a700hitter

Porcello doesn't have top of the rotation stuff. If he pitches like a solid #3, I will be happy.

Unless he implodes in 2015, he should get a chance to crack the roster in 2016. If Vasquez blows up in 2015 and Swihart is doing well in AAA he could get his shot after the first half of 2015. If Hanigan or Vasquez hit the DL, Swihart could come up for a short stint in 2015.

I prefer to get rid of automatic outs like Ross. As you said, backup catchers are a dime a dozen so why not try another one who might actually not be an automatic out?

Although looking at his numbers, Hanigan isn't an offensive monster.

How does a .180 bat not hurt your team. Check the other thread. I was being told that other cheap back up catchers were no better. Back up catchers usually have the longest resume of teams played for. They are always available and you can usually upgrade from a .180 stick.

The best part of that deal for the Yankees IMO will be Garrett Jones. He'll play well in Yankee Stadium.

When I posted that it was time to leave Ross's Fossil buried, I was told that alternatives to a cheap .185 hitting fossil catcher were rare. No they weren't. And good riddance to that injury prone headcase Middlebrooks and his 30+ HR potential.

Sometimes these agents wait for someone else to set the market and they think that the market will go up as the supply of pitchers gets smaller. This may not be a great strategy as the pool of big bank roll teams may be smaller than the pool of available FA pitchers. As the FAs sign with big market teams like the Cubs the competition for the remaining pitchers decreases instead of increases. Then if you take a team like the Yankees out of the mix and your market can start to collapse. If I was the agent of Shields or Scherzer, I would be looking to get my guy signed first.

If they are the competition, we can get him if they want him.

Forget the Mets. They are still in business with pyramid schemes. Amway runs a big operation from offices at Citifield. LOL! They are going to go it on the cheap. Plus, they think they are set for pitching with Colon, Niese, Gee, Wheeler, DeGrom, Harvey and Montero. They think they have excess pitching. The Nats have Strasburg, Fister, Gio and they are looking to extend Zimmerman. Their needs are probably not starting pitching.

I heard a report this morning that the President of the Yankees said they are out on Scherzer. If the Yankees are out and the Cubs have already blown there wad on Lester, that leaves the Dodgers and the Angels as the other big money teams. If they are not interested, he's ours if they want him. We can outbid the others.

Is your family included in the Social Register?

I am hoping to be in Boston in April and/or May.

Oh, okay. LOL!! I'd still like to meet for a drink when I am up there this coming season. We can meet before a game at Remy's instead of the Mandarin. It would be a blast to meet have an offsite TS meeting with you, SFF and others in the area who want to join.

Fine. When you think you have reached that point, we can meet in Boston for a drink at the Manadarin Oriental to compare our financial statements. If you fall short, you pick up the tab.

Sure, I will not disagree with JH until I make my first billion if you don't disagree with me until your net worth surpasses mine.;-)

But even if JH is a genius investor with a bankrupt investment firm, those skills are not needed for and don't transfer to baseball about which he really knows little.

Yes and all farmers are poor.

Donald Trump is a billionaire and he is no genius either. Accretion of personal wealth does not equate to being smart.

It would have been smarter business to sell the firm while it was big and robust rather than to shut the doors after you have run it into the ground. Sorry Pal, but there is no good way to spin this business story. Attributing the collapse of a billion dollar business to a loss of interest isn't a valid excuse. It's an indictment of him.

Nevermind Rocket Science. It is not even science.

Baseball is not a business that needs geniuses or a masters of the business world to be successful. There are only 30 franchises. Expanding the number of franchises is up to the owners. They own 1 of 30 franchises for the highest level of professional baseball which is still America's Favorite Pastime. If you are a great baseball player who wants to reach the top of his profession, he must play for one of those thirty teams. There is no other choice. Any article of clothing or any other item with a team name or logo must pay licensing fees to be shared equally by these 30 teams. National Television networks pay the 30 teams equally to broadcast games. They have no competition. The 30 teams compete with each other and their profits are largely dictated by the size of their market and loyalty of their fanbase-- two things over which owners have no control. Baseball is a business which fits perfectly within Warren Buffett's investment strategy. His top principle for investing is: "to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will." Baseball is that type of business. Drunks, jocks, drunken jocks, history majors, and rich kids inheriting their daddy's business have been successfully running the business of baseball for more thn a hundred years. Is John Henry a genius and great businessman? He might be, but those are not skills needed to run a successful baseball team. Oh, and by the way, he ran his investment firm into the ground and had to shut the doors. http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/11/10/red-sox-owner-john-henry-shutter-investment-firm-that-helped-build-sports-empire/Qr1dS62xlk7UJB23uCjhAL/story.html

I think XB still has a lot of value athough it is not as high as last offseason. I don't think that he is a good SS. His footwork and instincts are not good at all. Maybe that part of his game will come around, or maybe he will soon grow out of SS as many scouts have projected. If he does grow out of SS, there is a log jam at 3B with Panda. I have no dislike of XB. I just think it will cost a big time prospect to land Hamels and the Phils just traded Rollins. I'd rather keep Betts instead of XB if it comes down to parting with one or the other. I'd prefer to keep both of them, but I don't see us landing Hamels without including one of them. This type of discussion offends certain unbalanced posters. LOL!! Thankfully, most most of us (like you and I) can discuss this like adults.

My wish to get Shields and Hamels is nothing more than wishful thinking. Realistically, landing Hamels would cost some big prospects. I'd prefer to part with XB instead of Betts. They are not going to hand him over for Cecchini and Brentz and a bucket of slop.

He would rather complain about the behavior of others that he predicts will occur years down the road if hypothetical transactions were to occur. What a waste of time. That is why I have him on ignore. He just doesn't bring enough to the discourse to be bothered with all the confrontational insulting BS.