A continuation of the 2008 Thread as we approach the 2009 regular season...

<troll mode on> Let's Go Mets! <troll mode off>

lets go cubs!

Yankees will be the 2009 World Series champions!

Seriously, I don't think one can argue that the Yankees have the best 5 man rotation in baseball with Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Pettitte, and Chamberlain.

idk about that irish i mean yea they have gotten stronger...but really though i can see sabathia and burnett doing great just not the others. at best the yankees will be fighting it out with boston and tampa bay till september.

Sabathia has to prove he can pitch in NY, but is probably a given.

Burnett was an injruy waiting to happen, .500 pitcher until last year. Won more than 12 games once in his career.

Wang is Wang. Good #3 starter. Couldn't strike me out though.

Petitte is way past his prime. ERA over 4.50 last year.

Chamberlain will be in the bullpen by the All-Star break.

Not the others? Wang twice won 19 games, and Pettitte is one of the best postseason pitchers ever. I'll give you Chamberlain though, he's a question mark. But honestly, who has a better rotation top to bottom?

pettitte is past his prime which was said before...i never heard of wang to tell the truth. now if things go right yea they can be one of the best pitching rotation...not the best though.

Who's better then?

Considering who you're asking, 50/50 he says the Cubs.

Though they may not be household names, the Reds' rotation is going to impress this season. The Reds may hang with the Cubs and Cardinals in the central this summer if they can score some runs.

actually no...if the injury bug doesnt hit zambrino or harding then they might be...i might go with boston...but the yankees/cubs/even the reds could take that spot.

Boston? Sure, Boston has a great 1-2 punch with Beckett and Dice-K, but who do they have after that? Brad Penny? Question mark (same as AJ Burnett). Tim Wakefield? Talk about past his prime. I'll take Andy Pettitte over him ANY day of the week. And Jon Lester? Wang and him about even out.

Lester is better than Wang.

Without doing research on other teams I quickly compared the Yankees rotation to the Giants rotation and here's what I think:

Sabathia = Lincecum

Burnett = Randy Johnson - both injury prone but still dominant when healthy.

Cain >> Wang - if Cain were on the Yankees he would have a couple of 20 win seasons already because of run support.

Zito = Pettite

Sanchez = Chamberlain - Both young live arms with a ton of upside, but both inexperienced and unproven. Both started in bullpen as well and moved to a starting pitcher role last year.

So I would say the Giants rotation is equal if not slightly better with a brighter future. I'm sure there are other teams with better pitching.

You gonna say Andy Pettitte is as bad as Barry Zito!? NO WAY!

I think Lincecum is the best pitcher in baseball today. Burnett and Johnson will probably see some time on the DL. I would agree that Cain is better than Wang. Zito seemed to put it together a bit in the second half of the season. He could be another Mike Mussina story of appearing to be finished, and then busting out. But I'd give an edge to Pettite even though he's fading. I'd give the edge also to Chamberlain though Sanchez is intriguing. It seems that Chamberlain has been treated with a short leash since the day he was brought up.

But the Giants' rotation stands pretty much with any in baseball. They're one of the many victims of East Coast Sports Media bias.

I'm happy with the Phillies' 2009 rotation of Cole Hamels, Bret Myers (who is in the best shape of his life), Jamie Moyer (the ageless one), Joe Blanton and either rookie JA Happ or Chan Ho Park, both of whom had outstanding springs.

And who would've fathomed that two or three years ago?

Yeah, Ziti is awful. One of the worst signings in history. You have to take Pettite over him. I think Cain is much better than Wang despite Wang's inflated win total. I think Lincecum is better than CC, but let's not crown him "the best pitcher in baseball" after only 1 full season. He hasn't even won 20 games yet. That title still belongs to Santana, who would have won the Cy Young last year again if the bullpen hadn't blown 9 games on him.

Maybe you should try angel hair.

Good comparison on the Giant's staff, BL. I had no idea they had such good young pitchers (beyond Lincecum and Cain). My gut tells me that the Red Sox will have the best pitching staff. Lester is on the verge of being an elite pitcher, I think.

I can understand the argument that Santana is the best pitcher in baseball. He has been so over the past few years. But I don't understand why you rip Lincecum for not winning 20 even though he's played on a losing team that offered little run support, but blame Santana's failure to win 9 additional games on the bullpen even though he played for a team with a winning record?

I'm not ripping him. He's played 1 full season in the majors, and now he's the best pitcher in baseball? Please. Santana's failure to win 9 games had nothing to do with him. He came out of the game after the 7th inning with a lead 9 times, and the Mets' garbage bullpen blew the save.

Yeah I saw some of those games. Maybe they should have had him pitch the eighth in some. There seems to be an aversion to allowing starters to finish games today.

How is his win total inflated? What, because he doesn't have overpowering stuff he's not a legit pitcher?

I didn't say he wasn't a "legit pitcher". He's no where nearly as good as his record.

And why is that? Winning 19 games two years in a row is no accident

C'mon, Lou, Wang's a really good pitcher. If anything, I think he doesn't get enough recognition.

You can add 9 wins to Lincecum's win total as well for the same reason. The Giants relief staff was terrible last year, aside from Brian Wilson.

Irish and SB, as far as Wang goes, if you put him on most other teams he wouldn't have nearly as many wins because the Yankees lineup is stacked. He gets a lot of run support. He's not a bad pitcher of course, but he would have average win totals on normal teams.

Here's some numbers about Wang, and they don't lie: For his career, he's given up more hits than innings pitched. (635-628) His strikeout to walk ration is less than 2-1, and he's only struck out 281 in 628 innings. In 2007 when he won 19 games, his run support was 7+ runs per game.