"Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.
"It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."
I’m not sure there are many non sox fans who’d have the Sox ahead of the Yanks offensively.
In all seriousness, I'd have to give the edge to the Yankees to win the division.
But I wouldn't rule out the good guys.
Both teams are pretty similar. It would not surprise me if either/both teams finished with 100+ wins. But it will take a lot of things to go right for both teams in terms of health, players playing to their potential, and live chicken sacrifices.
Fangraphs also thinks Judge is going to turtle and barely reach an .800OPS. He was terrible from the ASB to the last week of August and still ended up with a .938OPS in the second half. The guy has superhuman strength and an incredible eye. I think the eye will come in handy to a ridiculous degree this season as umpires should start calling his actual strike zone
Hal sucks
I would agree with that assessment. I think the Yankees have more firepower in their lineup. If Thornburg can come back strong I would rate our bullpens about even. However, over the course of a 162 game season it is generally the starting pitching that rules the day, and IF our SPers can stay healthy I think the Sox have a decided edge over the Yankees in that department. Severino is good, but he is no Chris Sale; and assuming Price is healthy (yes, its a big assumption) he is easily better than Tanaka. Porcello is due for a much improved year; Pom had a great year last year and as a #3-4 SP he has to be one of the best. ERod, once healthy also has to be the best #5 in the league. We do need some depth, but only diehard Yankee fans would say that a healthy SP rotation for the Yankees would be better than a healthy SP rotation for the Red Sox.
Davenport projections has the Red Sox outscoring the Yankees 835 runs to 821 runs.