[Phoenix1010]

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Our starting pitching has got to be better than last year

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Hahahahah good one.

Last year we had Vazquez, who was awesome during the first half and allowed us to build a huge lead over the Sox in the AL East. We also had Lieber and El Duque.

We replaced Lieber with Pavano and El Duque with Wright. Vazquez with RJ was unquestionably an upgrade, but RJ is beginning to show his age.

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Wha? Vasquez was great during the first half of the season, and then completely fell apart. He was AWFUL during the latter half of the season, and it continued into the playoffs, where he absolutely choked against the Sox both as a starter and in relief duty. You didn't even point out why or how El Duque and Lieber were big strengths for us. The way El Duque was showing his age late in the season, I have NO problem with replacing him with a young promising pitcher like Pavano. If you're so sure our pitching was better last year, provide some evidence or defense for the claim...