December 19, 2004

2005 Rotations. Garry Brown of the Springfield Republican looks at the Red Sox and Yankees starters for next season
Curt Schilling     Randy Johnson

David Wells Mike Mussina
Matt Clement Carl Pavano
Tim Wakefield Jaret Wright
Bronson Arroyo Orlando Hernandez
and gives the edge to New York: "The Red Sox actually go six deep in starting pitchers, if you count their recent addition, left-hander John Halama. They'll use him mainly as a reliever, with the knowledge that he can be a spot starter. For the Yankees, that No. 6 role could go to Brown or Hernandez. Can you imagine a $15.7 million starter being used as a swing man?"

World Champs? Bah, says Tony Massarotti. The Herald scribe is ready to take control of the Gloom 'N Doom Bus: "Spring training is still roughly two months away, but already it seems as if the world champion Red Sox have slipped. ... [L]et's not kid ourselves, either. On paper, at least, Johnson-Pavano is better than Wells-Clement. And by a sizeable margin." ... Mazz forgets that he's comparing the Yankees' 1-2 starters to Boston's 2-3.

Also in the Herald, Michael Silverman reports that Matt Clement "is soft-spoken, so it was with some trepidation that he called former Cubs teammate Bill Mueller to find out if he would fit in with the gang of idiots who dominated the Sox clubhouse." Clement's agent Barry Axelrod: "Matt is probably, in terms of demeanor, behavior and philosophy, closer to Bill Mueller than he is to Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon or now David Wells. ... [H]e called Bill to get the lay of the land.'"

Bronson Arroyo on losing Pedro: "He was unbelievable in the clubhouse and I'm sad to see him go. When I saw that announced, I was definitely disappointed. Pedro's a guy who's kind of defensive. If someone said something, which may not even be true, Pedro's not going to take it and let it slide off of his back. He's probably going to come back with a few words of his own. That's the way he is and that's his personality, and that's how he's been his entire career. That's what makes him so intimidating on the mound."

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