With the kind of offseason the Phils and Red Sox have had, they’re pretty much slam dunks to be the prohibitive favorites for the 2011 World Series. And it’s hard to argue, given the moves they’ve made. I mean, look at this lineup for Boston:
CF Jacoby Ellsbury 2B Dustin Pedroia LF Carl Crawford 1B Adrian Gonzalez 3B Kevin Youkilis DH David Ortiz RF J.D. Drew C Jarrod Saltalamacchia SS Marco ScutaroThat’s some serious lumber. The only thing scarier than this lineup is the rotation Philly can trot out there.
SP Roy Halladay SP Cliff Lee SP Roy Oswalt SP Cole Hamels SP Joe Blanton? Kyle Kendrick? Anybody?It’s not like they’ll have to score many runs with a rotation like that. But they’ve got that covered, too, thanks to Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco.
Oh, and the Sawx pitching staff ain’t too shabby either. Most teams would love to be able to go Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Lackey, Dice / Wakefield.
Sheesh.
already & not yet 
:-))
While I agree that both have made some impressive moves, don’t count the Yankees out yet! Even though they’ve been outspent already, don’t think they will stay that way. My prediction, they will make a trade for Felix Hernandez with some killer farm league prospects.
Although I must admit I was ticked when Cliff Lee went back to Philly.
The problem with the Yankees is that their 4th starter right now is Daniel Nova. And with no real quality starters left on the free agent market, they can’t just throw money at the problem to fix it. And I don’t think they have the top level prospects to make a deal for a guy like Felix Hernandez.
So, yeah, losing out on Cliff Lee really hurts them.
2011 is going to have to be the year for the Phillies. Of course, with a rotation like that, expectations are going to be sky-high. Over-under on the Phillies winning 100 games? I’ll take the over.
Of course, if there’s anything that the 2010 taught us, it’s that any mediocre offensive team (cough, Giants, cough, cough) that gets hot at the right time can win it all.
You have to think Philly’s bullpen just improved, too, now that these four horses will be in the fold for a full season. I’d put them at 103 wins, as lofty as that sounds. They could end up a full 10 games better than anyone else in the N.L.