TheRivernator

Hey f*** you man. Seriously, I am a ballwasher? Have you read the s*** that your are writing? You would defend the aging, injured, "coming off a career low" loretta yet dump on a 22 yr old 2b who improved as the season went along and had a solid yr? Your logic boggles the mind. Try some realism some time. Here are some recent moronic comments, paraphrased no doubt, made by you. 1. Pedroia is basically better than Eckstein he doesn't even compare to eckstein....from what i have seen of him he is a better fielder with a much stronger arm and has alot more plate discipline 2. Loretta is going to be great this yr 3. Cano is going to suck this yr can't wait til cano comes back to earth because frankly i don' think that he is that good 4. Having a good single A level is meaningless having a successful single A is meaningless and does not mean the big club will be successful in the future. more ballwashing (ellsbury)still about 2 seasons away but showed tons of promise last yr in lowell. great speed. gets on-base. needs to develop more power. the yankees could have helped themselves last yr when they could have taken craig hansen but instead took cj henry. (btw, neither has contributed to the MLB in a positive way yet, but good job with that one skippy) pitching and defense wins championships.....the red sox have both schilling has no arm problems. at the end of the yr he looked as if he was just about back. now he has shed alot of the fat and got back in shape for the season. i wouldn't be shocked to see him win 18-20 games in 2006. he is fully healed and it was an injury that from the get go they said it would be 18 months for a full recovery back to normal one question, do you swallow after you suck off all that sperm? You are a ballwasher and much more my friend and I think you have received your share of reacharounds in your time. Not every position is perfect, there are problems on both teams, but at the same time give credit where credit is due. Your lack of intellectual reasoning is showing and your blatant "rose-colored glasses" are very apparent. You want realism Yankees- Their age is a concern Their injury history in the rotation is a concern Their DH is a concern Their catcher is a concern The bullpen being able to repeat 2005 stats while on other teams is a concern Some bigger than others, but they are all concerning. If healthy, this team should be great even with the above mentioned concerns Red Sox The 2b, ss, and 3b are coming off career lows, that has to be a sox fans concern The cfer is a young kid from a small market replacing an icon, the pressure has to be a concern Beckett's arm and history of mediocrity outside of friendly confines should be a concern Schilling in every aspect is a concern Clement and Foulke lack of nutsack is a concern Nixon has to be a concern The middle relief making a smooth transition to boston is a concern Even if healthy, the sox have no idea how they will be. Lowell, Loretta and AGon may be on the fast track downhill or 2005 may have been a mirage. Beckett may just need to get out of the humidity of florida and his blisters will go away. Maybe he can make a seamless ALE transition. Maybe Schilling is fine now and truly hasnt lost it. Here is the thing, both teams have concerns, but I think the biggest concerns lie within the sox organization, but I also believe that the biggest gain can lie on the sox side. If Clement, Beckett and Schilling get back to what worked and gel together, then the top of the rotation will be stellar and will propel them to the playoffs no doubt, but that might not be the likely scenario. While the yankee concerns are worrisome, I think they have enough in lineup and pitching to get them to the playoffs even if they have some injury probs. Therein lies the difference. The yankees have enough collaterals to withstand a problem or 2 and their lineup can mash their way to many wins even if the pitching implodes. The sox will need to rely on schilling, beckett, and clement to get them there and that will be a big task, because the offense invariably took a step back. Now if the sox pitching did gel and all 3 harnessed their abilities, then the sox will be the team to beat in the playoffs. If not, then the sox wont make the playoffs. See what I mean. Now, try to debunk that mr balls deep....

I think the angels should eventually make a deal, but the price the sox were asking for was unrealistic. Kendry Morales, Darrin Erstad should get it done so long as the angels eat the entire contract....

he is also mid thirties and coming off a pretty significant injury. Injury plus age plus significant statistical dropoff makes skepticism a good policy. Would I be surprised if he comes back to some semblance of his former self, no, but would I expect it, absolutely not.....

someone said that he would be a light hitting backup infielder. Nothin like the completely unrealistic homer....

He's a yankee he must suck!!!!! I'd rather have Mark Loretta and his sub .700 OPS!!! Wahoooooooooooooo. Your rose colored glasses are making you sound like an idiott....

He strikes fear in Wakefield

Basically going by numbers is what I should have said. .297 16HR and 64RBI in 3/4 of a season at 2b is stellar for that position. Then again, just looked at his stats and he is about top 40%, which isnt spectacular. For his age though, one would have to think that he will get better....

plus average and slg and power and he stays healthy. You know what, I think I have more in common with Cano that Reyes does and I havent played competetive ball in 3 yrs. GOOD ANALOGY!!!!!

he's a light hitting backup? You are a moron...

where did cano come into this discussion? That is another thread bro. Also, Cano at least proved that he could handle the bigs, where Pedroia has not yet....

he doesnt need plate discipline as much as he does to improve on his power. For his position, he is already an elite.....

Torre is a great clubhouse manager, but I will certainly agree that his in game decisions boggle the mind....

good old LeLacheur Park out in the crack streets of Lowell. I hit a few out of that place in my day.....

I'm not praising him or putting him down. Just reading scouting reports on him that say there are questions about his position in the future due to his size and arm strength. I am advocating that he be compared to AGon, a solid defensive SS in his own right, in ST to see if he can handle it at the MLB level. But lets not overhype the kid just yet, there is still a huge jump in his way in being able to go from AAA to the MLB...

we still have 8 openings....

At 22, the sky is the limit for the kid. I like him and hope he is a yankee for a long time to come....

Jesus Christ, he has never taken one MLB swing in his career and all of a sudden he is already better than an all star SS. WOW. Give the kid a chance to get his feet wet first....

two words, Felix Hernandez. I have never seen the combination of size, power, control and youth placed into one person as strongly as I did in this kid. He is dynamite and should be stellar for the next 15-20 years. If he stays healthy and the mariners actually put an O behind him this yr, he may win 15-20 games and likely the ROY. Nothing against Paps who I think is a fantastic young player, but Felix is the whole package....

The time for the sox to make money off Beckett is now. The final yr of arbitration is basically a 1 yr deal at current market value, not decreased value like yrs 3-5 are. So Beckett will likely pull 8-10 mil next yr anyway and command more on the market after 2007. If the sox were convinced that they would want to keep him after 2007, then they should have used this yr as a final bargaining chip seeing as this is his last yr of below market value pay that he will receive. The sox should have offered him a 3 yr 21 mil contract that he likely would have snatched up and also the sox would have saved 3-4 mil on it. That would give them sufficient time to decide how much they like him....

Eckstein is still a below average fielder due to his size and arm at SS...

chemistry is overrated and actually assinine...

I loved Pettitte and El Duque and still do...

I'll take soriano numbers out of our 2b. Cano seems to have better contact skills but weaker power skills and actually a better eye (then again it doesnt have to be good). Cano will be a good one.....

I am still finding it interesting how many people will cling to a philosophy just because their team employs it. Sh*t if the sox start drafting high schoolers then all of a sudden college picks are a JOKE!!!!! I am absolutely not picking sides. The sox did what they needed to do and ended up restocking their cupboards rather well. The yankees went the long way and have done a good job to this point, but their rookies are not as ready as the sox are. I wont take sides on it, because it all depends on your team's makeup. The sox crave "flexibility" now and that flexibility is best manifested if they have multiple options at multiple positions. For the yankees, they have a ton of players locked up long term, so having a ton of rookies be ready at once would be a detriment to the players. Think about it, the sox need people ready for 2007 because Nixon will be gone, Lowell might be bought out, Loretta may be gone, youk may fizzle out, AGon will be gone, Schilling may be gone, Foulke will be gone, etc...get my point? They have multiple needs for the coming years (espdue to their philosophy of not giving out long term deals past 4 yrs) and having multiple prospects ready to at least be given a shot is a boon for them. For the yankees, 1b, 2b, ss, 3b, cf, lf are long term projects C will be there another 2 yrs. The starting five will have one opening after 2006 and one opening after 2007 and one opening after 2008 as currently constructed. See what I mean for the yankees? Not as many holes will be opening up and in the spots where the holes are opening, superstar players might be available. Overall, to build depth you draft from the college level. This is due to the fact that as a whole, college players make the MLB more than high schoolers, but the highest profile players in the game were for the most part taken directly out of high school. For the sox, they will need depth and the star factor may not be as important as a consistent and deep team. For the yankees, one or two holes will open every yr and having one guy each year be ready and be ready to step it up big is important. It is not just a philosophy in the farm, it is directly linked to the MLB policy. Plus, the ETAs of many of the high end but low level prospects are after most of the long term all stars have moved on. So in effect, the yankees are stocking for the distant future, the red sox are ready for the near future and both MO's seem to fit each team...

again a horrible argument. Duncan is 4 yrs younger than Papelbon and has yet to take his first swings in the MLB. Pap has already had a half season in the MLB and is MLB ready. Duncan is close, but not yet. BUT, Duncan has 4 yrs to make the jump from AAA to the MLB to be on the same pace as Papelbon. Also, everyone who dealt with the yankees wanted Duncan or Hughes and we held our ground....