a700hitter

I was asking how it could be verified that he is at -17 runs as a fielder. This is his injury log.

You are using the word ace loosely. I am talking about a dominant shut down ace like Beckett, not a 15 game winner. I don't see both of them becoming 15 game winners for 2 years.

Schilling is a borderline Hall of Famer. Winning a third World Championship with the Red Sox and his 4th overall would help his candidacy. He'd have his best shot at a Championship by staying with the Red Sox.

The teenagers on this site think Santana is an old man on the decline.

I would be bothered by the fact that ek seems to have a genuine dislike for ARod. But for that, I would love to have ARod on the team in a lineup with Ortiz and Manny (for one year). I would prefer signing Lowell if the ARod cost would compromise the quality of the team pitching.

...and how would someone verify the accuracy of such a statistical theory? Normally, I would agree with you, but not when the player was injured for substantial portions of two of those three years. These injuries are not of the chronic variety, and if Manny stays healthy he should produce.

This can not be good news for the Yankees. It makes no sense that he wanted more time. He could have exercised his option and decided to retire later.

How do you determine the average LF? The -29 number for fielding is just ludicrous.

Manny in decline is still a star hitter. He might not be a 40 HR 150 RBI guy, but he'll still have an OBP around .400 and OPS over .900. If he does that and only hits 25 HRs and plays only 135 games, I am fine with that. That will help get the 4th OF some playing time and keep him happy. If ARod is worht $30 million for 8-10 years, manny is a bargain, yes a bargain, at $20 million for 1 year.

I don't think you have any complaints about his 2006 performance?

You make excellent points. The 2008 FA pitching class could be a rich one if teams don't re-sign their guys.

I hope they do it. Damon will be completely healthy to start the season and should be able to reclaim his status as a lead off catalyst. Let him do it for the White Sox.

After watching Manny and Ortiz since 2003, I am a firm believer that having a lefty and righty superstar MVP caliber player in the same lineup have made good players into above average players and above average players into stars. Look at the last two years from Lowell. Pitchers had no choice but to throw him strikes. He thrive the most when hitting in the 5 hole. I also believe that Youkilis and Pedroia have benefitted from pitchers coming right at them because of Manny and Ortiz hitting behind them. I am not saying that these guys are not good. They are really good, but hitting in a lineup with Manny and Ortiz makes them much better. Cabrera would have the same effect.

Great story. We are the same age. I was also in the third grade during the Impossible Dream season. If your wife is good luck for the Sox, I would urge you to keep her happy. It's nice that you and your son share the Red Sox bond. My son and I do too. We live on Long Island in NY. In 1996, when he was 11 years old, all of my son's friends were going nuts with the Yankees. I told him that he could root for the Yankees and enjoy it with his friends... that he didn't have to root for the Sox because I did. He looked at me in disbelief and said: "I can't root for the Yankees. I hate them." The Red Sox bond became permanent at that instant. Every year we go to Ft. Myers for about a week of ST, take two trips to Boston, one or two to see the Sox in Baltimore, and we go to Philly if they are playing there. Welcome to TalkSox. It's a Red Sox family of sorts.

You make very persuasive arguments about the potential of Ellsbury and Bucholz and I can definitely see that with regard to Ellsbury. I haven't seen enough of Bucholz yet. One thing that doesn't add up in this equation is that you wouldn't be getting back Miguel Cabrera potential. He is achieving the potential. He is at Superstar level already. You have to give up a lot of potential to get an established star.

I'd love to get the last three signatures, but i'm not quite sure how to go about it. I got the ball from Steiner Collectibles. It comes with COA's and a hologram on the ball. If I add those signatures, I was wondering if Steiner would authenticate the new signatures. The ball was a limited edition, and I would n't want to do something that would devalue it. Any ideas.

Example, I think you are getting lost in the details and losing perspective. You spend a lot of time in your post proving that Ellsbury is more like Lofton than Damon and that Lofton is better than Damon. I'll acknowledge that you are right on those points, but my point is that Ellsbury, who I believe will be a star, will not be a superstar of the magnitude of Manny. I think Cabrera is a Manny type player. Manny will be going to the Hall of Fame, and Lofton will not. Let's not forget that part of the reason why Lofton was such a feared weapon was because he had the likes of Manny, Thome and others driving him home. As for the comparison of Bucholz and Sanchez, I wasn't trying to compare the two as prospects. I was just making the point that you can't make too much of Bucholz's handful of starts. Rookie starters rarely make a big impact in a rotation. I can't think of any that have made an ipact recently, and you always run the risk of arm injury before they even learn how to pitch. I'm all for keeping the better prospects and trying to pry away Cabrera with other prospects. If the Marlins are hell bent on Ellsbury and Bucholz for a stud like Cabrera, I'd do it, especially if they don't intend to exercise Manny's options for '09 and '10.

His offense may suffer, but at those prices his bank account will not suffer. His signing with the Yanks would take the Yanks competely out of the running for ARod, and would put the Sox back in the mix. I think John Henry has a man crush on ARod, and will pursue him if the Yanks take Lowell.

I think it might be interesting to trade posts about interesting memorabilia we see or purchase regarding the 2007 Champs. In 2004, I purchased a team signed baseball-- 26 signatures (including coaches and Tito). The only missing players are Bill Muellar, OCab, and Derek Lowe. It cost a pretty penny. I'm wondering if anyone has seen a 2007 team ball available. Also in 2004, I got the DVD set including every game of the ALCS and the World Series. I am assuming that will be available for 2007, but haven't seen it yet.