No question in my mind about it. I never wavered when it came to my expectations for the Yankees, regardless of whether or not they were in last place. The Yanks still have an incredible lineup, and their pitching has grossly underachieved — thanks in large part to injury. With Wang and Mussina back healthy, the rotation will finally have some stability. Come June, the rotation will have gone from OK to start the year, to horrendous, to OK, to pretty good. Couple that with their lineup, and you’re talking about a playoff team.
Big time props to my dad who’s been saying for weeks now that the Yanks were going to land Clemens, and that his price tag was ascending with each start a Yankee pitcher couldn’t get out of the 5th inning. It’s a $28 million prorated contract, meaning Clemens will probably score around 18-19 mil by my guess. When you’re the Yankees and money ain’t a thing, the contract is completely worth it. Now all of a sudden, you can legitimately talk about the Yanks as a World Series team. I’ll take Clemens, Pettitte, Wang, and Mussina in the playoffs any day. Certainly I’d prefer Schilling, Beckett, and Dice K., but what the Yankees will have going on isn’t shabby at all.
Caution: the Yanks are in the no lose zone. By June, they’ll be one of the top teams in the league.
