a700hitter

Kaz has no bat speed whatsoever. He'll never be much of a hitter in the ML.

How does that work? I thought that he had to remain on the ML roster for 2005. Do they subtract the days that he was on rehab assignments?

The Sox could live with Cora at SS temporarily, but as of now, there are only 2 OF's that would make the opening day roster. The third would be Stern, and he has been injury prone and he has not shown that he is offensive output would justify any substantial playing time. [ATTACH]321[/ATTACH]

The calendar has turned to the New Year, and the Sox roster has major holes. It's time to drop these Tejada/Manny negotiations. That trade will probably go nowhere, so fuhgetaboutit. Fill the holes and get the team read for March 1st.

Wang has the poise and a plus sinking fastball, but you have to be concerned that his shoulder will not hold up. He was rolling along, and suddenly he was on the DL with a suspected rotator cuff injury. He came back, but you have to wonder what kind of load his shoulder can take.

I don't know if Gathrait is worht Marte, but he can really go get the ball in CF. He has some elite, burner speed.

Rice deserve to be in. His career was hampered by two broken wrists, but for a ten year period he was the dominant offensive force in the AL. Yhe NL had Schmidt and Dawson, but Rice was the premier slugger in the AL. He led the league in total bases three years in a row. Not too many guys have done that. In 1978, he topped 400 total bases. That had not been done since Joe D. did it in 1937 (41 years). Here's the big surprise though.No AL player, even in the steroid era, has topped 400 total bases in the 27 years since 1978. It's only been done 4 times in the NL --twice by Sosa (steroids?) and once each by Helton and Larry Walker (Both benefited from the Colorado effect). As for Rice being a prick, he just bristled at the intrusiveness of the Boston Press, and he paid the price for it in the papers. He never had a problem with teamates. He played the game the right way. He ran out grounders, and he was an underrated although not a graceful fielder. He was compassionate. I remember him going into the stands and carrying out a fan who had been struck by a line drive foul ball. He carried her into the clubhouse for medical attention. I remember him picking up Jerry Remy and carrying him like a child to the clubhouse when he hurt his knee at home plate. I also remember him going into the stands after som Yankee fans grabbed his hat. All in all, he deserves to be in Cooperstown.

I don't think everyone is loving the Tejada swap, but it has been the best offer I have heard. The Angels are not putting Ervin Santana on the table, nor are the Cubs offering up Zambrano. Miggy is a far cry better than a package of Milledge and Floyd, or Lugo and Huff and some of the other rip-off offers that have been floated. It seems that the FO and Manny are serious about it this time, so Miggy seems to be the lesser of all evils, but a definite offensive downgrade. On the upside, he is a top defensive player and the Sox still have a hole at SS. Another plus is Miggy is a few years younger. And last but not least, he can supply the team with Vitamin B12.

I was at that game. He made another really nice diving catch coming in on a ball. His beat the Sox with his defense that day. I didn't have an appreciation for his range before that game. If he is included in the Tejada deal, we wouldn't have to move any more pitchers or prospects to fill holes. I realize that there would be a LF opening, but that should be easy to fill. Maybe Graffy could play there until someone else is available.

He'll be used as a setup man.

When the Yanks had their run, they had homegrown players like Bernie, Jeter, Posada, Rivera and Pettitte, but Tino, Knoblauch, Brosius, O'Neil, Wells, Cone, Clemens, Jeff Nelson, Stanton, Wetteland, Boggs, Fielder, Key, Gooden and many others that were not homegrown. The Yankees kept the core of the team together, realizing that it was special, by spending $ to keep them in the fold. The ones that they let go, were basically finished or washed up.

It would be a good move for the Mets. Seo's results have been spotty, and Heilman has yet to fulfill his potential. Baez has a good track record at the ML level, and the Mets are clearly being built to win now. The Red Sox FO doesn't know if it is trying to win now or build for the future. I am concerned thatr they might end up sacrificing both.

I don't what we would do with Lopez. He's played 1 game at 1B. Maybe they spin him off in another deal.

I've read some spec that the O's would try to include Javy Lopez in the deal to dump his contract.

It's really the only Manny trade scenario that is reasonably acceptable.

I think today's tirade by Tejada is more than just a coincidence. It comes at a time when there is a confirmed offer of Manny and Clement. The Orioles have been playing hardball and dragging their feet, because they probably believed that once the season would start that Miggy would be okay. This tirade could be a well-timed attempt to force the O's hand.

I am thinking that these crazy Manny trade offers with the O's and Mets are holding up any moves. Once the FO either pulls the trigger on a Manny trade or throw in the towel, the other moves will come quickly.

It looks like another day and still no SS or CF. What is holding them up?

I watched and /or listened to some of those games. The Yankee announcers were not very high on the kid before the start of the game. Their lack of enthusiasm lead me to think that the Yanks' FO is not very high on Henn.

When Henn was given an opportunity at the ML level, he laid a big egg. My apologies.

Never forget 2004. You are very young, so you may not yet realize just how special it was. Even if we win 5 more times in my lifetime, 2004 will still be special.

he is a very exciting fielder, but he can't hit a lick, plus he has a bad injury history.

Pokey would have had it.

He's been upset since he signed with the Red Sox. I can live with the numbers he puts up when he is upset. It is scarey to think what he would do if he was a happy camper. Yankee fans are saying novenas that the Sox FO trades Manny. They don't care what the Sox get in return. They need to break up the Dynamic Duo.

I don't know if the Yankees had any dominant pitchers during their Championship run, but they had big game pitchers (Wells, Pettitte, Clemens, Cone) who were capable of dominating an opponent in the post-season even if the regular season stats were not that great.