Bronx & Beans

Yeah, Colon didn't look so hot at the plate last night, and he's starting to remind those of us in the 30-and-older crowd of Aurelio Lopez. That would be in terms of girth, not velocity.

But fear not, gentle Sox fans. Bartolo is on the DL, but the Sox have something the Yanks lack: fans who bathe. Oh, and pitching depth. It would nice to think that the Bartolo Colon of 2008 is the same pitcher who won the Cy Young Award, but let's be real. Any good performances from Colon this year were simply gravy: a chance to give Clay Buchholz more seasoning in Triple A. And with Dice-K ready to come off the DL, Bartolo's batting blunder will allow Justin Masterson (3-1, 2.90) to stay in the rotation.

The Yanks are in trouble, though. Chien Ming Wang (who, by the way, should only be mentioned in the same sentence as the word "ace" if he's going to a hardware store) is out until September. The Pinstippers have limited options; some baseball pundits have even floated the idea of promoting career minor leaguer Dan Giese to the rotation. If that doesn't work (it won't) the other options are Kei "Worst Pitcher in the History of Modern Baseball" Igawa and about eight guys with names like Steven White (6.61 ERA at AAA Scranton) and Heath Phillips (5.88 ERA at Scranton). Where are Tyler Clippard and Matt DeSalvo when you need them?

(In case you're interested - the Yanks probably are - they are with the Washington and Atlanta organizations, respectively).

--Whittle

If I wasn't so sure that Yankees fans are the most over-confident fan base in America, I'd start to think there was a sense of panic in the Bronx.

First, Hank Steinbrenner and the brain trust gut one of the team's strengths by moving wonderboy Joba Chamberlain out of the bullpen and into the starting rotation - leaving blunder-boy Kyle Farnsworth as 'the bridge' to Mariano in the 8th inning. And we saw how that worked Monday night.

Then, after watching over-hyped prospects Philip Hughes (0-4, 9.00) and Ian Kennedy (0-3, 7.41) routinely cough up about 7 runs per start, Yankees fans are suddenly so desperate that they're giving Chamberlain a standing ovation after giving up only 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings in his first start! (By the way, 23-year-old Red Sox rookie Justin Masterson improved to 2-0 Tuesday night with a 2.95 ERA.)

Finally, the boo birds hammer the Yankees bullpen when guys named Dan Giese and Jose Veras can't keep the Blue Jays off the scoreboard after being asked to hold the game --- for 6 2/3 innings!! Yikes.

Apparently, there has already been rumbling that a few of the Yankee veterans aren't pleased with the decision to switch Joba from the pen to the rotation. And after a week like this, you can't blame them.

Of course, there is some good news for the Yankees. The troubling injury to David Ortiz' wrist gives some hope to all American League pretenders. And this week the Yanks have the luxury of watching the iron of the AL East beat each other up at Fenway as the Red Sox battle the Rays.

Hey, anyone want to start a Red Sox-Rays blog?

-- Dennehy

Okay, now that we've finished one month of baseball, is it too early to appraise the winners and losers of the Johan Santana winter sweepstakes?

Well, yes. In passing on Santana, the Red Sox and Yankees sided with youth, and, by definition, we'll have to wait a while to see if they made the right call... and it was the Mets who went for instant gratification when they landed the ace.

But this is Red Sox/Yankees. There is no tomorrow. They kept the kids because they thought the kids would deliver now. So how are they doing?

Last night seems like a good yardstick marker, since the two pitchers mentioned most often in Santana trade talks last winter -- the Sox' Jon Lester and the Yanks' Philp Hughes -- started. And for that matter, so did ace that got away...