Christmas is over, slow days resume ...

But in case you forgot, the Phillies were the top Philadelphia sports story in 2008. Just to be certain, though, Christine will soon pop in one of her DVDs to make sure they still win it all.

More Teixeira: The Globe profiled Lars Anderson, a top hitting prospect whose arrival in Boston may be pushed up because Mark Teixeira decided to play for the bucks, not trophies.

And, Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus has a pretty good take on what effect the Empire's spending spree will have on the AL East. Basically, the two powerhouses are now even: The Yankees will have the better offense, the Red Sox have the better defense. And the team that actually won the division in 2008?

Both are ahead of the Rays, who are likely to regress a bit in '09 before being scary good in the years that follow.

Yup, 2009 hasn't even started and the analysts are already writing off the AL champs, just like they did for all of 2008.

Personal note: I retired Mo Vaughn today.