ORS

Here's where you show your ignorance. The Yankees are significantly better than the Sox as the rosters stand right now. That said, the Sox have some holes to fill while the Yankees won't be improving their lineup (so, yes, when it comes to lineups, they have to sit on their collective asses). The difference between these teams will be decided by the pitching staffs. I know you think Beckett is a bust after one bad year, but he showed signs of changing his approach at the end of the year and the results were more consistency. I like a rotation of Schilling, Beckett, Wake, and Papelbon over Wang, Mussina, Johnson, Pavano right now. Who gets who, and how well those who's adjust to AL East will make the difference. What is the purpose of this? I was giving you the benefit of the doubt earlier, and was only giving you a hard time because of how often you fellate yourself on this site. Looks like I was wrong there. You are nothing more than an internet troll, looking for petty kicks trying to piss people off. Grow the f*** up. I know you aren't 12 y/o, but you act like it.

Yeah, same 1000 runs you were going to score last year. Write of winning the East? Without knowing who goes where? Whatever you need to believe to get through the day, eh? Sure, tell us told ya so without any details. How's that work, act fast and claim victory early? We don't know who the "deal" is for, or even if it's real. Nobody was saying you'd get nothing, just that his value wasn't that high. And, everyone admitted that the return would increase with the Yankees picking up salary. We need the specifics before you dislocate your shoulder patting yourself on the back.

It's not grammar school. But, they teach grammar for a reason. It's not to bust your balls, but to make it so that what you are communicating is easily understood. Not using your grammar skills shows that you either don't respect yourself because you don't convey your message as best you can, or you don't respect your audience because you don't care about how difficult it is for them to read it. Either that, or the schools really suck in this country.

You know, I really don't like the exclusivity of one renowned Sox site. That kind of closed doors policy doesn't sit well with me. That said, people like this are a constant reminder of why it might not be such a bad thing. Is it that hard to hit the "Shift" key? Is it that hard to spell words vs. using txt-type? Frustrating.

For sure. Just seems like some of the fans here already have the Pats 6-1. I think they'll be prepared and win, but Minnesota is a good team.

I wouldn't look ahead. Minnesota controls the ball well and plays good D. They are no pushovers.

What's to hate about them? Statistically, they have pretty much nailed down offensive contribution. It's not exact, but it's pretty close. It gives you a way of trying to look at everything (OBP, SLG, SB, SF, etc.) on one common scale. How else are you going to determine who's more valuable to your lineup when you are comparing two players that contribute in different ways? Player A hits for a decent average, gets on base at a good clip, but has no speed and little power. Player B doesn't make contact as often, but when he does he gets more extra bases, and has speed. Who's more valuable?

Not defensively.

He was. I think it's reasonable for one to expect our source of "Enlightenment" to know that.

Sorry, I don't see Tek getting worse. He'll be below his '03-'05 levels without a doubt, but he was horrid last year. Even in decline I don't question his ability to beat a .725 OPS.

I agree. However, the up-the-middle spots were above league average, which was my point. If your corners are going to be average, as the '04 corners were, then you need to be strong offensively up the middle, which the '04 team was.

Yes, in the case of Youk and Lowell, Youk is more valuable offensively due to similar OPS but higher OBP for Youk. I meant in the general sense don't discount SLG. It does correlate higher to runs scored, and due to it being on a 4.000 scale, the variance is larger, meaning fewer small differentials when upgrading the SLG at a position. So, Youk would produce a higher VORP at 3B. Lowell was good for 77 EqR, and Youk was good for 85. However, Youk was only 4 runs above average at 1B, while Lowell was 18 runs above average at 3B. I suspect Youk would be about average at 3B, which makes Lowell about 1 win (10 total runs) better. My point about showing the importance of SLG was that Youk plays a corner spot. That is where you find your SLG, and Youk just doesn't bring it. A .800-ish OPS just isn't enough from 3B, IMO, and it isn't anywhere near good enough at 1B. Youk has already hit prime age, so increases in power are possible, but unlikely. That is why I don't consider him a long-term answer at that position, so, since he hase more value due to salary, he is who I would move.

What made the Sox offense so potent the previous years was that the high OBP guys in front of the big two were at premium positions. Damon, Walker, and Bellhorn played up the middle. Youk's OBP is great, but at a corner, he needs some power to go along with it or they are losing out on a premium offensive position. OBP is important, but it's not more important than extra bases (SLG). SLG correlates to runs scored more than OBP does. Now, because of being on different scales, one point of OBP is worth about 1.5 points of SLG. That said, SLG's variance is greater so one point fluctuations are rare.

Nice touch on that one. If Denver's offense can stay awake like this, they move to the head of the class in the AFC.

Good call on the PI against Wayne. I thought at first that they might give it to Denver's D, and they played that ball well.

I just noticed something. In the fantasy league, your defense gets penalized with a point for the PAT if the other team scores a defensive touchdown. That sucks. Pittsburg just lost 5 points from their total because Roethlisberger gave up a pick-6. Bogus.

Dallas Clark is having a hard time catching the ball with his hands grasping his throat.

Tough call there. He didn't even really hit Plummer. EDIT: Did they waive it?

If we are going to get an oft injured 1B option, what about Nomah? Dude can still rake, and I have a feeling he'd be healthier than either of Sweeney or Bagwell.