A what? AND he was addicted to pornography! Gotta love Paul Byrd.

my first concern is that the Yankees have reloaded their pitching staff and added Tex. Now its not a given that AJ Burnett and CC will win anymore games then Andy Pettitte and Moose (34) but if Wang, Joba and pitcher X can win more then Wang, Kennedy and Hughes (8) did last year the Yanks are going to add quite a few wins. Tex should also be good for a couple of wins.

After looking at the market I think the Yankees will sign Juan Cruz since they are the only team that wouldnt surrender a draft pick (well if you consider a fourth rounder problamatic). Add him into Joba’s old role and the Yanks should be hard to beat. Rivera, Posada and Burnett staying healthy along with more age decline by Jeter, Damon and Matsui could still be a large issue.

Boston and Tampa both have starting staffs that stretch to 9-10 guys counting minor leaguers ready to join the roster. Boston has quietly upgraded their pen (Saito, Ramon Ramirez) and added Smoltz and Penny. Tampa has added Nelson, Cormier, Joyce (for Jackson), Burrell and I think will get nice rebounds from Crawford and Upton. Price will be up all year (unless Tampa decided he could close at some point if that remains a problem) and there are three or four arms salivating for a spot in the minors.

Baltimore must have starting pitching. There is no fluke to the Aug/Sept declines that have been prevalent the entire decade. Its a simple pattern. The starters dont go deep in games, the bullpen is overworked, the starters and bullpen begin to breakdown and pitchers are expedited from the minors, the teams in contention make moves to get better in July (the Orioles dont), the hitting wanes and the pitching worsens as the team moves late into the season facing many team with playoff aspirations and the goodwill created during the season evaporates for both the players and the fans.

I think the future is obviously going to be all the pitching prospects we have and if Andy wants to see what he has I cant disagree. But I wouldnt mind seeing one more solid rotation arm here. There is nothing wrong with say Jeremy, Koji and new acquisition with two spots for Olsen, Liz, Patton, Albers, Burres, Penn, Hendrickson, Hennesghy to fight for. Kam and Sarfate are going to fight for a spot. I have no problem if Olson, Liz, Patton, Albers, and Kam have to go down and pitch their way back. Lets see them dominate the minors before we hand them a job. We need to know if Sarfate and Penn can pitch since they are out of options so they will probably be on the staff unless they are just dreadful.

But if would be nice to go into the season with at least two legit arms and maybe three if Koji pans out. It may seem crowded but attritrition hits every year. But if we could just have three starters with 150-180 possibly much better then average we could preserve the pen and allow the pitchers to have the oportunity to learn at the minor league level and FORCE their way on to the major league roster.

Sorry to ramble.