ORS

Why should his joint mobility worry me? He's never missed significant time due to injury. The fact that he has loose joints means it is more likely that he'll experience partial dislocations, but, due to the joint mobility, that won't be as big a deal as it would be for someone with less joint mobility. Loose joints occur from flexible muscle/tendon/cartiledge in the joint. A stiffer joint gets injured in a partial subluxation, but a flexible one can take the stress easier. That's why he wasn't hurt this year, and the time he missed was just precautionary. Whatever, though. Predicting injuries is always fun when it conveniently takes out some of the opposition's better players.

There, that makes it more correct. The kid has loose joints. His mom posts on soxprospects, and, according to her, it's a family thing. He wasn't hurt last year, and he could have gone back out there, but the season was tanked at that point so they played it cautious. Doctors, not just Sox doctors either, believe the rotation will limit the amount of constant strain on his shoulder. Kid has gone from starting to closing to starting to closing in the last 6-7 years and hasn't had a significant injury yet. Predicting one to come reeks of wish casting. Thanks for the input, Dr.

From what I read, Mel messed around with Jose. Didn't want him to throw from so many different arm slots. Tried to get him to throw sinkers, you know, like Mel. In fact, I think the biggest knock on Mel was that he tried to make everyone pitch like Mel. Jose's problem wasn't makeup. It was having him get away from what made him great in the first place. It should come as no surprise that he's been excellent the last two years when he's been allowed to do what works for him. Hopefully, the Sox don't tinker with Matsuzaka and just let the pony run.

Yes, Eric Duncan will net Nick Johnson. At the same time, the Sox will land Santana for DiNardo - hey, they're both lefties, even Steven. Moving on.

Right. Boras is an ass. Nothing new there. I just fail to see how you can reasonably think he'll get his way and his way only in this deal. He lacks his usual leverage - other teams - and he's dealing from a position where: one, his client is eager to play in a new league, and two, he's eager to become the number one facilitator of getting posted players into the league. The variables are all different on this one. Yet, you give Boras all the credit for having an edge here. He said he's going to get a 3 year deal, so he'll get it, right? Just like he said Damon started at 7/$84M last year? Or how about him saying Beltran would get a $200M contract? Yeah, that guy never backs down from what he threw out to the media. Wake up, dude.

Of course, you left a big part out. Boras, like the Sox, wants to grab a big part of the Japanese market. He stands to lose a lot of his credibility as an agent there if a deal can't be reached. This posting is going to make more teams consider posting their superstars instead of losing them for nothing in the near future. If Boras can't get a deal done, not many Japanese stars are going to want to use him if it looks likely that they will return to Japan to finish their contracts due to an inflexible agent. Going through the posting system is completely different than regular FA negotiations, and you continue to ignore any factors contrary to your desire that Boras stick it to the Sox.

Spread Category : Date & Time Favorite................. Spread ..............Underdog 11/23 12:30 ET Miami..................... -2.5....................... At Detroit 11/23 4:15 ET At Dallas................... -11...................... Tampa Bay 11/23 8:00 ET Denver....................... -1.................. At Kansas City 11/26 1:00 ET Jacksonville............... -3.5....................... At Buffalo 11/26 1:00 ET At NY Jets................. -5.5.......................... Houston 11/26 1:00 ET At Baltimore............... -3......................... Pittsburgh 11/26 1:00 ET Cincinnati................... -3..................... At Cleveland 11/26 1:00 ET At Minnesota............. -6.5.......................... Arizona 11/26 1:00 ET At St. Louis................. -6.................. San Francisco 11/26 1:00 ET At Atlanta................... -3.................... New Orleans 11/26 1:00 ET Carolina.................... -4.5................ At Washington 11/26 1:00 ET At New England........... -3........................... Chicago 11/26 8:15 ET At Indianapolis............. -9..................... Philadelphia 11/26 1:00 ET NY Giants................... -3.5................. At Tennessee 11/26 4:05 ET At San Diego.............. -13.......................... Oakland Monday Night Football Point Spread 11/27 8:30 ET At Seattle................... Off....................... Green Bay Straight Category : Date & Time Favorite.......................................Underdog 11/23 12:30 ET Miami............................................. At Detroit 11/23 4:15 ET At Dallas......................................... Tampa Bay 11/23 8:00 ET Denver....................................... At Kansas City 11/26 1:00 ET Jacksonville....................................... At Buffalo 11/26 1:00 ET At NY Jets............................................ Houston 11/26 1:00 ET At Baltimore...................................... Pittsburgh 11/26 1:00 ET Cincinnati...................................... At Cleveland 11/26 1:00 ET At Minnesota........................................ Arizona 11/26 1:00 ET At St. Louis................................. San Francisco 11/26 1:00 ET At Atlanta..................................... New Orleans 11/26 1:00 ET Carolina..................................... At Washington 11/26 1:00 ET At New England.................................... Chicago 11/26 8:15 ET At Indianapolis................................ Philadelphia 11/26 1:00 ET NY Giants..................................... At Tennessee 11/26 4:05 ET At San Diego........................................ Oakland Monday Night Football 11/27 8:30 ET At Seattle.......................................... Green Bay Monday Night Football Total Points Scored............____51____

Given recent comments made in the press by the FO, it seems apparent that they've made sacrafices in the past for this moment. In fact, I think it is very likely that the Damon and Pedro non-moves were part of this equation since they've been scouting him since '03 or so. They've always had the intent of cracking the Asian market. This looks like the big move. I'm confident they'll get him signed.

Wow. I can't believe the amount of attention the utility guy is getting. Nor can I understand the sentiment that the FO is dicking around this offseason. The biggest problem last year was a weak starting rotation, and thus far they have made (potentially) the biggest splash in the biggest position of need. They spend some coin, and it's still not enough. MC Hammer might be right about some of you. You are like Yankee fans.

Lifetime? Jeter doesn't make the top-10 of active starting SS.

Thought it was a raping? Gotcha.

Wow, it didn't take long for Sheffield to go from "still one of the game's better power bats" to a "broken down aging slugger" in the minds of Yankee fans. How convenient.

Spread Category : Date & Time Favorite............... Spread.............. Underdog 11/19 1:00 ET At Kansas City.......... -9.5........................ Oakland 11/19 4:15 ET Indianapolis............. -1.5........................ At Dallas 11/19 1:00 ET At New Orleans.........-3.5...................... Cincinnati 11/19 1:00 ET Pittsburgh................ -3.5.................. At Cleveland 11/19 1:00 ET At Philadelphia.......... -13.................... Tennessee 11/19 1:00 ET At Baltimore............... -4.......................... Atlanta 11/19 1:00 ET At Carolina................. -7........................ St. Louis 11/19 1:00 ET At Houston................-2.5.......................... Buffalo 11/19 1:00 ET New England.............. -6.................. At Green Bay 11/19 1:00 ET At Tampa Bay............-3.5................... Washington 11/19 1:00 ET Chicago..................... -7....................... At NY Jets 11/19 1:00 ET At Miami................... -3.5..................... Minnesota 11/19 4:05 ET At Arizona.................. -2........................... Detroit 11/19 4:05 ET Seattle..................... -6.5............ At San Francisco 11/19 8:15 ET At Denver................... -3...................... San Diego Monday Night Football Point Spread 11/20 8:30 ET At Jacksonville........... -3.5...................... NY Giants Straight Category : Date & Time Favorite......................................... Underdog 11/19 1:00 ET At Kansas City......................................... Oakland 11/19 4:15 ET Indianapolis........................................... At Dallas 11/19 1:00 ET At New Orleans..................................... Cincinnati 11/19 1:00 ET Pittsburgh......................................... At Cleveland 11/19 1:00 ET At Philadelphia.................................... Tennessee 11/19 1:00 ET At Baltimore............................................. Atlanta 11/19 1:00 ET At Carolina............................................. St. Louis 11/19 1:00 ET At Houston................................................ Buffalo 11/19 1:00 ET New England.................................... At Green Bay 11/19 1:00 ET At Tampa Bay.................................... Washington 11/19 1:00 ET Chicago................................................ At NY Jets 11/19 1:00 ET At Miami.............................................. Minnesota 11/19 4:05 ET At Arizona................................................. Detroit 11/19 4:05 ET Seattle........................................ At San Francisco 11/19 8:15 ET At Denver............................................. San Diego Monday Night Football 11/20 8:30 ET At Jacksonville....................................... NY Giants Monday Night Football Total Point Scored : ............... ___48____

Are those rates adjusted? The Baseball Cube lists them differently, and while he's slipped from '04, his K rate last year was only .27 below career average. Lidge@TheBaseballCube.com I don't think WMP gets Wheeler because he's their closer moving forward. Right now, IMO, is the time to get Lidge while his trade value is low. WMP has too many deficiencies to get a contender's closer, but I think he could be enough to get their fallen from grace guy who had flukey bad year. His HR/9 just about doubled from his '03-'05 average, and that doesn't surprise me since his BB/9 did too. I think the HRs are tied to the loss of control and he missed his spot with a meatball more often. Players don't tend to just lose the plate overnight. I think last year may have just been a bad year, and they should act now while the price is low.

What's wrong with WMP? He doesn't "see" the ball well. Both is offensive and defensive problems center around poor judgement of the trajectory of the ball. On offense, his pitch recognition is s***. He doesn't recognize ball from strike very well, nor does he recognize what type of pitch it is very well. On defense, he looks like a monkey f***ing a football because he can't judge where the ball will end up. IMO, it's not a hand eye coordination thing. When his judgment is on he squares the ball up really well with the bat (highest BABIP on the team), and when he makes a good read he makes some decent plays in the field. The problem is, he doesn't make a good judgement as often as he needs to.

That team will be hell on wheels against LHP. Hopefully the Yankees sign Zito.

Yahtzee! When Loretta was hitting close to the Mendoza line last spring I pointed to the exact same two indicators, BABIP and LD%, as reason for optimism. And, voila! he was hitting .300 by the ASG. If I haven't said it yet, welcome to the board. It's always nice to have new members who know the numbers.

It makes very little sense. They would effectively close the door on the Japanese market. JWH and Theo are both on quote about wanting very badly to tap into the Asian talent market. They signed several Taiwanese youngsters last year, and other things they have said indicate this move has been on the horizon for a few years. This looks like their first big move into that market, so I'm skeptical that they would risk souring it just to block the Yankees. EDIT: redundancy