First of all, let's start with pitching because in baseball, like any sport, a team may be able to score in bunches, but with no defense, nobody can win.

KEY LOSS TO INJURY

Starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang (2008 Record: 8-2; ERA: 4.02; 4 home runs allowed in 15 games; 35 walks; 54 strikeouts - the key words for Wang: '15 games' (Wang only made 15 appearances in 2008 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury; if he is healthy, Wang is very capable of being a dominant pitcher as evidenced by his 19 wins in both '06 and '07)

BIGGEST PITCHING BUSTS

Starter Roger Clemens: (forget the disastrous 6-6 record; Clemens is under federal indictment for allegedly lying about whether he took performance-enhancing drugs; even if his name is cleared before next season, which team is going to be willing to take a chance on someone who used to 10 or 15 games on average and then crashed and burned like Clemens did? He is certainly not worth what he used to be worth)

Joba Chamberlain: OK, this is what happens when you put someone under so much pressure. Chamberlain's 2008 numbers are respectable enough (2008 Record: 4-3, includinga 3-1 record in 12 STARTS; this guy only got 4 decisions (3 wins vs. 1 loss) in 12 starts, implying that he was ineffective in those 12 starts; consequently, he was back in the bullpen by season's end; luckily for the Yankees, Chamberlain was only worth $390000 in '08, but he may get a starting spot by default after Clemens wasn't invited back)

Starter Carl Pavano: (ERA: 5.77; someone who was paid $11 million for '08 shouldn't have that high an ERA)

Starter Andy Pettitte: (2008 Record: 14-14; ERA: 4.54; this is a big slip from '07 when Pettitte went 15-9 with a 4.05 ERA and again, we must ponder: was Pettitte worth $16 million in '08?)

HITTERS (HITTERS WITH A 2:1 STRIKEOUT: HOME RUN RATIO AND ARE STILL CONSIDERED 'POWER HITTERS')

Catcher Jorge Posada: (2008 Key Numbers: 51 games, 3 home runs, 22 RBI & 18 runs scored; missed the vast majority of the '08 campaign with elbow/shoulder problems; Posada is the second-biggest 'bust behind A-Rod for the Bronx Bombers this season; never mind his injuries; he has personality problems; when the Yanks told him that he would be better off at first base after the acquisition of Ivan Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers because of his arm problems, Posada threw a fit; he certainly wasn't worth $13.1 million)

Catcher Jose Molina: Molina was originally supposed to provide relief for Posada, but in all reality, honesty and fairness his '08 paycheck for more than $1 million was a burden for the Yankees this season (2008 Key Numbers: 58 hits, 3 home runs, 18 RBI, 32 runs scored; OK, he didn't do much in '07 either so that's why again, we have to pose the questionL is Molina worth more than $1 million; in addition to his poor hitting, his strikeout:walk ratio was more than 4:1: 12 walks, 52 strikeouts and his strikeout:home run ratio is more than 17:1).

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez: Again, this guy's production was OK in terms of hits (110), but again, he definitely isn't worth his '08 salary of more than $12 million because his strikeout:walk ratio is almost 3:1: 23 walks, 67 strikeouts)

First baseman Wilson Betemit: Betemit is no more than an insurance first baseman and his production shows that (2008 Key Numbers: 56 hits, 6 home runs, 25 RBI, 24 runs scored, 6 walks vs. 56 strikeouts: that's more than a 9:1 strikeout:walk ratio and more than a 9:1 strikeout:home run ratio)

Second baseman Robinson Cano: 2008 Key Numbers: 162 hits (significantly worse than '07 when he had 189 hits), 14 home runs (down from 19 home runs in '07), 72 RBI (down from 97 RBI in '07), 70 runs scored (fewer than the 93 runs he scored in 2007), 26 walks (down from 39 walks in '07) and 65 strikeouts (although this is 20 fewer strikoeuts than '07, Cano still has a more than 2:1 strikeout:walk ratio for '08). Therefore, he isn't worth millions, at least not in 2008. His 2008 salary was $3 million.

Third baseman Alex Rodriguez: 2008 Key Numbers: 154 hits (down from 183 hits in 2007), 35 home runs (a big dropoff from the 54 home runs he hit in '07), 103 RBI (another significant dropoff from the 156-RBI season that he had in '07), 104 runs scored (significantly down again from the 143 runs he scored in '07), 65 walks (is this guy really walking less despite all the intentional walks? This is down from the 95 walks that A-Rod had in '07) and 117 strikeouts (OK, this is 3 less than his '07 strikeout of 120), but that's still almost a 2:1 strikeout:walk ratio and almost a 3:1 strikeout:home run ratio. So, like many of his other high-profile teammates, A-Rod's $28 million salary i0n 2008 is overly generous. Sure, he's one of the few baseball greats to smash at least 500 homers and yes, 755 home runs (the record held by the late Hank Aaron) is very much within reach, but A-Rod's money should be for him to hit (i.e. get the ball to drop in front of an outfielder, at least and not to strike out.

Left fielder/DH Hideki Matsui: Matsui was limited to 94 games because of knee problems in 2008 and his numbers were nowhere near his 2007 numbers (2008 Key Numbers: 99 hits, 9 home runs, 45 RBI & 43 runs scored with 0 stolen bases. Compare the above numbers to his 2007 production: 156 hits, 25 home runs, 103 RBI, 100 runs scored & 4 stolen bases in 6 attempts). Looking at these numbers, Matsui isn't worth his 2008 salary of $13 million.