Even after our hometown team has gone 4-2 over the last week, the New York Yankees are still 7 ½ games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East standings

Sheyyyt – we clearly have some work to do. 

Still, more lingering questions have finally been answered. It seems like we finally have three reliable starters in our rotation with the emergence of lefty Felix Doubront alongside the already established (but previously underperforming) Jon Lester and Clay Buckholz, who are starting to look like their old selves again. 

Guys are also starting to get healthier: We got Cody Ross coming back this week, we got Dice-K back (sigh), Crawford and Ellsbury are on their way to playing again, and of course we have the infamous Middlebrooks/Youkilis situation at third base. Essentially, we have an overstocked team. 

We need to use this abundance of talent to make moves and strengthen our starting rotation if we want to have a shot of competing for the World Series trophy. I don’t know about you but, I’m not comfortable with Dice-K and Beckett as our fourth and fifth starters – if either of them are even healthy, if we even do make the playoffs in this year 2012. 

What else would you expect from a division as deep as ours, a cakewalk? We’re in a goddamn dog fight, and the traditionally lesser teams like the Blue Jays and Orioles aren’t backing down all the while 37-year-old Derek Jeter captains the Yankees with hustle and grit to first place and the Rays' farm system keeps breeding talent like Saruman breeds the Uruk-hai in "The Lord of The Rings" movies. We have a lot of work to do. 

Here are this week’s player awards: 

Best Hitter: Going 10-24 over the past week, leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik has been one of our most reliable players after missing the entire 2011 season – because he was playing in the minor leagues. Are you kidding me, nobody had a spot for this guy on their roster last year? 

Best Pitcher: Against a potent Miami Marlins offense, Felix Doubront fanned nine over seven innings and only gave up two runs. He might be our ace. 

Biggest Surprise: Vicente Padilla – in part because of the fact that he surprisingly pitched well in relief this week but also because of the ridiculous velocity the 34-year-old still gets behind his fastballs. Damn boy! 

Biggest Disappointment: Sorry, Adrian Gonzalez, this one’s for you buddy. Your contract is worth WAY MORE than only FIVE HOME RUNS almost three months into the season… 

Unsung Hero: Give me my boy Big Papi David Ortiz on my team any day of the year, back at it after struggling for a couple weeks. Bound for another 30-home-run season, you can pencil this guy in for a spot amongst the elite in Cooperstown. 

Injuries: Josh Beckett is now on the DL with an “injured shoulder” – but who gives a fuck about him. Our team leader Dustin Pedroia is clearly hobbled by this thumb injury. Can we afford to rest him with our already over-abundance of talent on the DL?  

Bum Of The Week: DL-bound Josh Beckett. Maybe Bobby V is just lying about Beckett being on the DL and he’s really just sending him to Alcoholics Anonymous. 

Coming Up: Day off and then three at home against Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins – who we beat two out of three times earlier in the week and who also hold the same record as us (33-33). Then three more against the Atlanta Braves at home, a team that’s been having trouble in interleague play – especially against AL East teams.