Opening Day, take 2

Opening Day for the Sox was rained out yesterday, although the ownership at least had the brains to read the weather forecast and cancel at 10:30 am rather than try to get the game in. Why the schedule makers decided that it would be better for the Sox-Rays to be played in New England at the beginning of April instead of in Tampa's dome is beyond me -- the first two weeks of April pretty much always suck around here, so keeping the Sox (and Yankees, and Mets, and Phillies, and all other northeast teams) on the road in the early going makes a lot of sense. This, of course, is why MLB doesn't do it.

Anyway, the Sox break camp with no real injuries to the starters. The pitching staff is probably the best and deepest in the majors -- the rotation is solid, and the bullpen has the potential to be just absolutely lights-out. I think the Yankees, on balance, are not much better than last year, and could actually be worse (AJ Burnett won't be all that good, they need to replace Mussina's 20 wins, and the lineup is pretty non-threatening, as Posada, Jeter, Damon, and Matsui don't scare anyone anymore). So my prediction is that the Sox take the AL East.