I would have no problem listening to a cogent argument contending that the Yankees have better pitching than the Red Sox. I think it is a difficult position to argue conclusively but I do believe there is an argument there. The Yanks added three pitchers, who, if they repeat their respective 2004 performances, will clearly push the Yanks past the Sox in the arms race. The problem of course is that one of these pitchers is 41 and the other two had career years in 2004 that they are unlikely to repeat in 2005.

Well this doesn’t stop Mazz from beating you over the head, accusing you of falling victim to blind faith and reminding you that the Yankees have better pitching than the Red Sox. Of course he doesn’t try to actually make the case. He just repeats it and writes one-sentence paragraphs (also known as Plaschkes) for emphasis.

Without further ado…

Torre believes he has the best pitching staff he has ever managed. And deep down, you can bet that he rests comfortably armed with additional knowledge, too.

Two things. First, no matter what Joe Torre believes, this is not the best pitching staff he has ever managed. Every Yankees team Torre had managed up until 2004 featured a better staff than this one, and I think the 1983 Atlanta Braves were probably better too. Second, I have no idea what the second sentence there means. Frankly, I find it hilarious the more times I read it. “And deep down, you can bet that he rests comfortably armed with additional knowledge, too.” It’s just so damn stupid I can’t stop smiling.

His New York Yankees have better pitching than the Red Sox.

An opinion? No, no, no. That’s a fact. Many Boston sports followers are still inhaling the fumes from the outbreak of local championships, and they’re so high now that they cannot see straight. That has been the annoying side effect in this golden era of Bill Belichick and Theo Epstein, two leaders who have cultivated such blind faith that nobody bothers to question them anymore.

That is not good.

That is never good.

First of all, that’s an opinion, not a fact. I made the case, before the Sox acquired Wade Miller even, that the Yanks were making too much of a bet on 2004 in their starting pitching acquisitions. After laying out the case by showing both three-year average VORP numbers and 2004 VORP figures as well, I wrote…

Obviously, this all comes down to whether or not the Yankees were right to bet on career years from both Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. If the two have established new performance levels, the Yankees undoubtedly will have the better staff. If the two revert back to their previous performance levels or split the difference between 2004 and previous seasons as I think they will, the Red Sox will probably have the better rotation. I am not going to issue any sort of prediction right now as I still don’t know whose is the better rotation. I do know, however, that this offseason has been a very good one so far for the Red Sox and attempts by local media hacks to pass it off as anything else should be passed over in favor of more reasoned and well thought-out work.

Here’s the link to that December post.

As for the throwaway groupthink line, I think plenty of people have been critical of Theo, appropriately or not. I hated the Nomar trade and stated as much. Many hated the Kim trade and subsequent extension. Those are just two examples but besides, wouldn’t it stand to reason that after a spate of success, one earns a certain amount of credibility? Seems perfectly logical to me.

Now the Yankees have Randy Johnson and the Red Sox no longer have Pedro Martinez [stats, news], and what more do you really need to know? Johnson has won five Cy Young Awards and Martinez has won three, and there is not another starting pitcher on either staff that has won the Cy even once, including Schilling.

What more do you need to know? For starters, it would help to know that the Pedro Martinez the Sox will look to replace posted a 3.90 ERA in 2004. It’s more than a little disingenuous, in a piece comparing 2004 to 2005’s prospects, to reel off Pedro’s resume as if the Sox are charged with replacing the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball. They have a good pitcher to replace, but not a demigod.

Despite the apparent pitching disparity, there has been little talk of what valuable ground the Red Sox lost to the Yankees during the offseason. The Yankees’ staff got better and younger, and the Red Sox’ staff got . . . what? David Wells will be 42 in May. Wade Miller is rehabilitating from a shoulder injury. Matt Clement ended up here, in large part, because the Red Sox missed out on Brad Radke, Tim Hudson, Martinez and even Carl Pavano.

There’s been little talk because the Sox haven’t lost any ground. Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright literally may be the two clearest regression candidates of any pitchers in Major League Baseball. Matt Clement is better than both of them. And just so I am clear, Randy Johnson overwhelmingly tips the balance of power in the Yankees’s favor but David Wells is a poor acquisition because of his age? Please. Wade Miller is Boston’s sixth starter. To whom do the Yanks turn, Tony, when one of their pitchers inevitably goes down? Tanyon Sturtze?

Clement’s best season is nothing close to what even Derek Lowe has done.

The worst line of the piece. Please, Tony, elaborate. Is Derek Lowe a better pitcher than Matt Clement? Are wins still the best way to evaluate a pitcher? Is the earth flat? What a hack.

But really, can we honestly say that the Red Sox today are a better baseball team than they were in October - or even at this time last year?

Sure. Healthy Nixon, deep pitching staff, better bench. Why not? In Lowe and Pedro, the Red Sox have to replace 400 innings of 4.59 ERA pitching. Sound like too tall a task to you? They have replaced Gabe Kapler with Jay Payton, Pokey Reese with Ramon Vazquez and their weakest 2004 position (Pomar Cabrera) with Edgar Renteria. So yeah, they are a better baseball team.

For all of Schilling’s glorious achievements, he still has not carried a team without Johnson or Martinez at his side, something that makes him baseball’s version of Bill Parcells.

Schilling doesn’t have to carry this team. He just has to pitch well.

Between now and October, of course, a great deal can change.

But if we’re talking about the Red Sox and Yankees since late October 2004, New York has made up substantial ground.

And then some.

Crappy, hacktastic stuff.

And then some.