Pirates, Rays, White Sox, Dodgers

The Red Sox announced the passing of longtime executive Lou Gorman, who built Boston's 1986 American League Championship team. Our condolences to Gorman's family and friends. Here are this afternoon's links...

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette challenges Pirates leaders to change the perception that the team is focused on profit, destined never to compete.
Cork Gaines of Rays Index shows that the Rays' payroll dropped 41.7% from last year, all the way down to $41.9MM. The Rays committed $12.6MM to Wade Davis yesterday, an especially substantial investment for a team on such a limited budget.
White Sox director of international scouting Jerry Krause is stepping down to join the Diamondbacks, according Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. The former Chicago Bulls GM will assist Arizana executive Jerry DiPoto.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Dodgers can overcome surrounding distractions to become a playoff team in 2011. In fact, he predicts an NL West title for the Dodgers.

Why the Phillies Will/Won't Win the East

As any Yankees fan can tell you, the problem with sky-high expectations is that they leave you with only two possible outcomes: satisfaction or disappointment. If, like me, you feel that a large element of a baseball fan’s joy is the game’s potential to surprise and delight--to give you more than you might reasonably hope for--the idea of "World Series or bust" might not seem all that appealing. Our surprise and delight came on that December night when the rumors gave way to fact that Cliff Lee once again was a Phillie; but as soon as he signed, the story of the 2011 season transformed into "World Series or bust."

Now, my belief is that any predictions made when it’s consistently 40-50 degrees but with warmer weather presumably on the way, about which two ballclubs will be left standing when the thermometer returns to that range on a downward trajectory, are an affront to the baseball gods—whom we’re trying to appease, after all. So I’m not going there. But it feels a bit safer, and probably more interesting anyway, to speculate on which teams might play into October. And maybe the exercise counters that expectations problem; it wasn’t so long ago that most of us would have been beyond thrilled with one division championship, so the idea that we’d shrug the Phillies’ fifth straight NL East title like we’re entitled to it doesn't, and shouldn't, sit very well.

Yankees 3

Opening days are full of promise, and we will soon see what the Yankees have in store for 2011.

The Yankees will meet the Detroit Tigers at 1:05 p.m. Thursday at Yankee Stadium, the first time they have opened a season at home since 2008, when they beat Toronto, 3-2, on April 1.