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I'm not sure what to make of King Felix and Cliff Lee…King obviously has electric stuff and is young and last year could have been his big break out which he'll build on. Lee also is terrific and was so great in clutch games last year, but he's had a bit of an up and down career. That's a twosome that has the potential to dominate but I'm taking a bit of a wait and see approach to them.

Jackson's gone in Detroit, Verlander can dominate games but he's still a 3.50 era pitcher over a season so I'm never sure what to make of him either.

Beckett I love and he's pitching for a contract, but he's also very up and down, I mean, he's been a great pitcher on great teams but he's won 20 games only once and has a career ERA of almost 3.80. Lester's good, league hasn't figured him out.

I dunno how I'd rank 'em. I think the aces are pretty comparable w/ King Felix having the potential to be significantly better than the other veteran aces. Lee's the best of the number two pitchers, I dunno who is the number 2 pitcher in Detroit, Burnett's the worst of the number twos–but like I said, I suspect Vazquez is going to be the Yanks number 2 by the end of the season, still probably the least good of the number 2 starters, but it's close. I'd say across the board it's pretty close on the top twos (with the caveat that I don't think Burnett's really the number 2), with Seattle's pair having the potential to be the best of the group, but close enough that I don't know that there's a huge advantage for any team head to head. Maybe the Yanks are slightly behind.

Jason how would you rank the top 2 starters : cc,aj, king, lee, lester,beckett, verlander,jackson?

I see a mid-90 wins dogfight … a Yankee wild card ….. and a quick exit to the King and Lee …..as AJ implodes….Andy goes to the well once to often….and Javy makes Ozzie Guillen look like a genius.

And the Yanks do have more holes than they did last year, no question – a few more soft/weak spots but still – on paper – another 92-95 win team.

I'm more concerned with the playoffs' starting pitching matchups – CC, AJ, Andy lose match-ups againt beckett.lester.lackey and hernandez,lee,bedard. AJ's a weak link and how many times can Andy gut one out?

The Yanks ought to be pretty good this year if only because w/ Vazquez their starting pitching is much improved (I also thing Hughes is going to wind up as a decent starter and the bullpen with Joba, a rejuvenated Marte, a maturing Robertson, will also be better). But the offense is not as good (tho presumably they'll have A-rod for the whole year) and the Sox are much improved. I expect both the Sox and Yanks to be knocking on the door of 100 wins and duking it out this season.

I do expect some decline in all 4 of the players this season though, and when you consider the loss of Damon and Matsui, the lack of progress in Joba/Hughes development as 5th starter, the question of Gardner as a solid starting OFer, Grandy's LHP flaw, AJ's frustrating inconsistency…it may be a long season……hopefully they can keep pace with the vastly improved (defense/pitching) Sox.