Sox-Yankees: Tranquillity vs. trauma

There's plenty of time for things to fall apart, but right now the Red Sox are on Easy Street compared with the Yankees.

It will be all A-Rod all the time. The best break the Yankees might get is when Alex Rodriguez, who admitted to taking a banned substance that caused him to fail a 2003 steroids test, heads to the World Baseball Classic to play for the Dominican Republic. If that commitment is still a go, Rodriguez will draw major attention from the media and the Yankees won't be bothered.

That's the best they can hope for.

At the Yankee complex in Tampa, reporters are pouring into the minor league facility awaiting Rodriguez. It will be the Bronx Zoo, Tampa style. And while the Yankees have always been built to endure controversy and the usual chaos that has been a staple of George Steinbrenner teams, the revelation of Rodriguez's steroid use will likely unsettle a team that had been buoyed by an offseason in which Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett were signed to rebuild a sagging offense and an injury-plagued pitching staff.

Has all that been undone? Of course not. Controversies always pass.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox started things yesterday with no real worries.

Oh, there's the shortstop competition between Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo and the arrival of captain Jason Varitek today. There'll be questions about David Ortiz's wrist and Mike Lowell's hip and how much Rocco Baldelli can play. There'll be a question or two about John Smoltz and when he'll be ready or whether the absence of Daisuke Matsuzaka until after his commitment for Japan in the WBC will have an effect.

But think about the pluses.

There's no Manny Ramírez controversy (save for Manny's new book, in which he and his wife depict themselves as victims in the Jack McCormick incident). No drama about whether Curt Schilling will be able to pitch.