AJ Burnett

Ahhh I can smell the clay already.

Pitchers and catchers have reported to camp, there is less than a week before the first Spring Training game and speculation about who will finish the 2011 season where in the AL East is already brewing.

The AL East has always been one of the toughest, if not THE toughest, divisions in baseball.

This year will be no different.

In fact, I expect it to be more competitive this season than it has been in a while.

The news for the Yankees this offseason has been generally negative. Missing out on Cliff Lee, the Derek Jeter contract debacle and Andy Pettitte retiring. Add a peppering of has-been players, and the Yankee Universe isn't looking as rock-solid as it has in the past.  

There are a few questions, both big and small, for the Yankees heading into spring training. 

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One of the biggest parts of MLB Spring Training is determining who will be the starters. As usual, there are a lot of tough position battles this year.

A lot of high-profile moves were made this offseason. There's a lot of anticipation to see who will win those battles.

Here are the top 11 players who have the most to lose in their position battles this year.

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As always, the Yankees have a chance to be really good this year.

Except for the minor problem that their No. 2 starter has only one year of starting experience in the majors, their No. 3 starter is probably the single most maddening starter in baseball, their No. 4 starter has seven major league starts to his credit and their No. 5 starter is either a guy who has never pitched in the majors or a guy who couldn’t hold the starting spot when it was handed to him last summer. 

This winter has exposed cracks in the New York Yankees’ organization.  What was once the proudest and most cohesive unit in baseball has reverted to the days of factions between the New York front office, headed by GM Brian Cashman, and the Tampa brain trust, led by the Brothers Steinbrenner.

It’s hard to believe, with all the snow we’ve gotten here in the Northeast, that spring training is just a few weeks away. As a fan of the New York Yankees, this hasn’t been the best of offseasons, so I would like nothing more than to fast forward to mid-February to see how the team is going to answer all of the questions that haunt them right now.

It's been quite a few weeks since former Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland was removed from the team's equation for 2011, and Cubs coach Larry Rothschild was hired to replace him.

The many ways in which Rothschild is a major upgrade for the Yankees this coming season (and the obvious and equal number of ways Eiland's departure was necessary) will be dealt with by others in the coming months and season.

This off-season, the New York Yankees' hopes of adding an additional pitcher fell through.
 
True, pickings were slim, but with the seemingly impending retirement of Andy Pettitte, it didn’t make life any easier in the Bronx.
 

A.J. Burnett is coming off an extremely disappointing season with the New York Yankees, and as if things cannot get any worse, he has to deal with ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd.

Burnett did not need this especially, as he is going to try and bounce back from a dreadful season in 2010.

Cowherd ironically made cowardly comments regarding a divorce between A.J. Burnett and his wife. Cowherd made comments about Burnett's wife being spiteful and vindictive.

A.J. Burnett is fuming, steaming and most likely darn-right mad.

He's mad at ESPN voice on the radio, Colin Cowherd.

This one's a doozie.

Seems the guy with the strange name—that would be Mr. Cowherd—said something on his show about the New York Yankees pitcher that he might, at this moment, want to take back.

Ah, but such is the beauty of our modern day sports talk radio. Once you say it, it's ON the record. No misquotes, no pleading, no back-peddling.