Sorry, Yankee Fans.

I know you're probably gloating about the 2-game sweep in Boston, the comeback from a 9-run deficit on Saturday, and the team's quick ascension into first place in the AL East ...

"The Mets may actually have a better starting rotation than the Yankees.

Who’d have even entertained such a notion in January after Yankee and to his rotation in one fell Friday the 13th swoop?"

Me.

Because the Yankees play in the AL East and the Yankees also play in a very small ballpark.

Furthermore, Pineda is hurt, so it's hard to judge his effectiveness.

Furthermore, the Mets don't have a better starting rotation than the Yankees. The Mets just have a better starting rotation than the Yankees after two weeks.


"Who among us didn’t immediately proclaim the Yankees the team to beat after Cashman’s Pineda/Kuroda haul? They still may be, but so far not because of either of them."

Errr ...

The Rangers are the team to beat in the AL. Is that what you mean?

Or do you mean the team to beat in all of baseball? Then, the Yankees are not the team to beat. One of the top three or four for sure.

Or do you mean the team to beat in the AL East? Yankees are probably the presumptive team to beat because of what you're starting to see ... a lineup that scores a ton of runs and a superior bullpen. The days when El Duque was your #4 are long gone.

Or do you mean the team to beat in the fictional Mets/Yankees League? Then, the Yankees are the team to beat.


"At the same time, who wasn’t a doomsayer when it came to Santana’s ability to come back from the kind of shoulder injury no pitcher has come back from or that Pelfrey would ever again (at least with the Mets) resemble the form that prompted Terry Collins to give him the Opening Day nod last year?"

Santana hasn't come back yet. Unless 11 innings is a successful major league comeback.

So you've got Santana, Dickey, Pelfrey, Niese, and Wendell Gee.

Wait until they play the AL teams.


"At the same time, Girardi just as well needn’t know that A.J. Burnett pitched seven shutout innings in his first start with Pittsburgh Saturday, or that portly old Bartolo Colon is 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA and just two walks in 27.1 innings in his first four starts with the Oakland A’s."

Seriously?

We're just going to keep judging these stats in a vacuum?


"The Yankees felt Burnett and Colon, for different reasons, were expendable as they made room in their rotation for Kuroda and Pineda. Now, however, it would seem they are back to the drawing board with their rotation as they wonder if (1) Garcia is finished, (2) Kuroda is yet another National League pitcher ill suited for the AL East, and (3) Hughes is never going to live up to his No. 1 draft pick billing (and Cashman's lofty expectations)."

I shall end the suspense. (1) Garcia is finished, (2) Kuroda is yet another NL pitcher ill suited for the AL East, (3) Hughes is never going to live up to his No. 1 draft pick billing.

But these are the Yankees. They will enhance their starting rotation. That's what the money is for.