You never know what to expect when the Red Sox and Yankees play each other regardless if it's the preseason, regular season or the postseason. These two teams bring their A game whenever they play each other and because of that they have arguably produced the greatest rivalry in sports history. Year after year these two teams have provided the game of baseball with excitement like no other. Their histories are almost unmatched, their pride is unwavering and their will to win is never in question. As a Yankee fan I can tell you there is a certain feeling, a certain persona that comes over you when the Yankees play the Red Sox and I guarantee Sox fans feel the same way. Everything around you becomes irrelevant, the world seems to slow down yet your emotions are racing. It's really a feeling like no other. And forbid your teams comes up short in one of these grudge matches, you won't feel like yourself again for days. I mean just look at the exciting, intense and the sometimes shocking moments these two have provided us in the last 5 years alone:

1)    2003 ALCS - Who can ever forget the bench clearing incident between Roger Clemens and Manny Ramirez in game 3 of the 2003 ALCS that would eventually lead to Pedro Martinez throwing Don Zimmer on the floor. Not to mention the fight between Kareem Garcia, Jeff Nelson, and the Red Sox groundskeeper in 9th inning of the same game. Then in game 7 at Yankee Stadium Aaron Boone hits a game winning walk off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Yankees to the World Series.

2)     2004 Season/ALCS – Things were already tense between the squads after the way things ended the season before and the 2004 season did nothing to cool things down. It all started in the off-season leading up to the 2004 season with A-rod ending up with the Yankees despite efforts by the Red Sox to bring him to Boston. A-rod immediately became the center piece of this rivalry after his base clearing fight with Jason Varitek in July of that year. The teams would meet again in ALCS in a series that would be more adventurous then the one in 2003. From the "Who's your daddy" chants that haunted Pedro to A-rod slapping the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's hand the series was full of the unexpected. The Yankees would jump out to a commanding 3-0 series lead but it wouldn't be enough to hold of the Red Sox. The Sox won the next four games to win the series in what has to be considered heroic fashion. The Red Sox would go on to win the World Series and "reverse the curse" of Babe Ruth.

3)    2005 Season – This season was just as eventful as any other. It started with Gary Sheffield getting punched in a face by a fan while reaching for a foul ball. Sheffield responded by pushing the fan. Though the incident was resolved quickly it just shows the animosity that exists between these two teams. Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz would go on to have monster seasons and much debate arose over who should be the MVP. A-rod would edge out Ortiz for the award with most people citing A-rods play in the field being the reason why. The Yankees would also clinch the AL East on the second to last game of the season against the Red Sox. In a more stunning development Johnny Damon, a fan favorite in Boston, signed a 4 year $52 million deal with the Yankees after he repeatedly stated he had no intentions of going to the Yankees. This would only add fuel to the fire.

4)    2006 Season – Red Sox fans boo and taunt Damon in his first trip back to Fenway as a Yankee in early May. Some fans even threw dollar bills on the field as a way of calling Damon a sellout. Damon would have his revenge a few months later however, leading the Yankees to a 5 game sweep over the Red Sox in what would be know as the "Boston Massacre pt. 2". The Yankees outscored Boston by at least 20 runs in the series and basically rap up the AL East for the 9th straight year.

With those events fresh in your mind, one can only wonder what the 2007 season holds in store for these two. They will once again play 19 action-packed regular season games against each other. Now as much as I'd like to say I know exactly what will happen between the two this year, I have no idea. The best I can do is attempt to point out each team's strengths and weaknesses when they meet head to head and that's what I will do here.

Catcher: Where better to start of other then the position I believe the Red Sox and Yankees are most alike. Posada and Varitek are both very underrated as far as their importance to their teams is concerned. Both players are the leaders of their team even though other more popular players are often given this title. Both players work well with their pitchers and are very capable of managing a game from behind the plate. So let's get to it. Posada is coming off one of the best years of his career. He batted .277 with 23 homeruns and 93 RBI's. He also threw out 37% of base runners which was a noticeable improvement. I expect Posada's offensive numbers to be about the same this year although they may be slightly less impressive then last year's numbers. Defensively I think he will continue to get better as he continues to work with Tony Pena.  Varitek on the other hand had an off year in 2006 because of injuries. Varitek batted .238 with 15 homeruns and 55 RBI's. These numbers are no where near a reflection what he has done during his career. Varitek, like Posada, is one of the best switch hitting catcher in the league today. Defense is probably Varitek's best asset. In 2005 Varitek won the Silver Slugger award for best offensive catcher as well as the Golden Glove award for the best defensive catcher which just goes to show how good he can be. I look for Varitek to bounce back in a big way in 2007 although I would be concerned about the fact that Varitek only batted .224 in September last year after coming back from knee surgery. I'm sure he feels a lot better now then he did in September but surgery is a tough thing to recover from and because of that I'm going to have to give the Yankees the advantage in this category.
Advantage = Yankees.

First Base: Last year Kevin Youkilis was on base a lot for the Red Sox drawing 91 walks and scoring 100 runs. He also batted .279 with 13 homeruns and 72 RBI's. Youkilis was especially impressive playing at Fenway Park where he batted .310. His defense is better then a lot of people gave him credit for and last year his play on the field helped the Sox have one of the best defensive seasons the had in a long time. As Nat stated in his Yankees review the days for Giambi playing first base is over. Doug Mientkiewicz will take over as the Yankees starter at first which is a big plus defensively but a huge drop offensively. The last 3 seasons Mientkiewicz batted around .245 with an average of 7 homeruns and 40 RBI's. I honestly don't expect Phillips or Phelps to get much playing time this season besides to give Mientkiewicz an occasional day off. Neither player will contribute much more then Mientkiewicz which is why I think Mientkiewicz will start 90% of the time no matter who pitches.
Advantage: Red Sox

Second Base: Robinson Cano had a big season last year. He was voted to the All Star game, was third in the batting title race, and won the Silver Slugger award in only his second year. He also lived up to the still premature comparisons of him and Rod Carew by batting .342. The thing that impressed me the most about Cano's average last year is the fact that he always seems to put the ball in play. He only walked 18 times last year and stuck out 54 times. Cano also has surprising power. He hit 15 last year and I'm sure he would have hit over 20 had he not been injured. Cano also drove in 72 RBI's. Cano had a real solid year defensively but he scares me sometimes with his sometimes flamboyant defensive style. The Red Sox will be starting rookie Dustin Pedroia at second base this year with the hopes he will be a good fill in for the departed Mark Loretta. Pedroia did very will in Triple A but struggled a bit when the Sox called him up last year. I imagine he will be solid defensively and won't be too much of a drop of from Loretta as far as defense go. He has potential, honestly we just have to wait and see how he performs.
Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop:  Everyone knows what Derek Jeter brings to the Yankees. In 2006 he had one of the best seasons of his Career. He was second in both the batting title and MVP races. He batted .343 with 14 homeruns and 97 RBI's earning him his first Silver Slugger award and his first Hank Aaron award. He also won his third consecutive Gold Glove award. The Red Sox will be starting Julio Lugo at Shortstop this year. Lugo was acquired as a free agent this off-season and will be the third different starting shortstop in the post-World Series era of the Red Sox. He is much more of an offensive threat than the defensive Alex Gonzalez. I think he is a better blend, a good defender and good hitter. He will enter the top of the lineup as either lead off hitter or the number two hitter. He's also a threat on the bases. He should have a real decent season this year.
Advantage: Yankees

Third Base:  Josh Beckett may not had the kind of year Sox fans expected but you can't complain about the production they received from Mike Lowell who also came in the deal to land Beckett. Mike Lowell exceeded expectations by not only playing great defense but having a good year at the plate as well. If you recall, the Marlins asked the Sox to take Lowell in the Beckett deal because they thought he was washed up. In 2005 with the Marlins he batted .236 with 8 homeruns and 58 RBI's. In 2006 he rebounded nicely, batting .284 with 20 homeruns and 80 RBI's. He also had 47 doubles, using the Green Monster to his advantage. Lowell's superb defense also contributed to the Red Sox outstanding defense. On the contrary, A-rod's defense was terrible at times to be very blunt. He led the league in errors for third basemen with 24. If you watched A-rod last year you can tell a lot of A-rod's errors were made because of mental mistakes. He was doing a little too much thinking in the field oppose to just reacting to the ball. The same could be said about his performance behind the plate. With that said A-rod had another real good year last year offensively. He batted .290 with 35 homeruns and 121 RBI's. These are inferior numbers for a guy like A-rod but good numbers none the less. He also scored 113 runs.  I think he will have a better year at the plate this year. His defense should improve also. In his MVP season with the Yankees A-rod played gold glove caliber defense and he is more then capable of finding that form again. He lost 13 pounds this off-season and lowered his total body fat from 16% to 8%. That should help him with his fielding, giving him some more agility.
Advantage: Yankees.

Designated Hitter: In 2006 Jason Giambi looked just as good as he did when he played in Oakland. He was very efficient at the plate, driving in 113 runs while having 113 hits. He hit 37 home runs while batting .253. His average, like his counterpart David Ortiz, suffered due to the shift most teams use as a weapon against him defensively. Giambi also continued to show the virtue of patience at the plate; walking 110 times on his way to a .413 OBS. David Ortiz continued to put up unreal numbers in 2006. While batting .287 he belted 54 homeruns and drove in 137 runs, leading the American League in both categories and shattering the Red Sox single season homerun record held by Jimmie Foxx. Ortiz will undoubtedly have another superb season in 2007. I expect him to once again lead the Red Sox and possibly the American League in almost every major offensive category.
Advantage: Red Sox

Left Field: I personally can't stand Manny Ramirez but there's no way I could ever deny that he's one of the best players I've ever seen. In the last couple of season Manny has got off to slow starts only to come back and silence any critics with outstanding numbers. Last year he batted .321 with 35 homeruns and 102 RBI's. He also walked 100 times. He is in my opinion the Red Sox most dangerous weapon. As crazy as this may sound I believe that because Ortiz draws so much attention sometimes pitchers seem to relax a bit when they face Manny and he punishes them all the time. He will have another great season with the Re d Sox unless he finally gets his wish and is traded. Hideki Matsui missed most of the 2006 season due to a horrific wrist injury. He still managed to bat .302 with 8 homeruns and 29 RBI's in the games he did play. He is usually a 20 homerun, 100 RBI hitter and I have a feeling he will put those kinds of numbers up again this season. Matsui and Ramirez both are pretty solid fielders but they aren't going to win any Gold Gloves.
Advantage: Red Sox

Center Field: Coco Crisp missed a bunch of games last year due to injury but he did play a good portion of the season. He was pretty decent when played, especially on defense where a mad a few spectacular catchers. He batted .264 with 8 homeruns and 36 RBI's. He also swiped 22 bases. I think the combination of having Lugo and Crisp will lead Francona to send the runners a little more to help create runs, especially in the late innings when things are close. I expect Crisp to improve on last year numbers and play solid defense as well. Overall the Sox should be satisfied with what they get out of him this season. Johnny Damon made a big impression with the Yankees in his first season in the Bronx. He hit a career high 24 homeruns and drove in 80 while batting .285. He actually batted .330 at home so he's pretty comfortable hitting at Yankee stadium. He also scored 115 runs and stole 25 bases. He had a solid year defensively he did have trouble once in a while due to a broken big toe in his right foot. I think he will put up numbers close to what he put up this year but although I don't expect him to have as many homeruns.
Advantage: Yankees

Right Field: In 2006 Bobby Abreu provided the Yankees with a well times offensive spark after he came over from Philadelphia. Abreu hit .297 with 15 homeruns and 107 RBI's. What was most impressive about Abreu's 2006 season was his ability to get on base and what he did when he got on. He led the MLB with 124 walks and he also had 30 stolen bases and scored 98 runs. Abreu really was a nice fit in the Yankees lineup and I imagine he will have another very productive season this year. I noticed that towards the end of the year it seemed he found his power stoke again so one thing to pay attention to this year is how many homeruns he hits. J.D. Drew had a really good season last year with Los Angeles (the real Los Angeles team, sorry Angels fan :-D). He batted .283 with 20 homeruns and 100 RBI's. I personally will be every interested to see how he performs in Boston especially because of the somewhat shady deal that landed him there. I think he will have a season close to the one he had last year but it depends on where he bats. If he bats second his RBI's totals will drop off a bit but if he bats third in front of Manny and Ortiz he should have a lot of RBI opportunities. Defensively they are both solid so there's no real worries there. I'm even but I can't overlook the fact that Abreu walks so much. When a guy can get on base as much as Abreu does with guys like A-rod, Giambi and Matsui to drive him in it can really make a difference. Drew did draw 89 walks himself last year and he didn't strikeout as many times as Abreu either and that's the reason for my final verdict.
Advantage: Even

Bench: The gems of the Yankees and Red Sox benches are Melky Cabrera and Willy Mo Pena respectively. Both mad made the most of their playing time and had really solid season in 2006. Willy Mo Pena displayed some real power last year as he sometime hit homeruns that looked like missiles, he had 11 in all. He also drove in 42 runs and batted .301. I also noticed that he mad some nice play in the field the times I see him play so I imagine he is a decent fielder. Melky really took advantage of his second stint with the Yankees. He came up with timely hits and ran the bases really well. He played really good defense and as Nat mentioned in his review he led the AL with outfield assist. Overall he batted .280 with 7 homeruns and 50 RBI's. The rest of the Yankees bench looks include utility player Miguel Cairo, backup catcher Wil Nieves and backup first basemen Andy Philips and Josh Phelps. Miguel Cairo is a real solid player coming off the bench, he gets timely hits, he's a player you can hit and run with and he can steal a base when needed. I don't expect much from the other members of the Yankee bench other then to give starters a day off and to get a hit every once in a while. I'm not sure if the Yankees are going to call up Kevin Thompson again but I like to watch him play. He's fast and don't seem to be lost at the plate. He's a good pinch runner option also. The rest of the Red Sox bench includes Alex Cora, Eric Hinske, David Murphy and Doug Mirabelli. Eric Hinske will be solid coming of the bench as well. He hits a lot of double which can be a plus with Red Sox lineup. Mirabelli will start when Wakefield pitches as he always does. He good at blocking balls but he doesn't do all that well when he attempts to hit them. The rest of the bench will serve the same role as the Yankees backups. Now I was going to call this category even but before I did I looked into it some more and my boy Rizzo hooked me up with the following stats on Miguel Cairo. Cairo's numbers in clutch situations are phenomenal. With runners in scoring position Cairo batted .328, with the bases loaded he batted .375 and with runners on 3rd with 2 outs Cairo batted .417. This is exactly the kind of production you need from you bench and because of this I believe the Yankees have a slight advantage.
Advantage: Yankees

Starting Pitching:  Now I know that it's never set in stone who is going to pitch against who when two teams play each other but what I'm going to do here is match up pitcher against pitcher based on what I have as the projected starting rotation for both team. So basically I'll analyze the 1 vs. 1 match up and so one and give an advantage for each match up. Then based on that you will see who has the overall advantage for starting pitching. First let's take a look at the projected starting rotations for both lineups.

Yankees                       Red Sox

Chien-Ming Wang                           Curt Schilling
Mike Mussina                                 Josh Beckett
Andy Pettitte                                 Daisuke Matsuzaka
Carl Pavano                                  Jon Papelbon
Kei Igawa                                      Tim Wakefield


Chien-Ming Wang vs. Curt Schilling: In 2006 Chien-Ming Wang really made a name for himself. He tied with Johan Santana for the league lead for wins with 19 and he finished second in the AL CY Young voting. He is under the radar a bit because he doesn't strike out a lot of batter be he mores then makes up for that with the amount of double plays are turned because of him being a ground ball pitcher. He also doesn't give up a lot of homeruns, only allowing 12. One thing to watch for is how hitters adjust to his pitching style. Wang is certainly capable of going 220 innings or more so that will be a help to the Yankees bullpen. If Wang has a repeat of last year then he will do more the share to get the Yankees to where they want to be. In 2006 Curt Schilling took on a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde persona. He was dominant at home posting a 9-1 record with a 3.06 era in 14 starts. He also led the Red Sox in strikeouts. Overall he rebounded nicely after being injured a lot during 2005. The bad side of Curt was his performance on the road. In 17 road starts Schilling was just 6-6 with a 4.75 era. I'm hearing that this will be Schillings last year with Boston so I look to him to have a nice year but he has to be concerned about that ankle. If it holds up he should be fine, if not there may be problems.
Advantage: Yankees

Josh Beckett vs. Mike Mussina: Josh Beckett had a 5.01 era in 2006. My honest response to that is, so what! The guy is only 26 and I seen how dominant a pitcher he can be (tries to erase memories of 2003 for good). He's only 26 and has the potential to be an ace. Also the guy won 16 games in 2006 which was 1 more then Mussina and Schillings totals. I think he is going to rebound nicely this season which is a scary thought for us Yankee fans. What he has to do is get his homerun totals down. I believe he led the majors with homeruns allowed. If he can fix that problem and has the season everyone knows he's capable off then he could very well be the ace of the Red Sox staff. Mike Mussina has another fine year for the Yankees. He went 15-11 in 32 starts while posting a 3.51 era. The Yankees were also 20-12 in games that he started which is really decent. He is also capable of going 200 or more innings but it depends on how effective he is. He can't throw as hard as he use to which mean he has to change speeds and throw a lot of breaking pitches. That can take a lot of your arm, especially when your pitches are missing. I don't think Mussina will have much of a problem though because he is always around the strike zone. I think he will have another good season.
Advantage: Red Sox

Andy Pettitte vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka: Andy Pettitte returns to the Bronx in what will be his 10th overall season as a Yankee. The veteran left hander is coming off a year where he went 14-13 with a 4.20 era which are very un-Andy like numbers. Pettitte is a 2-time 21 game winner and has won 15 or more games 7 different times in his career. Is he still capable of putting up these kinds of numbers? Well that remains to be seen but I think he can, especially with the Yankees offense which is a lot better then what he had in Houston. I say he wins 15 games at least. Daisuke Matsuzaka, better known as Dice K, by far was the most talked about player of the off season and he hasn't made one start in the MLB. Much speculation has arisen over the existence of his "gyro-ball". Dice K dominated the World Baseball Classic one his way to earning MVP so I know he can pitch with the big boys but I'm still not sure to expect from him. Anyone remember Alex Cabrera? Well he was the batting champion and the MVP of the Japanese League a few years ago so that says a lot about Japanese pitching. I think Dice K will have a decent season and he better after what was spent to get him. Other than that I really don't know what to except from him and that's why I'm calling this one even.
Advantage: EVEN

Carl Pavano vs. Jon Papelbon: Jonathan Papelbon had an unbelievable rookie season as the Red Sox closer in 2006. He went 4-2 while posting 0.92 era and recorded 35 saves in 41 opportunities. He also converted all of his first 20 save opportunities. No one is really sure what to expect from him as a starter but if he is as dominant in the starter role as he was last year as a closer then the Red Sox could end up with one of the best rotations in baseball, but that's if. I think he will do fine but one thing to pay attention to is the state of the Red Sox bullpen, especially pay attention to the closer situation. If it turns out that no one is up to the challenge of being closer then don't be surprise to see Papelbon back as closer by early June, especially if Jon Lester shows he can be a quality starter like he was last year. Carl Pavano on the other hand didn't throw a single pitch in 2006. The Yankees took him to the bank after he went 18-8 with a 3.00 era in 2004 with the Marlins. So far it looked like the Yankees made a terrible mistake. Pavano is one of the most injury prone pitchers ever. His stuff honestly isn't the question though. If he can stay healthy then he has the potential to be a number 2 or 3 starter, but that's if. With that said you can have all the potential in the world but if you haven't done it in New York then you won't get the benefit of the doubt and Pavano thinks not then he should have a serious talk with A-rod. He needs to have a good season in 2007 or it may be his last.
Advantage: Red Sox

Kei Igawa vs. Tim Wakefield: Kei Igawa is the Yankees version of Dice K so to speak even though they didn't spend as much to get him. He's another pitcher that no one really has many expectations for because they simple haven't seen him. He went 14-9 in the Japanese league last year in 29 starts while posting a 2.97 era. These would be good numbers in the USA; however he didn't do it here. Also remember what I said about Alex Cabrera lol. Tim Wakefield will most likely be the 5th starter for the Red Sox but Jon Lester is still a possibility for this spot. Wakefield missed a good deal of time with injuries in 2006. In the starts he did make he was 7-11 with a 4.63 era. He's the type of pitcher that can eat up innings because the knuckleball doesn't take much out of him. But this is dependant on him being more consistent. When that knuckle ball is dancing he damn near can't be hit and I've seen him do it before. When his knuckle ball is flat it gets hit hard. It will be interesting to see what kind of season he has this year. He could also end up in the bullpen.
Advantage: EVEN

Overall Starting Pitching Advantage: Red Sox

Bullpen: The only thing that's really certain about the Red Sox pen is that newly acquired Brendan Donnelly will most likely be their main set up man and Mike Timlin will probably be used as the 7th inning guy or fill in for Donnelly time to time. Other then that everything is up for grabs. The most pressing issue is obviously who will closer. While nothing has been made official I would think that Manny Delclarmen will end up with the closing job. I haven't seen him pitch lately so I'll be the first to admit I could be wrong. His era was on the high side last year but he has a really electric fastball. Craig Hansen, who is from St. John's (my school lol), is another option at the closing position but it has been speculated that he will spend some time in Triple A before pitching in the majors again, this is depending on what he does this spring of course. Timlin is also a possibility for closer but I doubt it will happen. Jon Lester could be a nice fit in the pen but I have a feeling that he will end up starting again at some point. Pinero, Okajima, Taverez, and Hansen along with an occasional appearance from Wakefield will fill the rest of the Red Sox pin. The Bullpen is probably the weakest point of the Red Sox but the again the same could be said for the Yankees aside from the closer position. Speaking of, the Yankees have one of the best ever closing games for them and that is a big lift. Mariano Rivera is a clutch as anyone and still has the stuff to save 45 games. He will be the least of the Yankees concerns. The Yankees most pressing issue will be bridging the gap between starter and closer. Before I get into the set up role I want to talk about middle relief. Brian Bruney made a good impression last year with the Yankees posting an era slight under 1 in 19 appearances. If he continues to pitch as well as he did last year that can be a real plus for the Yankees. Chris Britton also has the potential to a solid relief pitcher. He had a really good fast ball but until I see him pitch more I'm reluctant to fall in love with him as the Yankees main middle reliever. Mike Myers will once again serve as our lefty specialist but he will be on a short lease this year. If he can't get Ortiz out (when could he) he will be gone as fast as he came. Luis Viscaino will also see some time but I also don't know what to expect from him. I have never seen him pitch. The combination of Proctor and Farnsworth can be real nice for the Yankees but it all depends on Farnsworth's back. I have never been as frustrated because of reliever as I was last year with Farnsworth. His bad back kept him from pitching consecutive days causing Torre to overwork Proctor and Villone. When he's healthy he has nasty stuff and if he does manage to stay healthy this season that would really solidify the Yankees bullpen. I expect Proctor to pick up where he left off last year and establish himself as one of the better relievers in the game. Hopefully he won't be used as much as he was last year. He has real good stuff and is more then capable of working his was out of stick situations.
Advantage: Yankees

And there you have it folks. I hope this provides you guys with a real good look at what to expect from these two teams when they hook up.