The Closers
Mariano Rivera
vs
Keith Foulke
What can you say about Mariano Rivera that has not already been said? Yankee fans were concerned in the opening week of the season, when Mo blew, not one, but two saves to the Boston Red Sox. While some Yankee fans may have though it was the beginning of the end, Rivera simply put it out of his mind and successfully converted 31 straight save opportunities. Rivera’s 11th season was among his finest. He topped the 40-save mark (43) for the 6th time in his career, while only blowing 4 save opportunities. He set personal marks for ERA (1.38) and hits and walks per nine innings, and the league battering average against him, .177, was just 1 point higher than the previous low. He was a legitimate Cy Young contender.
Keith Foulke was a hero in 2004 as he closed out the St. Louis Cardinals to help give Boston its first championship in 86 years. 2005 was the polar opposite. Foulke struggled with a bad knee that affected his ability to push off the rubber properly. This caused a loss of command and a flat fastball. The league feasted on him until he was shutdown for most of July and all of August. Foulke returned in September, but was less than good. He’s feeling good this Spring Training and says his knee is healthy. Terry Francona is hoping that’s true.
Advantage - Rivera
The set up men
With the exception of Tanyon Sturtze, the Yankees have completely re-worked their bullpen from this time last year. Tom Gordon is gone. Kyle Farnsworth, Ron Villone, and Mike Myers have been brought in to replace him. They’ll be joined by holdovers Sturtze and Aaron Small, and possibly either Jaret Wright or Shawn Chacon (the latter would be an insane move). Torre has said that he will not stick to the plan of the pervious two years when Tom Gordon pitched the 8th and Paul Quantrill and Tanyon Sturtze worked the 7th. The idea this year will be to mix and match more, though Farnsworth will probably see the bulk of the 8th inning duty.
The wildcard in all of this is the Yankees “other” bullpen signing, Octavio Dotel.Though he struggled as a closer, Dotel was a dominant setup man for the Astros from 2001-2003. It is the hope that he will recover from Tommy John surgery in June and be able to return to that dominance. On paper, the Yankees have a very good collection of veterans - now they have to go out and prove it in the games.Keith Foulke’s health is the key to the Boston bullpen. If he’s back to the Foulke of 2004, the Sox won’t have to worry about shuffling pitchers around. Mike Timlin is being joined by veterans David Riske, Julián Tavárez, and Rudy Seánez as those players with guaranteed sports. Youngsters Jon Papelbon, Lenny DiNardo, and Craig Hansen will be competing for spots in the pen and may be joined by one of the Sox starters if David Wells is not moved (too many jokes there).
Advantage - Even - much too early to call
The Benches
The Yankees bench usually does not play much of a part, especially during the regular season, because Joe Torre rarely pinch-hits. Of course, with the lineup the Yankees have that’s understandable. Kelly Stinnett, Bernie Williams, Andy Phillips, Miguel Cairo, and Bubba Crosby will be riding the pines, though Williams and Phillips will see quite a bit of time at DH and, in Phillips’s case, first base.
For now, John Flaherty, Tony Graffanino, and Dustan Mohr seem to be the only reserves with somewhat guaranteed spots. Alex Cora, Adam Stern, and others will be looking to join them. One half of the JT Snow/Kevin Youkillis platoon will join them as well. The Yankees bench will have more of a veteran presence, but the Sox generally rely on their bench much more.
Advantage - Even - There is no proven pinch-hitter like Rueben Sierra coming off the bench. Cairo and Graffanino give both teams great versatility.
Intangibles
Yankees GM Brian Cashman has supposed total control this season. If the Yankees need another arm or bat, will he be willing to part with one of the prospects that he has refused to move so far. What will the impact be of having new pitching coach Ron Guidry? Can Bernie Williams fill the Ruben Sierra role? The feeling here is that before everything is said and done, Cashman will have to bring in another big bat, because Phillips and Bernie will not get it done over the long haul. Those are some of the things that Joe Torre will have to deal with. Torre has been the ever calm influence throughout the ups and downs of the past 10 seasons. At times, that might be a detriment, since some of the recent teams seemed to be beset by complacency. That’s where new coaches Larry Bowa, Guidry, and Tony Pena should come in handy. All three were fiery competitors, and fiery is an understatement when it came to Bowa’s managing.
The Red Sox, unexpectedly, have a new pitching coach as well. It was determined last week that Dave Wallace would have to have hip replacement and miss the season. Al Nipper, who has had minor league coaching experience, steps in. The biggest issue in Boston though will be the Manny Ramirez situation. Will Manny keep singing, “should I stay or should I go now” or will he finally make peace with his surroundings (Angels GM Bill Stoneman will be keeping a very close eye on the situation). The uncertainty could definitely be very disruptive to the ball club. The Red Sox pitching will have to step up because the team will not score as many runs as it has the last few years. With no true leadoff hitter (and sparkplug like Johnny Damon was) and the absence of clutch hitters like Bill Mueller and Kevin Millar, the starters and bullpen are going to have to keep the opponents score down. Finally, can Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino put aside their hatred for one another for the good of the club.
To quickly review:
1B - Giambi
2B - Even
SS - Jeter
3B - A-Rod
LF - Ramirez
CF - Damon
RF - Sheffield
DH - Ortiz
Starting Pitching - Red Sox
Closer - Rivera
Pen - Even
Bench - Even
Overall Advantage - Yankees
Now they have to play the games, because all of this means nothing.
Pettitte’s first season in Houston made the Yankees front-office look pretty good. Swinging a bat regularly for the first time in his career, Pettitte tore the flexor tendon in his pitching elbow. Limited to 15 starts, Pettitte finished just 6-4 with a 3.90 ERA. 
What to do, what to do?
Of course there are differences between "other" team's Spring Trainings and those of the Yankees. There's usually some new free agent and/or trade acquisition signing to grab the spotlight. This year it's Johnny Damon's turn to greet the horde of media. The games 
Carl Pavano is one of the biggest questions marks. He has so many question marks surrounding him, he looks like that guy on the infomercial selling his get rich quick scheme. Pavano missed most of his first season in the Bronx due to a shoulder injury that was believed to have been brought on by a bad back. Pavano has already seen a specialist this winter and complained of stiffness the day before the official opening of camp. For now, he's been told to stay off the mound for 10-14 days.
Tino Martinez, who starred on the Yankees World Series championship teams from 1996 to 2001, has announced his retirement after 16 seasons. "I don't want to make this a big deal," Martinez said by phone to St. Petersburg Times writer Marc Topkin. "I'm done. I'm not going to play anymore. I'm 100 percent decided. I wanted to retire as a Yankee, to have that uniform on for the last time," he said. "It's a great way to go out."
Let’s start from the top…the very top. The Big Unit, Randy Johnson came over with extremely high expectations. An opening night win against the Red Sox heightened those expectations. Unfortunately, the results for the rest of the first half only reached up to about his belt buckle. His slider was flat and his fastball was missing zip. After making some adjustments, Johnson sizzled in the 2nd half. Opponents hit just .208 in his last 15 starts, which saw Johnson go 8-2 to finish 17-8 overall. But like many of his teammates, Johnson spit the bit during the ALDS loss to the Angels. Hopefully with a year under his belt in New York, he’ll show more positive signs this year.
Mike Mussina started to look like a broken down old man last year. He managed to make 30 starts, but his stuff wasn’t there for most of them. The league hit .284 against him, the highest average he’s ever allowed. For the second straight season, he yielded close to 4.5 runs per game, and after eclipsing 200 innings pitched for 9 straight years, he again finished below that mark. He also landed on the DL again. The 37-year old is in the last year of a six-year deal. It may very well be his last, not only with the Yankees, but in all of baseball if his elbow isn’t healthy.
Carl Pavano signed a 4-year, $44 million free agent contract following the 2004 season. The Yankees felt they had made the signing of the off-season. Unfortunately the word “off-season” continued during the season. Pavano started out with a decent April, going 2-2 with a 3.10 ERA. He would only make 12 more starts over the next two months before missing the rest of the season with shoulder and back problems. The league battered him over those last dozen starts to the tune of a .327 average. It appears now that a bad back caused Pavano to alter his motion, which in turn screwed up his shoulder. He’s already seen a back specialist this month after feeling twinges. To make matters worse, rumors have persisted that Pavano was and is unhappy in the city and wants out. Pavano has denied this to GM Brian Cashman, but the doubt lingers.
Chien-Ming Wang was the most ready for primetime pitching prospect in the organization prior to the 2005 season. He proved that label to be accurate when he became indispensable in the Yankees rotation. With injuries to Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina, Jaret Wright, and Carl Pavano, the Yankees weren’t sure where to turn. Thankfully they turned to Wang. The rookie showed incredible poise, going 6-3, with a sub 4 ERA, before landing on the DL himself at the All-Star break. Reports were not good - ranging from a torn rotator cuff to inflammation. The latter turned out to be closer to the truth and “The Wanger” returned to win 2 games down the stretch in September. A healthy Chien-Ming Wang is a must for the Yankees to win.
Shawn Chacon was having one of the most miserable years of his life. His Colorado Rockies stunk yet again and he was 1-7. Then the call came, Chacon had been traded to the Yankees for a pair of lower level prospects. Chacon was rejuvenated. With the help of some tweaking by pitching coach Mel Stottelmyre, and renewed confidence, Chacon made 14 appearances, 12 of them starts. All he did was go 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA and win one big game after another. Down two games to one in the ALDS, he pitched a sparkling 6+ innings in a game the Yankees would win after he had been pulled. Now the Yankees need him to repeat those performances.
Wright made four starts in April, one more miserable than the other. Somehow he managed to win 2 of them. Then he went on the DL until August. He showed flashes of his 2004 success with Atlanta, but overall he struggled, finishing 5-5, 6.08 and only 2 more strikeouts than walks. 
Small, on the other hand, was tremendous. The one-time high school teammate of Jason Giambi, went an astonishing 10 in 15 appearances, 9 of them starts, including a complete game. He pitched with poise, control, and confidence - things that were lacking from much of the starting staff. The Yankees hope he will only be a tremendous asset to the bullpen this year and not needed in the starting rotation.
Curt Schilling, he of the big mouth and powerful right arm, is still trying to recover from the ankle injury he suffered in 2004. It caused him to miss much of last season, and at one point relegated him to the closer role, because the ankle wouldn’t hold up for long periods. Schilling has declared himself healthy and has dropped a number of pounds. The Sox wonder whether they will see the 21-6, 3.26 Schilling of 2004 or last year’s 8-9, 5.69 model.
The Red Sox made a steal of a deal this off-season, acquiring Josh Beckett from Florida, along with Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota (later used in the Coco Crisp deal) for prospects Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado, and Harvey Garcia. Beckett gained national prominence in 2003 when he led the Florida Marlins to the second World Series championship versus the Yankees. That included shutting down the Yankees in the clincher at Yankee Stadium. Shoulder problems have nagged him the last 2 years, and he has yet to reach 200 innings in a season (though his totals have increased each year). The Red Sox avoided arbitration by signing the soon-to-be 26-yr old to a one year deal. They obviously want to wait to see how his shoulder stands up as well as how he does against the hitter friendly American League before signing him long term.
Tim Wakefield, David Wells, Bronson Arroyo, Matt Clement, Bronson Arroyo, and Jonathan Papelbon. These are the names that Manger Terry Francona is going to throw against the wall to see who sticks. Wakefield is the most likely of the group to end up in the rotation, followed by Clement. Wakefield and his knuckles will turn 40 in August, but he is coming off a 225-innings pitched season and 16 wins. He’s probably the guy that Francona can count on most.
Clement’s name surfaced in trade rumors during the season (e.g. for Cincy’s Austin Kearns). After a strong start (10-2), Clement, as many predicted, struggled in the 2nd half, winning just 3 times in 14 decisions. To make matters worse, he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford in a July game. Clement’s inconsistency drove the Cubs crazy, and if Francona had any more hair to lose, he certainly would lose it watching Clement.
David Wells is unhappy. What else is new? Despite some injuries, Boomer still managed to make 30 starts and win 15 games, but he was never very happy last year. He has been campaigning for a trade back to the west coast, preferably to the Padres. While talks have gone between the Sox and the Pads, as well as the Dodgers, nothing has transpired. Wells said he will show up on-time to spring training and remain a “good soldier”. How long that lasts is anybody’s guess. It’s most likely he’ll be traded before the Sox break camp.
In 2004, Bronson Arroyo looked like Bo Derek, last year it was The Dutch Boy. He went 7-5 with an ERA of just over 4 for the first half of last year, and although he matched his won-lost record in the second half, his ERA was a full point higher. Because of the flexibility Arroyo gives him, Francona may opt to use him out of the pen. For the moment though, it looks like Arroyo will be the number 5 starter.
Jonathan Papelbon is the dark horse for the rotation, but outstanding spring training could change all that. The, then, 24-yr old rookie showed a lot of poise last year, making 17 appearances, including 3 starts. He finished 3-1, 2.65, averaging a strikeout per inning. His downside - almost a hit per inning and 4.5 walks per 9 innings. He could have a big impact on the rotation during the season though, just as Wang did for the Yankees last year.
One day after Pittsburgh's semi-dull victory over Seattle in Super Bowl eXtra Large, there were actually some Yankee notes today. In what can only be described as a very surprising move, Mel Stottelmyre will be a Yankees spring training instructor and work with all of the pitchers. There was much speculation that Stot would become the M's new pitching coach since he's from the Seattle area. The M's went in another direction with Rafael Chaves and its unknown whether Stot had any another opportunities. For that matter, we don't really know if he he wanted to coach full-time any more.
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