It’s too early to say:

If the Red Sox can maintain their good start and return to their status as a contender after missing the playoffs the last three years.

If the Yankees can overcome disabling injuries to half of their starting lineup, all four players still in recovery.

If the Angels can recover from their surprisingly poor start and justify their signing of Josh Hamilton.

If the Angels don’t recover if Mike Scioscia, the majors’ longest-running manager, would lose his job after 14 years.

If the Blue Jays can shake off their poor start and justify their uncharacteristic off-season spending.

If the Orioles will repeat their 2012 status as a playoff contender even though they have given that initial appearance.

If the Royals are a …

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The similarities between Honus Wagner and me may not all be obvious so let me elucidate them.

We grew up – at different times – about 25 miles apart in southwestern Pennsylvania.

We both played baseball in our youth.

We both spent a lot of time at Forbes Field.

After graduating from high school, my sister Irene worked as a secretary at Honus Wagner Sporting Goods Company.

The elderly Wagner gave my sister a shakily written autograph for her little brother on a small piece of paper (no, I don’t have it; my mother, cleaning my room – what else? – tossed it out).

Our likenesses (mine a black and white photograph, his a bronze plaque) are in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

We are both part of …

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When the season began three weeks ago, the Yankees had seven players on the disabled list. Collectively their 2013 salaries totaled $92 million, which was more than the entire payrolls of 16 of the other 29 major league teams.

That $92 million included slightly more than $1 million for pitchers Michael Pineda and Cesar Cabral and $7.15 million for Phil Hughes, meaning the Yankees had $84 million in disabled-list salaries for Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson. That part of the payroll was more than the payrolls of only 10 teams.

But this isn’t about money. It’s about the carnage epitomized by the disabled list. Forget the money they’re making. Can a team win a championship in spite of the absence of a substantial segment of the starting lineup?

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