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.
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