Best Rotation?

The biggest buzz of the MLB off season was the "beefing up" of the Philadelphia Phillies starting (pitching) rotation.  Cliff Lee was probably to most wanted free agent this off season.  It was publicized that he would end up back with the Rangers and if not the Yankees would outbid everyone to land him.  In a surprise move, he signed with his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies.  This made the starting rotation pretty formidable.  He joins an already impressive rotation consisting of Roy Halladay, Cole Hammels, Roy Oswalt, and Joe Blanton.  A lot of the prognosticators are already putting the Phillies back to the World Series with this rotation.  Well, things can happen.  Just ask the St Louis Cardinals.  They just lost star pitcher Adam Wainwright for the entire season.  He will undergoe Tommy John surgery next week.  There have been several reports and features done about the Phillies rotation, but is there a better one out there?  I think so.  Let's find out who.
One of the more impressive rotations isn't just in the National league, but in their very own division.  The Atlanta Braves already have a very good rotation.  It's nothing like Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Neagle but it's still pretty good.  Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson, and Mike Minor make up the Braves rotation.  What I think makes the Braves rotation better is the supporting cast.  You can have the best pitcher in the league, but if you can't put runs on the board, or a defense to support them, it's pointless.  Just ask Zack Greinke.  He had a VERY good year last year, but had a worthless bullpen, errors in the field, and no run support from the Royals.  The Braves have several key players that can help out the starting rotation.  They of course have the legend and face of the Braves organization, Chipper Jones.  They also have the second best catcher in the major league in Brian McCann and outfielders Nate McCouth and Jason Heyward, who hit a homerun in his very first major league at bat.
I think those two rotations are considerably better in the National League, but I wonder what could have been.  By this I mean with the St Louis Cardinals.  They are the Yankees of the National League.  They are the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Lakers of Baseball.  All they do is win.  This is not the first time the Cardinals have been without a starting star pitcher.  In fact it seems pretty regular.  Loosing Adam Wainwright would seem pretty devistating to the Cardinals.  Their 5-man rotation as of today consists of Chris Carpenter, Jake Westbrook, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse, and Kyle McClellan.  But if I were a Cardinals fan, I would not be worried at all.  Manager Tony LaRussa has been in this situation before, and yes, they were still a factor in the race for the pennant.  I have no doubt in saying that the Pujols, Holliday, Molina, and Cardinals will still be in contention, if not leading the NL Central going into September.
I don't think we can rule out the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.  Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathon Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, and Barry Zito is a rotation that could easily give them back to back NL West titles, but I don't see that happening.
Let's switch leagues.  The Boston Red Sox have built an impressive rotation trying to compete with the New York Yankees.  This fued has got personal and has led to a few World Series wins.  Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buccholz, and Daisuke Matsuzaka will start the season in the rotation, but that's not all they have.  They have the best closer in the American League, and they brought in another closer, Bobby Jenks, after the White Sox cut him loose.  Along with Tim Wakefield should make a pretty impressive bullpen as well.
The Minnesota Twins have a good rotation.  Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Scott Baker, Brian Duensing, and Nick Blackburn should make a pretty good rotation and with stars Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, Denard Span, Justin Morneau, and Jow Mauer add a supporting cast that should have them in the pennant race at the end of the season.
But, as is the case in the NL East, the same goes for the AL Central.  The Twinkies aren't even the best in their own division.  The White Sox spent the offseason beefing up their roster.  Their rotation includes Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Denks, Jake Peavy, and Edwin Jackson.  They have made a few off season acquisitions, making news by adding slugger Adam Dunn to their lineup.  He joins Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Gordon Beckham, and Carlos Quentin.  This should make the AL Central one of the more exciting races going into the playoffs.
Usually the wild card is projected to come out of the East, between the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays.  The Rays made things interesting by adding Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, but I think in the end they won't live up to expectations.  The Yankees have too much "drama" in their clubhouse.  Hank Steinbrenner is throwing around shots, trying to motivate his team, but I think some players take them a little more personally than people are making it out to be.  The Yankee pride was also hurt this offseason when they got out-bid on a few key free agents.  This could spell disaster for the Pinstripes.  I think the wild card will be in the NL Central this year.  It's hard for me to decide which is better between the White Sox and the Twins.  The White Sox have the better starting rotation, hands down.  But the Twinkies might have the better supporting cast.  But will the key off season acquisitions of the White Sox give them the upper hand? I think it will.
I think the White Sox have the makings of a World Series run.  But I think the American League will be primarily a 2 or 3 team league.  The National League is much tougher to call.  The Cincinnati Reds won the NL Central last season.  They have mostly the same roster returning this season, choosing to be quiet this off season.  The Milwaukee Brewers tried to keep pace by trading for Cy Young pitcher Zack Greinke from the Royals.  You have to figure in the Cardinals no matter what.  Then you have the Phillies and the Braves in the East.  I'm going to give the upper hand to the Cardinals because of history, experience, and leadership, and the Braves for their pitching and supporting cast.  As is the case with the BYU basketball team, I think the Phillies rotation is overrated.  I think the Cardinals and Braves will battle for the right to represent the National League in the World Series against the Chicago White Sox.  But, it's only Spring Training.  A LOT can happen!