Baltimore baseball blues
So the Red Sox have signed John Smoltz as a second-half starter (and Rocco Baldelli as their fourth outfielder).
That got me to thinking what the five-man starting rotations now look like for the American League East.
Boston:
Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Penny, Wakefield (Smoltz, Buchholz, Masterson)
May not have the quality of the Yankees, but loaded for injuries
New York:
Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Chamberlain, Hughes (Kennedy)
They all have to stay healthy
Tampa Bay:
Shields, Garza, Kazmir, Sonnanstine, Price (Howell)
Strong rotation, although Kazmir is a major question mark
Toronto:
Halladay, Litsch, Maroth, Janssen, Purcey (McGowan in second half, Clement, Richmond)
One strong starter, then a number of retreads and unprovens. Marcum is out for the whole year.
Baltimore:
Guthrie, Hendrickson, Burres, Olsen, Penn
Just. Plain. Ug. Lee. But their offense is strong enough to overcome this rotation, right? Right? Right?