AL East

The Yankees were presented with their World Series rings on Opening Day with former Bombers Jerry Hairston Jr. and Hideki Matsui on hand to get their rings.

Melky Cabrera and Eric Hinske, now with the Braves, got theirs from Hairston; Chad Gaudin and Edwar Ramirez, now with the A’s, got theirs when the Yankees went to Oakland; and Xavier Nady, now with the Cubs, got his when GM Brian Cashman brought it to Citi Field.

The Boston Red Sox entered this season with one of, if not the best starting rotation in the major leagues.

The trio atop their pitching staff—Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey—was, on paper, deemed one of the best in baseball, possibly only second to the New York Yankees' three-headed monster of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte.

But the three Red Sox aces have done little to deserve their reputation around the league, combining to go 3-3 with an abysmal 6.18 ERA in the early going, which is a big reason for Boston’s struggles.

The “Core Four” of the Yankees, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte (as if I needed to tell you) got on the cover of Sports Illustrated and let me be the first to say, that is a sweet ass cover.

That being said, I don’t have much else to say about the cover. Sure it’s cool, but after about 30 seconds I’ve moved on.

Here is what others are saying about the cover:

Curt Schilling, former Red Sox ace, current ESPNBoston analyst went on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd with Colin Cowheard” and blasted Yankees starter Javier Vazquez as somebody who can’t pitch in New York or the American League.

Schilling on Vazquez not being good enough for the AL: “I never ever thought the move to New York the first time was a good one [for Vazquez]. And I didn’t think this [move] was good as well,” Schilling said.

There are probably fewer things more frustrating to a sports fan than watching an expensive, recently imported veteran player repeatedly fail in his efforts to help the team.

The more prior success he's had, the more money he's making, the more you had to give up to get him...well, that all just makes it worse.

And then there's Javy Vazquez.

Vazquez had all of those things against him:

As part of the Tampa Bay Rays' housekeeping after Dioner Navarro's two-game suspension, the Rays optioned long man Mike Ekstrom to AAA.

Ekstrom's spot was taken by Durham catcher Jose Lobaton. 

It will be a short stay for Lobaton. Once the Oakland two-game series is concluded, Navarro will be back with the team.

Joining him will be a new reliever.

Josh Beckett continued to live up to the four-year, $68 million deal given to him by the Boston Red Sox prior to the season.

Due to David Ortiz’s struggles last season and early this season, many people have speculated over whether or not Big Papi is done.

In short, I think he is nearing the end. 

I am sure he still has a few good games left in him, but I would venture to guess that even the most diehard member of Red Sox nation would agree that his best years are behind him.

Whenever a player of Ortiz’s caliber nears the end of his career, the conversation almost always switches to a discussion of whether or not said player will make it to the Hall of Fame.

Ever since the Yankees reacquired Javier Vazquez, fans have been cool to the once former Yankee. Quite a few have remarked how he isn’t a good enough pitcher and some think he brings less value than Melky Cabrera would have.

One-tenth of the New York Yankee season is gone. The team is 12-5. One of the greatest surprises of the new season is Brett Gardner.

Having been given the starting job out of Spring Training in 2009, Gardner could not hold it. He was unable to show a consistent ability to hit major league pitching last year.

But this year, at least so far, Gardner has been fantastic.

In yesterday's win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Gardner was once again starting in left field. But there was a major change in his place in the batting order.