Zenny

Papelbon as closer makes no sense when guys like Hansen and Delcarmen are waiting in the wings and both are relief pitchers. Papelbon is a proven starter. Duh, use him there.

I would like the see Arroyo traded for a 1B. He's relatively young and cheap and we could probably swing him for a solid hitting 1B without wasting a lot of money on Konerko. Then we can trot this rotation out: Schilling Clement Wells Wake Papelbon ...with Sanchez, Lester and Alvarez waiting in the wings should one of the old guys falter or end up disabled, which will likely happen once or twice before the end of the year.

Goddamn, that was close.

Holy s***, Millar hit the ball out of the ballpark. It only took him until the end of August to hit one on the road... piece of s***. On an unrelated note, the f***ing bases are loaded.

They're going to call him up before August 31 so he can be eligible for the playoff roster, so it'll only be a week at the most.

I don't see it making much sense for Minny at this stage. If they had done this a month ago, then yes, do it. But, the end of August approaches and they are way out of it. There's no way they leapfrog Oakland/Anaheim, New York and Cleveland for the Wild Card.

I want to see a little more out of his secondary pitches in the long-run, but that fastball looks great. He's making guys look silly. Strategically, Miller was a nice value risk, but it's obvious he doesn't have too much left in the tank when he's throwing 88-91. If he can get it back up to 93-95 with consistency, then that big bender becomes much more effective. If not, he's mediocre at best. Should that be the case, Papelbon is the better strategic pick to win games.

Yeah, we had a horrendous farm team a couple of years ago. Theo did a great job building it back up.

I'd say in the 10-15 range.

YANKEESRULE, you are a complete numbnuts. The world will be a better place if you do not have offspring. What am I saying, you'll never get laid.

I just gave you statistics as to why the Yankees are finished and you come back with the same old tired "yeah, we do have chemistry" ********. I don't doubt the Yankees have chemistry; I've seen the looks that A-Rod and Jeter pass back and forth as they stare longingly at each other's buttocks. We've all also seen Sheffield try to finger Jeter's ******* in a picture. I don't doubt the chemistry. What I do doubt is their ability to play above average baseball statistically.

Some words from Johnny:

I agree, there's no need to rush him. Let him play out the rest of the season in Pawtucket, call him up in September to give him a taste and let him compete for the '06 job.

For comparison's sake, the only Yankee with a positive FRAA was Womack in LF. Red Sox with positive FRAA's: Varitek, Millar (who's surprisingly good), Olerud, Bellhorn, Mueller, Trot, Youkilis. Surprisingly, Damon has been slightly below average; it has looked like he's lost a step or two and he's never had much of an arm. Renteria's been horrendous, though. He's an A-Rod-esque -11 FRAA. Here's a quick and dirty explanation of the stat. It's based off of FRAR (fielding runs above replacement), meaning how many runs per season better a guy is than a fringe major leaguer. So, a number for an average, not fringe, major leaguer is determined based off of that. A 0 FRAA is an average major league fielder, meaning he didn't cost or gain his team any runs defensively. Anything above zero means that the team saved runs when he was in the field and anything below zero means that player gave up runs defensively. I'll use Varitek as an example. He's 12 FRAR and 2 FRAA. That means that based off of that number determined by the math geniuses at Baseball Prospectus, Varitek is 12 runs better than a fringe major leaguer and 2 runs better than the average everyday so far this season.

Do you guys honestly believe that they have the team to make the playoffs? Pitching: Their #1 starter is in his 40's, has no cartilage in his left knee, back troubles and has lost velocity and bite. Their big offseason free agent signing was very league, park and defensively lucky in '04, leading to a decieving ERA while his DIPS was really around 4.00. Mussina has become a nice #3 starter. On this team, he's their best (not good). Kevin Brown is back on the DL and sucked when he was off it. Wright hasn't come off it yet. Wang walks more guys than he strikes out, which is an indicator of future shellings. Mo, while being dominant against the other 28 teams in the league, cannot pitch against us any longer. Flash Gordon has been good, but after that, any one of those guys can be touched up for multiple runs in an inning at any time. Sturtze, Quantrill, Groom, Stanton? Give me a break. Offensively: They have the American League's best hitter in A-Rod. I won't deny that. Jeter is a very good leadoff hitter. Sheffield is playing very well and deserving of an All-Star spot. Matsui is heating back up of late. Posada has been steady, but not very good. So, they have five above average hitters and then four gaping holes, no matter which platoon combo they have fill it. Cano? He's no savior with his sub-.300 OBP. Giambi? 'Roids screwed him up bad. Bernie? Been done since '02. Tino? He had that ridiculous homer streak for two weeks and hasn't hit since (he's done). Womack? Worst everyday player in the last century (Tom Verducci of SI backed me up on that one). Defense: Posada is well below average at throwing out runners and blocking the plate. Tino is below average at first -3 FRAA. Cano is a train-wreck at second. Jeter, despite winning the Gold Glove last season, Jeter is -1 FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average). A-Rod? -11 FRAA. Again, trainwreck. Whether it's Matsui or Bernie, they are both well below average. Womack is a second baseman playing the outfield. Sheff also is -3 FRAA. This team is an absolute $200 million dollar disaster. There's no denying it. They are horrendous.