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?
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.
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.
