Starting depth becomes questionable
With the Yankees' rotation having the potential to resemble a MASH unit, the team figures it has some starting pitching insurance in Chien-Ming Wang, and Aaron Small.

Wang got his sinker working well enough to go 8-5 after a promotion from Triple-A early last season, but keep in mind an inflammation in his right shoulder sidelined him from July until September, and he went 0-2 in his final three starts.

Small, who has played for 12 organizations, was actually considering retirement at the All-Star break after being repeatedly passed over by the Yankees for a call-up from Columbus of the International League.

But he got a ticket to the Yankees on July 17, and then amazingly combined starting and relieving stints to produce a 10-0 record, becoming just the fourth pitcher to ever post 10 wins in a season without a loss.

Small, however, strained his right hamstring on March 14. It could be the last week in March before he throws off a mound again, and so it looks unlikely that he will start the season on the active roster -- a real blow to what the Yankees thought was decent depth when it came to starting pitchers.

Bats may not be able to do it all
The Yankees' chief strength is, of course, their prodigious offense -- one that added centerfielder Johnny Damon from the rival Red Sox in the offseason.

The Yankees will score plenty of runs, and there may be no understating the importance of that if their starting pitching goes to shambles, and their bullpen becomes unreliable except for Rivera.

This Yankees team is a somewhat younger one than last year's, but in my mind, it's not a dramatically better team in any sense. Manager Joe Torre's club is facing many more questions heading into this season than it was heading into 2005.

Last year it was not easy for the Yankees to win their division for the eighth season in a row, nor was it easy for them to make the playoffs for an eleventh straight year. It seems just getting to the postseason took all they had, and then their losing in five games in the ALDS to the Angels did not -- as anyone would expect -- sit well with their owner George Steinbrenner.

The Boss has predicted the Yankees will a World Series championship this season. Either he has one heck of a crystal ball or someone is keeping the medical reports on his starting pitchers away from him.

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