Curt Schilling Needs A Life

Curt Schilling is quite possibly the most annoying baseball player in the game. He is a rigid moralist (if I hear him brag about how he didn't take steroids to be the player he is/was one more time, I might have to make another post) with an opinion on everything. I literally mean everything. The presidential election, the Iraq War, his superior grammar skills, etc. He also sometimes just blogs about how many MLB rings he has.

In today's blogpost, Schilling basically says what I said yesterday about the Yankees signing of Mark Teixeira being overrated, only with a "we are just as good as the Yanks without Tex" attitude.

Two words, Schilling: as if.

Let's compare 25 men rosters:
1B: Youkilis vs Teixeira -- The Yankees win this matchup because while both first baseman are patient sluggers with relatively high batting averages (if you are into that sort of statistic), Tex clearly has more power (30+ HRs vs 20+)

2B: Pedroia vs Cano -- The Red Sox win this one if Cano continues his career with his 2008 numbers instead of his 2006/2007 numbers. If Cano were to "bounce back," however, he would be a formidible comparison to Pedroia, given his double digit HR power, more-than-competent ability to make contact and well-above-average defense.

SS: Jeter vs Lugo -- Despite his hugely overrated status and steady decline-in-ability as he is aging, Jeter is clearly better than Lugo in all categories other than defense (sabermetrically speaking, Jeter was rated the worst defensive SS in the game last year). Just look at their offensive numbers.

3B: A-rod vs Mike Lowell -- Yankees win this one with no question. A-Rod is one of the best baseball players of all-time and Mike Lowell is old, oft-injured and inconsistent.

OF1: Jason Bay vs Xavier Nady -- The Red Sox win this one because Bay is a 30 HR power guy with a career OPS that hovers around .900. However, Nady, until recently, was utilized as a utility guy throughout his career (much like Mark DeRosa). It took until last year to show what he's capable of doing (and it's actually pretty damn good).

CF: Ellsbury vs Swisher -- This one is a tie, in my opinion. While Ellsbury is clearly the better defender (if for no reason other than the ability to run at fly balls competently), Swisher is clearly more valuable (where it counts) offensively. Besides, Swisher really isn't an outfielder. He's more of a 1B/DH.

OF2: JD Drew vs Johnny "Ex-Sox" Damon -- This one again goes to the Yankees because Damon still walks, smacks extra-base hits and is, above all, consistent. Drew has some great ability but it often comes and goes in streaks. That's all and good for a 162 game season (sample size), but nothing to brag about come playoff time.

DH: Matsui vs Ortiz -- Both are health risks as of late, but Ortiz is clearly the better player in terms of power (which is what you want in a DH). Match point goes to the Red Sox.

SP1: Beckett vs Sabathia -- In 2009, Sabathia's arm will probably fall off, but Beckett is just as likely to get a sidelining blister on his index finger. Assuming both stay healthy, however, Sabathia's career and potential is clearly more distinguished (more K's, less HRs) and more consistent.

SP2: Dice-K vs AJ Burnett -- The Yankees win here if AJ stays healthy because Dice-K's walk rate is going to eventually bite him in the ass. Both have nasty stuff, however, and you could give a good arguement that this one is a toss up.

SP3: Wang vs Lester -- Yanks sweep this matchup, as Wang pitches like an ace. Want is great at inducing ground balls and not walking people, while Lester is just an above-average middle-of-the-rotation kind of guy.

SP4: Joba vs Tim Wakefield -- Considering how good and young Joba is and how old and not-very-good Wakefield is, I'm giving this matchup to the Yankees.

SP5: Phil Hughes vs Clay Buchholz -- The winner of this matchup is indeterminant because both are young pitchers with much hype, great stuff and tons of potential but very limited proven success in the majors. They can either be the next Roy Oswalt or the next Daniel Cabrera. Only time will tell

Relief Core: The Red Sox have a leg up on the Yankees in this category given their profound pitching depth.

CL: Rivera vs Papelbon -- While Papelbon will probably be great for many years to come and Mo Rivers is on his way out of the game, they both posses equally great talent. I have to give the edge to Mo and the Yankees, however, given Rivera's sheer experience in the majors.

All said and done, it's clear that the Yankees pretty much have better team all around. Outside of the DH position, second base and a corner outfield position, the Yankees have equally good, if not better, players at every turn. Despite his comment that he is "glad Youk is staying at first and Mike is at third," there is no way in hell he could look me in the eye and say Youk wouldn't be a better 3B than Lowell and Tex wouldn't be a better 1B than Youk. Such a claim defies all logic and reason.