The only real question that the Yankees are facing is how hard to hit the trade market. Hughes is a damn good prospect and if Cashman can keep the Boss off of his back, he will be a nice young building block for the future.
Steinbrenner is not a patient man, though, and he might force Cashman to go after a rent-a-player like Zito or Soriano. It would be a very Yankee-like move to trade Duncan and Hughest for half of a season of Zito. Stupid, stupid, stupid. If the Yankees are going to mortgage the farm, they might as well get Abreau from the Phillies - at least they would have him for a few years.
One thing is for sure - when you are picking up a fat-ass like
The Red Sox, by contrast, have a very nice minor league system to draw on. With Papelbon nailing down the 9th inning, they can afford to have Lester pitch in the #5 slot down the stretch. Beckett has to be a concern but Schilling is back to form and that offense is scary.
In the central, I expect the Tigers to fade a bit late in the season and the White Sox to continue their excellence. Fuck but they are good.
The west is so bad that any of the four teams could win it. The Rangers usually melt in the mid-summer heat but they could go after a starting pitcher like Zito hard. If the A's actually ever get healthy, they could make a run. The Angels are one impact bat like Soriano away from being very dangerous. The Mariners are a year away from being a decent team and two away from being very good but if they ever get around to dumping Crazy Carl and bring up Snelling to DH, their offense will be that much better. If the other teams keep scuffling, maybe the M's could back their way into the post season and serve as the a first round road bump for the White Sox.
