The trading deadline has come and gone and while the waiver market is still open, most major moves are done in the world of baseball. The trades have been analyzed and the prognosticators have been prognosticating since Opening Day, but this here is not mere conjecture, this is fact: The Red Sox will win the American League East. You may scoff, as the evil empire has claimed this honor seven of the last nine seasons -- with the Red Sox last winning in 1995 -- but the off-season moves combined with the surprise trading deadline prowess displayed by Theo Epstein clearly sent the message that the Sox are no mere wild card team.
Coming into this season the Sox knew that they had one of the most productive outfields in baseball as well as sure-fire superstars at shortstop and in their number-one starter. After that there were a lot of question marks in the infield as well as in the bullpen. Anyone who compared last year's infield to this knows that those questions have been answered.
Increased production at first, second and third base as well as improved defense at third combine to give the Sox one of the most potent offenses of all time. They lead the majors in average, hits, runs, on-base percentage and are on pace to be the first team in history to finish a season with a slugging percentage above .500. Offense has never been the question for this team. From day one, the Red Sox have fielded a lineup that is the most potent from top to bottom in all of baseball.
The consistently inconsistent bullpen was shored up as well with the additions of marquee late-inning pitchers such as Byung-Hyun Kim and Scott Williamson in addition to set-up man Scott Sauerbeck and fifth starter and prodigal son Jeff Suppan. Despite poor debuts from many of these late additions, it is hard to argue that the bullpen isn't significantly better than it was before the trades occurred.
Sadly, any discussion as to who will win this division must center on the Yankees, but for the first time in years the comparison can only be favorable for the habitual runner-up. That the Red Sox offense is better is indisputable, as the Yanks rank behind the Sox in every major statistical category. However, defense wins championships, and here is where the debate gets closer.
That Pedro Martinez, when "on," is better than any Yankee starter is clear, it is the four pitchers that follow him that scare many Bostonians. While the recent successes of John Burkett, Tim Wakefield and Jeff Suppan as well as the potential for dominance that Derek Lowe sometimes exhibits somewhat allay the fears of the Fenway Faithful, it is what now comes behind them in the bullpen that truly bodes well for the stretch run.
As for the Yankees themselves, the addition of Jeff Nelson does much to help their bullpen, but the once untouchable Mariano Rivera has been touched a lot recently. He just blew three of four save chances, a stat that just two years ago would have been impossible to put in the same paragraph as his name. Oakland A's star Miguel Tejada demonstrated single-handedly that not only is Rivera mortal, he is vulnerable.
The Red Sox have no need for numbers at this point in the season, though. A change is in the winds, and its effects are being felt as far south as the Bronx. George Steinbrenner, evil emperor, rarely on the defensive, lashed out on July 28: "It's a long season and a long way to go. They haven't won anything yet." No, but they will.
