a700hitter

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/20100118money_matters_for_papelbon_sox/ I think they should attempt to sign him for a long term deal before the hearing. 3 years/$27-30 million. Maybe go to 4 years/ $36 million.

I still think the Yanks will sign Damon. They are looking to get him on the cheap, and they might get him at a very reasonable rate.

Much moreso than the 1976 version. I really wish they would bring back the big dimensions in CF and LCF. However, they pay ARod alot of $ to hit HRs. Maybe this stadium will be the House that ARod Built

I still don't understand what is sad about knocking down a relatively new stadium (33 years old) that was so poorly constructed that it started falling apart. It's not the original stadium. It didn't even closely resemble the House that Ruth Built.

The Yankees will need to get a Hyperbaric chamber in the clubhouse to help him recover after he plays his 1 game a week.

They took a step back in offense, and although Varitek is not a starter, we are not rid of him. He will play about 50 or so games, forcing Beltre, VMart, Youk or Ortiz to the bench those games. If the pitching stays healthy, they will be better than last season. If one of the starters has injury problems, I think we could be wore than last year. Overall, I think the team is marginally better off than last year. If they had gotten Holliday, the improvement would havve been significant. We improved two aspects (pitching and defense) but we slid back on offense. Of course Beltre could play his ass off to get a big contract and Dice K could finally become the Dice K we thought we were getting and everything will be beautiful in the Nation. That's the best case scenario. More realistically, they will be marginally better-- 1 or 2 wins.

They are marginally better than last year, but that will not be enough unless the Yankees get some injuries and perform below expectations.

I think we have beaten this dead horse enough. There is one set of stats that i can't put my hands on. I was wondering where Blyleven ranks in all of the major pitching categories during the span of his career (1970 to 1992). That should tell us how dominant he was in his era.

Gammons is a stroke victim. That has probably impaired his judgment.

The guys you named (Jim Perry, Kaat,etc) were not better pitchers than Blyleven and he not them was the ace of those staffs. If the others got the opening day starts, it was because of deference to age or experience, not because they were the aces. I don't know what you are basing your assertion on about him not being the top pitcher on his team, but you are wrong. You are just arguing for the sake of arguing. You are making arguments about dominance when you never saw him pitch, and the stats clearly indicate that he was dominant.

You are wrong about that. Almost all of his career, he was the #1 guy on his team's staff, even when he was 38 years old on the Angels. There were a couple of years on the Rangers when Gaylord Perry was slotted ahead of him, but Blyleven had the better stats those years. There was 1 year on the Guardians when Neil Heaton was the #1, but Blyleven had the better year. Other than those few years and a few when he was injured, he was always his team's #1 guy. He was the #1 guy for the Twins by age 20. Much of his career Don Sutton was a #3, Drysdale was a #2 most of his career as was Gaylord Perry. Until Carlton left the Cards, he was a #2. None of them got to be a # 1 until their late 20's. Blyleven dominated hitters. His stats reflect the dominance.

Then what are you arguing, because he wasn't just pretty good for a lot of seasons. He was outstanding for a lot of years.

Since Divisional play started in 1969, you don't hear the terms First Division Team or Second Division Team. Those terms were used to identify the teams that finished in the top half of the league or the bottom half. In Blyleven's 22 years, he played for 9 second division teams. He played for 9 years on teams that finished in the bottom half of their divisions. Second Division teams are the "have-nots." Most of the other years, he was on teams that were one position away from being in the second division. He played 5 years in Cleveland (right in the middle of his career) when Cleveland came in last or next to last every year. He did not play on good teams when compared to many other HOFers.

Have the Sox improved or regressed? It's telling that we are even discussing this issue in a Red Sox forum. It certainly indicates that the Sox moves have not clearly improved the team's competitive position for a World Championship. I think the Yankees largely have stayed in the same place as last year, but they didn't need to improve. The onus was on the Sox to improve, and there is no clear consensus that they have significantly improved.

I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a concern for me. I think Dice K is a bit of a prima donna. He tends to make excuses and whine when things don't go his way. He needs to sack up this season and prove himself worthy of all the $ and hoopla.

He didn't perjure himself. He refused to answer the question about steroid use. That's not perjury. It was very telling that he was hiding it, but it was not perjury. Palmiero committed perjury. McGwire needed to put this behind him. I think he will be activated at some point in the season to PH. That will delay his eligibility for the HOF by 5 years and Bonds and Clemens will be the cases of first impression regarding steroid use.

Bad news for Yankee fans. Jeter is going to take the plunge and get married. http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view/20100111reds_sign_cuban_pitcher_aroldis_chapman/

Adrian Gonzalez doesn't hit the FA market in 2011. How many years is Theo going to wait for "his" team. In two more years, there will be even more holes to fill. Drew, Ortiz, Beltre, Beckett, Scutaro, Cameron, VMart will all be gone by then. We still haven't replaced Manny/Bay. How many guys can Gonzalez replace? When are the contracts up for Youk and Pedroia?

On that list is also VMArt, so in addition to replacing Ortiz, Beltre, Bay/Manny, and Beckett we will have to replace or re-sign VMart too. Those are many major pieces even if you disregard the need for our current #1 starter. The 2011 class does not look like a bumper crop. Other than Pujols and Mauer, there aren't a lot of top guys. Pujols and Mauer are pipe dreams for the Sox. The only other big offensive talent that I see on the list is Carl Crawford. There will be lots of significant holes after 2010, and I don't see them getting filled through free agency. If they fill 2 of these 4 holes through Free Agency, how will they fill the other holes? Kalish, Westmoreland or Andersoon will step into the 2011 lineup and replace Ortiz', Manny's or Bay's production? I don't think so. Do you think two or more rookies will step up and be major contributors? When has that happened since Lynn and Rice took the town by storm 35 years ago? In 2007, Ellsbury was a role player who still had rookie status at the end of 2007. Teams that fill 2 or more positions in a single year with full time rookies are usually not Playoff contenders. The Yankees sealed their 2008 fate by starting the season with 2 untested rookies in their starting rotation. It's nice to produce players from the farm, but it takes time, and it is extremely rare that 2 can step in to be major contributors in the same season to replace departed stars. I live in NY, and I know many many Yankee fans, and each and every one with whom I have discussed the upcoming season has expressed what the Yankee fans on TalkSox have expressed. They are not concerned about the Red Sox lineup. Without Manny or Bay, the fear factor is gone. They acknowledge that the acquisition of Lackey was good, but they know that pitchers have a tendency to get injured and they don't think we will have a consistently productive offense. In short, they expect to bury us in 2010. That had not been the case in the last few years. Their cockiness has returned, and it pisses me off, because I can see their point. Lackey and Holliday would have been much better than Lackey, Cameron and Beltre.

I've got to say that as much as I hated the prospect of Casey Kotchman in the lineup, I would have preferred if the Sox had signed Holliday instead of Cameron and Beltre. Kotchman could have been in a 1B/3B/C rotation with VMart. Youk, Lowell, and Tek. Tek and Kotchman would play twice a week. Here would have been my ideal lineup: 1. Ellsbury 2. Pedroia 3. Youkilis 4. Holliday 5. VMart 6. Ortiz 7. Drew 8. Kotchman/Lowell 9. Scutaro With Lackey to improve the rotation, the Sox Offense and Pitching would have been kick-ass and very competitive with the Yankees. I'm not sure about the short term mentality with Beltre and Cameron. I have heard about all the $ coming off our payroll next year and all the flexibility we will have, but I just don't see what the plan is for 2011. In addition to needing a 3B after Beltre walks, Ortiz will be gone. Beckett is likely to walk unless we pay him FMV. That would leave us needing to get a big hitter to replace Ortiz, another hitter to replace Bay/Manny (which will be a vacant spot in 2010 cause Cameron doesn't come close to replacing them), a third baseman, and a top of the rotation starting pitcher. Will the 2011 FA class be so stocked that they can pick up 2 top hitters, a top pitcher and a third baseman? Forget about Pujols and Mauer. Those are pipe dreams.

You are such a tease.