NESO'S TAKE ON SPORTS

The New York Yankees basically took their team, chopped the entire supporting cast off, and bought in a new class of players, including C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. The Tampa Bay Rays, the Cindarella story from last season, pretty much have the same team, and are still a solid group of players. The Boston Redsox werebit by the injury bug last year and used the off-season to get healthy. In Patriots like fashion signed a few low-key, low-cost players, like Rocco Baldelli. The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays don’t even deserve to be a part of this conversation. The Jays lost their 2nd best pitcher in A.J. Burnett, and the Orioles are a hit-only team, which can barely hit.

Really, the East is between the Sox, Yankees and Rays. and the AL Wild Card will probably go to one of those teams, whom I thhink will be the Sox. Yes Tampa had a great run last year, but I just don’t think that they can keep up with the Yankees, or the Redsox when healthy. So, just like it should be, the AL East will be between the Yanks and Sox.

I love my team, the Sox, but I really don’t know how they will match up against Chen Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia. Also, other than Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, our pitching staff is quite inconsistent, meaning that Mark Teixeira, A-Roid, Jeter and Posada will eat our pitching alive. Still, I think the Sox are better than any other AL team, and will be the American League wildcard team.

However, in the postseason the Sox will beat the Yankees if given the chance. C.C. and Rodriguez suck in the clutch, and A.J. Burnett has almost no big game experience. Every Redsox’ player, from Jed Lowrie to David Ortiz to Josh Beckett, has proven himself under pressure, whether it be in extra innings with two outs during the regular season, or facing elimination to your rivals in the post season.

If I were to guess the AL postseason matchups, I would say Sox vs. Angels in the first round, while the Yankees would face the Indians (who I think will be back to their ’07 form). Of course, the Sox would beat Anaheim again, while the Yankees would make it through Cleveland (which lost Sabathia). What does that mean? You got it! Redsox – Yankees, ALCS! As a series prediction, I think Sox take it in 6, because Beckett, Lester and Matsuzaka all come through.