With the economic signing of Brad Penny for 2009, the Sox have probably finished revamping their rotation for 2009 and thus the rotations for the AL East contenders (New York, Boston, Tampa) have been finalized. Let's take a look at each of the projected rotations (with handedness and 2008 FIP):

New York

1. CC Sabathia (L) 2.91
2. AJ Burnett (R) 3.45
3. Chieng-Ming Wang (R) 3.91
4. Andy Pettitte/Phil Hughes (L/R) 3.66/4.34
5. Joba Chamberlain/Phil Hughes (R/R) 2.65/4.34

Boston

1. Josh Beckett (R) 3.60
2. Jon Lester (L) 3.64
3. Dice-K (R) 4.03
4. Tim Wakefield/Clay Bucholz (R/R) 4.84/4.82
5. Brad Penny/Clay Bucholz (R/R)  5.27/4.82

Tampa Bay

1. James Shields (R) 3.82
2. Scott Kazmir (L) 4.37
3. Matt Garza (R) 4.14
4. Andy Sonnanstine (R) 3.91
5. David Price (L) 3.42

Now, my gut feeling is that Andy will take the 10 MM offer on the table from the Yanks as he won't want to pitch in hitter-friendly Texas and very few teams will even offer him close to such a deal. It's a shame, but Boston will likely hold Bucholz back regardless of how he does in Spring Training and put Masterson in the bullpen to set-up Mr. Papelbon. It's also possible that David Price doesn't start the year in the majors but barring an injury or control setback, it's very likely that he sees 150+ IP in the major leagues this season, so I'm going to slot him as our number 5.

One immediate thing to take from all of this is that Boston has only one lefty in the rotation and only one solid lefty in the pen, which is all the more encouragement for us to pick up a decent right-handed bat. I think this puts Boston at a distinct disadvantage when compared to the Rays/Yanks.

Another observation is that the Yanks clearly have the strongest starting three, of course barring injury. CC is not just a power lefty, he usually has control, and he is always an innings-eating horse.  AJ is a strikeout guy whose 2008 campaign was much better than his ERA indicates. Wang is a sinkerballer who can always work deep into games and would project as the majority of ML teams #1.

Boston's starting three are also quite capable, as Beckett's FIP was significantly better than his ERA last year and is known to be a gamer/7+ innings guy. Lester is probably due for a little bit of a setback but he is still projected very well next year and can also work deep into games. Dice-K is the biggest question mark as his high walk totals will probably catch up to him eventually and he risks overexposing the Boston pen.

Tampa Bay's starting three did very well last year, but none of them have "elite" FIP's (Shields is best with a solid 3.82). While Shields can work deep into games, he doesn't seem to have the MPH to strike guys out with his fastball, and he can incorporated the changeup just as much as probably could last year as an out pitch. Kazmir is basically a better, lefty version of Dice-K who demonstrated extreme flyball tendencies last year while walking too many and failing to demonstrate an effective "out" pitch other than his fastball, which has always been rock solid. At any rate, I think that Shields and Kaz are proven enough at this point to be considered anchors of our rotation. Garza, on the other hand, is a ground-ball guy with great stuff but paltry strikeout numbers. If he can develop an effective out pitch he can really improve his strikeout numbers (and FIP).

The back ends of the Tampa Bay and New York rotations project to be quite good. Sonny is likely due for an improvement next season given his awesome control and ground-ball tendencies, and we all know what Price can do. On the other hand, New York will probably end up signing Pettitte, who is a strikeout lefty and a proven winner. Joba Chamberlain is the right-handed, fatter David Price with a little more life on his fastball and a little less on his slider. Boston seems to be at a considerable disadvantage in the back-end, given that they are hoping for a rebound season from Brad Penny and relying on the randomness that is Tim Wakefield. Overall, I'd give the Rays a slight edge over the Yankees, and a huge one over the Sox in this regard.

Overall, I think that the Yankees rotation is by far the best in the East, as it will likely feature four strikeout guys and three who can work deep into games to avoid bullpen exposure. The Rays probably have the second-best rotation and definitely the deepest one. The one area of concern for the Rays are those darn K's - sometimes, you need to strike a guy out and only two of the Rays SP's are likely to be high strikeout guys (and they're both lefties!). Boston is the weakest, but not by much, and they are likely to move Bucholz up once he regains his control in the minors.

Here are a few things to think about in general:

• If Bucholz regains his control, he effectively rivals Price and Joba in the backend of the Boston Rotation and cuts out the wildcards Penny/Wake
• The Rays will need to continue to play stellar defense, especially if Kaz continues to struggle in generating groundouts
• The Rays have improved their outfield defense by adding Joyce and retaining Gabe Gross
• The Yankees have two guys who are injury risks, and they are #1/#2
• The Rays have tons of depth at SP (Niemann, Talbot, Davis), whereas the Sox have only some (Bowden, Bucholz) and the Yanks have barely any (Ian Kennedy, anyone?)
• The Yankees have SUBSTANTIALLY improved their infield defense by adding an ace defender at first base (from a minus minus one in Giambi)