TheRivernator

the only one I was close on was Johnson, and btw these are not my predictions. I had no idea that 4 of the 5 would spend significant time on the DL...

I never said that without Damon there that there is no offense. I think Crisp is a good replacement for Damon adn has higher potential for now. BUT, Crisp is a switch hitter meaning the majority of his AB's will be left handed. Fenway is a terrible place for a left handed hitter because of how deep it is about 20 feet from the pesky pole all the way to center. Fenway is a hitters park for righties and righties only. Also, you never know how a new player will react when they come into a big city and they replace an icon. He has to know that for at least the near future that he will be compared with Damon on a daily basis. That is a tough thing to have over your head, and I dont know how he will handle it seeing as I have never seen him play for a long period of time and i dont know him. Otherwise, Loretta had the terrible triad in baseball last yr. Age, injury and drop in production. He will be 36 this yr. He had a pretty significant injury. He dropped 20 points off his career and 40 points off his previous season's productiveness. If he returns to a semblance of his true form, then he will be great. If he stays as he was then he'll be a serviceable 2b. As far as thinking the sox turnover wont amount to similar offensive numbers, consider me guilty of that. The red sox were more than numbers the past 3 seasons. Compare any of the star players and for the most part the entire lineups the past 3 yrs and the yankees matched up statistically, but the sox just seemed to bring in more runs. The sox offense was extremely cohesive. They worked pitchers, they got on base, and they were clutch for 3 years in a row. I think that september and october, the offense finally started to lose its magic and the change was warranted. BUT, I am not saying that there were bad moves, I am saying that comparing these players to the 2005 numbers or the 2003-2004 numbers will likely show a dropoff. You have added 5 players to your lineup this yr, and when 3 are coming off career lows, one is a rookie pretty much, and the other is a young kid replacing an icon, that cohesiveness will take some time, if it ever develops. Also, as a yankee fan, I remember watching the bottom of your lineup do just as much damage as the top. I remember being scared every time the yankee staff had to face mueller or even graf last yr as they seemed to hammer us. That cohesiveness from 1-9 is no longer there. It has to be created, and I do not think that the new personell will gel together as a lineup and be as clutch as yrs past....

he actually got a longer offer from the O's for 6 yrs. He turned that down because who the hell would want to play for angelos...

I would say one of the best. If youk takes to 1b swimmingly, then it will be the best....

they won with hot pitching from guys who could go the distance. It is very rare that your 4 top starters get that hot. I wouldnt be surprised if they are a 1 and done this yr. I know there is a common misconception that pitching and defense is the only thing that wins championships, but there was an article around playoff time that showed a breakdown of offensive, efensive and pitching rankings for each team that won the WS. Overall, the offense was ranked in the top 5-8 in the bigs and the pitching was ranked in the same spot, so actually, pitching and offense are equally important in winning the WS. It just seems the other way around because one pitcher can shut down a whole lineup on any given day....

to be frank, the sox offense was their reason for winning last yr. They had the best offense in baseball, the worst pen in baseball and a middle of the pack starting rotation. Their offense carried them in August when the team era was above 5.5. If you weaken that area, then you must strengthen the others. I do think your offense is still good, and it should help you win, but I dont think the offense can be relied on as heavily as it had been. On the flipside, the staff was likely upgraded provided Beckett could stay healthy, but either way. With all the offensive turnover, it will come down to Foulke and Schilling when describing how good the sox will be in 2005. Last yr they didnt even need to play pretty much cause that offense was golden, this yr they HAVE to play well because the O cannot sustain as pathetic a staff as they had last yr....

when we retooled our pitching staff in 2004, I was right there in saying that we downgraded globally. I had no idea to what degree the downgrade would eventually become, but I admitted it readily. I do have a yankee slant, but I am not as much of a homer as you think. I just think that the sox moves weakened their greatest asset, their offense.....

Best infield in the division? Cmon now. Your right side is leaky as is ours. The left side on the other hand is strong for both. Either way, guys who make immense drops in production while playing TONS of games are scary. It isnt like he was hurt. He just plain sucked. Loretta was hurt, Giambi was sick in 2004, Schilling was hurt last yr, etc. Guys who have a reason for sucking are usually expected to return to some level of productivity, but when a guy who plays 140+ games and never hits the DL just plays way below expectations, then accusations start. I dont think Lowell did steroids, dont get me wrong, but he would be the type of guy I'd keep my eye on. His drop was so sudden that a change of venue to a little league park wouldnt have helped him. He needs to completely retool his swing....

Nope. For the yankees, they upgraded CF and the middle relief. That's about it. Not as much turnover. For once they will be the team that stays together while the sox team is turned over....

He has pitched a whopping 42 innings in his career. He should be the 2 guy as the lefty reliever as he sure has the promise. BUT, having the full brunt of the lefty relief role on his shoulders coming into the season is a burden that will be interesting to see. As far as having Riske and Seanez throw against lefties, well Seanez has a lefty opp OPS of .723 the last 3 yrs which isnt that great while Riske has actually dominated lefties to a below .200 BAA over the last 3 yrs. One thing though, if you need the K against a tough lefty, it is always good to have a good lefty waiting there. Don't get me wrong, DiNardo looked great last yr, but I am not sure if he is ready for the 70-80 game workload that will be thrust upon him if he is the only lefty in that pen....

You can wish in one hand and s*** in another and see which one fills up first....

not gonna happen. Here is the funny thing, so many people are saying that Lowell was hurt by his park, but he was actually better in florida last yr than he was on the road....

Sum up the red sox offseason. Well easy enough, just judge by positions (I know these werent the transactions, just bear with me) Out/In Wake's Catcher- Mirabelli for Flash DOWNGRADE 1b- Millar for Youkilis- jury is out until youk plays a whole season, but likely an UPGRADE 2b- Loretta for Graf- DOWNGRADE if you look at graf's production in 2005, but he is unlikely to repeat that anyway, but still a downgrade from the 2005 Graf to the 2005 Loretta 3b- Mueller for Lowell. Mueller is just as good defensively and is a better hitter. DOWNGRADE SS- Renteria for Gonzalez- Gonzalez couldnt hit his way out of a wet paper bag, and he K's a ton- DOWNGRADE CF- Damon for Crisp- DOWNGRADE until Crisp proves he can play in Boston. Damon is a proven big stage performer, he is not easily replaced SP2- Beckett for Wells (likely as wells will likely be dealt)- UPGRADE in potential and in stuff, DOWNGRADE in consistency. You know wells will give you a good outing day after day, with Beckett, who the fug knows if he'll be able to play. Relief- nothing but upgrades, it is a no-brainer, BUT, where is the lefty reliever??? Overall, the lineup dropped in this offseason, but the staff as a whole improved on paper....

nice to see how you picked the last 2 yrs for Giambi instead of the last one where he just so happened to lead the entire major leagues in OBP. Good to see you picking sheff in this equation since he has averaged 122RBI the last 2 yrs and the span you are counting as prior, he averaged 105. What a dropoff!!!! As for Jeter, his last 3 yrs have been remarkably consistent, and comparing him to when he had career yrs is not right. He had one amazing yr where he had a .990 OPS and ever since has sat in the mid .800s and really hasnt moved. He isnt sliding as much as it is he had one solid yr and peaked young. You cannot take a large chunk of stats and compare them to a limited range. To that same effect, you can say the same thing about the 3 guys you got and how they had career lows. Well, their career lows were last yr and have not bounced back like Giambi did. Notice I didnt defend Posada or Bernie as I know they are declining. Sometimes honesty with yourself is the best way to go you know??

hammer, I am talking about the guys you got in the yard sale. Lowell, Gonzalez, and Loretta are coming off career low years. You are replacing Mueller, ERent and Graf in the lineup, 3 guys who carried their weight. I am not saying the sox 2005 season was pathetic, just the comb ined 2005's of the 3 guys you brought in. Sorry for the confusion....

If anybody actually looked at this deal objectively, instead of through the beantown media haze, you would see what I mean. Every FANTASY expert said that this deal made no sense. Granted, fantasy does not care about defense or chemistry, but from a numbers standpoint, he would be worth more at his position than crisp will be at his. Also, Crisp was not needed in cleveland and he was not a big time prospect. If you have a frigne guy make it to the bigs and excel, you never know if he will actually come back to the expectations that were set for him. On the flipside, Marte was considered a top 5 prospect IN THE GAME. Those guys don't get traded, let alone for a guy like Crisp. Honestly, if Mota gets hurt and DelCarmen gets sent to the Guardians, how bad of a deal will this be???

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sportsColumnists/view.bg?articleid=120811 he should be back by may 1st? Hmm, that is pretty soon...

col, I seriously think that the makeup of the sox lineup had changed so much that it will affect them. After 120 games last yr, who had the best BAw/RISP on the red sox. Hint: it wasnt ortiz. You had a great recipe for success. Guys who got on base and guys who were clutch. Mueller and Damon were very good at both. Lowell was putrid in the clutch and coco was not as good as Damon. The reason why the yankees didnt score last yr was because guys like Posada and Bernie would be up in the clutch, and they batted around .200 combined. It is funny how the leat clutch hitter in every lineup seems to always get the most at bats with RISP. Lowell will be found in clutch time, the times when Mueller used to excel....

His stats at yankee stadium can also be correlated to the fact that over Damon's 9-10 yr career, the yankee pitching staff has overall been stellar (the past 2 yrs aside). That usually plays into things more than the field. But if you want to talk field, yankee stadium is the perfect place for him. I heard one baseball analyst say that 5-8 of his hits in fenway last yr would have been homers in yankee stadium, and overall, his swing fits the short porch. Many people in the media think he will be a surprising power presence, like 15-20HR's. Also, if Damon's shoulder is pisspoor like it was last yr, then he wont hit .300 you are right. But he wouldnt have passed a physical with a pisspoor arm. Before he got hurt last yr, he was hitting .330 in a park that was not kind to lefty batters. I can only imagine what he will do in yankee stadium with that short porch and with that lineup behind him. It is gonna be fun to watch....

Optimism is okay. Seriously, the sox lineup will not be bad, it should be one of the best in the league, but I highly doubt that it will be as good as it has been. It will probably drop into the 3-5 range in the AL instead of the #1 spot. BUT, the sox lived and died off their offense last yr as the pen and rotation for the most part were horrible. The pen MAY become a major disaster as both seanez and tavares are cross your fingers kinda guys and foulke is still the closer. Basically, if Schilling and Foulke return to 2004 form, then you shouldnt need the offense of 2003-2005. But if they dont, then the offensive holes will be ever the more glaring....

Listen, nowhere in his bio of his minor league campaigns or whatever does he predict out to be a first baseman. He never had power. He only hit for average for a little while, but he has always been an OBP machine. Thats the type of production that you would love out of a 3b or a middle infielder, not your 1b. Your 1b is supposed to be one of the best hitters and your is one of the weakest....

True, the yankees have questions too, but I think they have the exact same amount of questions in their rotation, basically durability and performance questions but both teams have depth. They have the same middle relief questions but the closer is set for the yankees as it isnt for the sox. BUT, the yankee offense seems to lack questions. They are very consistent. We can already pencil in Damon for over .300 and over 100 R Jeter for over .300 and over 100R Sheff for a .290 30HR 110RBI ARod for .300 40HR 120RBI Matsui for .300 20HR 100RBI Giambi for .280 30HR likely 90-100RBI see what I mean. The yankee question are 7-8-9 and posada, as much he has slipped is still one of the best offensive catchers in the game (says a lot about the market vs the player but still) and Cano at 9 is nice especially since he had a stellar yr last yr and is only 23. Our only truly unpredictable guy is Bernie. As a DH, will he enjoy the rest from the field and quicken his swing, or will he be near the mendoza line? Nobody knows....

Hate to do this to you. Average MLB 1b-man for 2005 .276/.350/.471/821 Youkilis .265/.376/.411/.787 better than averageOBP but awful slugging and OPS for a 1b....

Look, overall your offense will still be very good, but you think it is an improvement over what you had last yr, then you are fooling yourselves. Your staff has been upgraded with a nice addition in the rotation and a few nice ones in the pen. That is where your optimism should lie. Then again, questions abound about them too. Will Schilling be the 2004 Curt again? Can Beckett make the transition to the AL East and how will he adapt to a hitters haven? Will Wells be traded? (likely your biggest question as I think he will be the most consistent pitcher off all that you currently have) Will Clement remember that he truly was born with balls? Will Pap be in the rotation and can he build off a good rookie campaign? Can Wake pitch to vtek or flash like he did with Mirabelli? How much pot can arroyo smoke if arroyo could smoke pot? questions abound, but I think your rotation will be a modest upgrade over what you had last yr. As far as relief, well, riske will be a good setup man and timlin is like clockwork. BUT, Seanez bombed out in Boston in round 1 and he remade himself in the weak NL West. We'll see. Tavarez last pitched in the AL with the Guardians (I think) and his era was above 5. Will Foulke have his psych meds all set by april?? Lots of questions....

some of you guys are comical. So every single guy in the lineup will exceed last yrs pathetic seasons? What is the chance that your 3b, ss, and 2b all rebound from career low seasons at once? What is the chance that the "Greek God of Walks" will not be one of the worst all around 1b in the game? I mean seriously, some on here are taking Gammons crap straight to the brain. Getting Lowell was a good idea? When is it a good idea to land a guy who is owed 19 mil over the next 2 yrs and had an OPS below .700 at a corner IF position? Loretta is 35 and had a serious injury last yr, and upon returning was a shell of himself?