Monday, April 5, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m. Pacific
 

AL West AL Central AL East 1. New York Yankees 2. Boston Red Sox 3. Toronto Blue Jays 4. Baltimore Orioles 5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays NL West NL Central NL East Baseball '04 main

1. New York Yankees
 
He's here: 3B Alex Rodriguez, RF Gary Sheffield, RHP Kevin Brown, RHP Javier Vazquez, RHP Paul Quantrill, RHP Tom Gordon, OF Kenny Lofton, LHP Donovan Osborne, 1B-OF Travis Lee, 1B Tony Clark, INF-OF Miguel Cairo.

He's outta here: 2B Alfonso Soriano (Texas), RHP Roger Clemens (Houston), LHP Andy Pettitte (Houston), 3B Aaron Boone, LHP David Wells (San Diego), 1B Nick Johnson (Montreal), RHP Jeff Weaver (Los Angeles), RHP Jeff Nelson (Texas), OF David Dellucci (Texas), bench coach Don Zimmer (Tampa Bay).

Ranking the rotation: 2nd in the division, 7th overall. Replaced Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens with Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez. Injured Jon Lieber (a 20-game winner in 2001 with the Chicago Cubs) might be joining the party soon.

Written in Stone: Time to play the parlor game that's sweeping the nation, "Find the Yankees' Flaw!" Well, they have a mere mortal at second base. No. 5 starter Donovan Osborne (replacing Lieber) is nothing special. Brown is getting old. Beyond that, most of the Yankees' doomsayers are focusing on the risk of imploding from too many superstars with too many egos. It's a risk that Boss Steinbrenner is willing to pay $190 million to take, creating a must-win manifesto. That being said, the Yankees just have too many weapons not to succeed (and if they falter, they'll just go out and get somebody else). The lineup, augmented by A-Rod, is simply awesome, and the bullpen ain't bad, either. Whatever weaknesses develop in the rotation should be easily overcome. If not, heads will roll. One other entertaining pastime for Yankees observers: Watching the A-Rod-Jeter friendship disintegrate before their very eyes.

Lineup card

P Hitters Avg. HR RBI SS Derek Jeter .324 10 52 LF Hideki Matsui .287 16 106 3B Alex Rodriguez .298 47 118 1B Jason Giambi .250 41 107 RF Gary Sheffield .330 39 132 DH Bernie Williams .263 15 64 C Jorge Posada .281 30 101 2B Enrique Wilson .230 3 15 CF Kenny Lofton .296 12 46

TH Starters W-L ERA SO RH Mike Mussina 17-8 3.40 195 RH Kevin Brown 14-9 2.39 185 RH Javier Vazquez 13-12 3.24 241 RH Jose Contreras 7-2 3.30 72 LH Donovan Osborne Did not pitch   TH Closer W-L ERA SV RH Mariano Rivera 5-2 1.66 40