

l would think that the Red Sox are the favorites to win the AL East, and l believe that the Rays will get the Wild Card.

The Yankees do not scare anyone. The sole purpose of all these free agent signings is to jack up prices in the new stadium and line their pockets more. They wo not be around in October, and Girardi will be gone by Mothers Day.

l think the Sox are the favorites at this moment. Their rotation is solid from top to bottom and their lineup is very strong as well. They also improved their bullpen with Saito.

The Yankees, on the other hand, have no middle relief. What happened to the Mets the last 2 seasons may happen to them. They have Rivera, but who do they have to get him the ball? Jose Veras? Marte? Edwar Ramirez? l would take Okajima, Saito, Delcarmen and Masterson over them any day.

LMAO

The Yankees have better pitching than the Red Sox right now.

Putting smoltz & penny aside, the largest problem with the red sox pitching staff is that they largely depend on power arms (Beckett, Daisuke). Power arms throw alot of pitches & dont go deep into games (Beckett rarely throws more than 6 innings & alot of times struggles to get there, it has cost him at least 1 cy young so far, & Daisuke seems lucky to make 5)

Smoltz & Penny r also career NL pitchers coming to a far stronger AL in a hitters division. There r may question marks with this rotation yet, they still have to prove themselves. Oh, & dont forget the Toronto Blue Jays, whos pitching staff led MLB last year in ERA, Hits allowed, WHIP, & 2nd in Walks allowed.

When talking pitching & anything in the AL east, Thankfully TB reminded alot of people there r more than Boston & NY in the division. Try to remember there is 5 teams here.

Sure but u need to score runs to insure wins