Sox-Yankees: Tranquillity vs. trauma

February 13, 2009|Nick Cafardo

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"Health more than anything else," he said. "We're talented and deep. We play in a challenging division, so we have to play at a high level. Every year, we talk about how good this division is, and it seems like it gets stronger and stronger. Someone came out with projections the other day that the three best teams in baseball were Boston, New York, and Tampa Bay. That remains to be seen. You have to prove that. It doesn't really matter how it looks on paper. It's the most challenging division, but we relish that, too. We have to be an outstanding club and avoid a lot of valleys during the season, win our 95 games, and get to the postseason."

While the Yankees are putting out fires, the Red Sox will be igniting dreams in young players. We remember top prospects in spring training in the past - Hanley Ramírez, Dustin Pedroia, Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis.

"There are some younger kids who will see a lot of action who don't need to make our club right now," said Francona. "But that still doesn't make camp less exciting. It will be fun to watch them and see how they handle themselves."

It is a tranquil start to what should be a tranquil camp.

The calm and the chaos.

Which one will produce a winner in October?

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.