jacksonianmarch

No, it doesnt. It is entirely dependent on the team and who catches whom. For the Yankees, Cervelli seems to be getting paired with Sabathia. Isnt it logical that his CERA is gonna be much lower since he'll be catching the Yankee ace? You cannot standardize it, hence it is a useless stat.

CERA is a stupid stat. Always has been, always will be

They are all about putting money into the farm and getting a bit lucky. Boston put money into their farm starting at the very end of the Duquette era, and it is no accident that they developed good players. If you put money into the farm, you may miss on some of the more publicized guys, but you will hit on a few guys you didnt expect. Nobody expected Youk to get to where he is, but the sox also missed on Ryan Dent and Jason Place. It happens. But if you put a better crop into the farm, you'll eventually bring out better players. NY is experiencing this now as well

I also think the sox have seen a change in offensive approach. VMart isnt a hacker, but he certainly isnt the most patient player in baseball. Add in Beltre, and you have 2 guys in the middle of your order who have combined for 3 walks in 12 games. That changes the dynamic of the game entirely. The sox were always grinders 1-9, especially when they won in 2004 and 2007. But, having guys like Ellsbury, Beltre, Martinez, and even Big Papi in the lineup makes the inning a bit less painful for the opposing pitcher. The sox got away from their winning formula. Wear down the starter, get to the soft pen and win games in the middle innings. That change in approach could really hurt the Red Sox this season. Especially, if the guys who arent walking, dont hit with enough frequency to make you not notice it

Regardless, I think everyone agrees that Martinez is a minus on the defensive end and right now he isnt hitting. Once he is hitting his customary .300/.360/.480, then all will be forgotten.

Just looked at the offensive numbers. Very interesting. Here is the Yankee line for 2010: .287/.392/.482 for an OPS of .874. That is not sustainable. BUT, look at these numbers, which are kinda strange.. 9HR in 12 games------0.75 homeruns per game 69 runs in 12 games-----5.7 runs per game In 2009, the Yankees averaged 5.6 runs per game and 1.5HR per game So, while the line will probably drop, the homers will rise and the runs per game should stay about even, IMO.

Yeah, the fact that they arent hitting on all cylinders is the scary thing. This is the best top to bottom Yankee team since 1998.

The farm system isnt truly "bare" but there is a reason why it isnt as highly ranked. You have Youkilis, Pedroia, Lester, Buchholz, Papelbon, Delcarmen, and Ellsbury in the majors. Guys do flame out. Bowden seems to be totally lost, Tazawa blows out an arm, etc. The sox come into seemingly every yr with one prize offensive and one prize pitching prospect. Couple problems with this bunch. The top dog on the pitching end is a HS kid in AA who isnt ready physically for the show. And the prize offensive prospect would be lucky if he's walking without a limp let alone swing a bat again after his unfortunate hemangioma resection. Soon, Rizzo will take that spot, but he isnt near the prospect Westmoreland was. The bottom line is, the sox drafted well for a few yrs with collegiate guys then went younger. It's a risky proposition, but it typically gets you the better players over the long haul. It just takes 4-5 yrs to harvest your crop instead of the 2-3 it takes for a collegiate player. Trust me, the sox 2009 draft is going to be really, really good come 2013. It just might take a long time to come to fruition. This is the nature of prospecting

y228, I agree that the pitching overall really isnt going to get better. But I think that the grinding nature of this offense isnt going to change. The addition of Nick Johnson, Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner have made this offense just a bear to get through. Right now Teixeira, Granderson, Gardner, Swisher, and Johnson are all seeing 4.2+ pitcher per plate appearance. That may drop slightly, but not by much. Also, the bench has morphed into a useful tool as well. Thames can crush lefties, Winn is a late inning pinch runner and defensive replacement, Pena is a slick gloved all purpose IFer who isnt overmatched in the box, and Cervelli is actually a damn good catcher who can hit and walk as well. The team, from top to bottom, is built really well with a lot of redundancy. The Yankees should be well ahead come the ASB based on how Cash built them. That is of course, if the Rays dont just fire on all cylinders and get a bit lucky with their pen. They are the only team, IMO, with the potential to beat us out, but they have a lot of room between their expectations and their potential.

I dont see the White Sox dealing Beckham. Either he's hitting the s*** out of the ball and he's essential to their lineup, or he is slumping and his stock drops. The sox could deal away Buchholz plus minor league prospects for AdGon and fill the hole with DiceK, so it is logical. The only problem the sox will face is the loss of Westmoreland as their premier legitimate offensive prospect. The Padres are flush with young pitching and will likely require a premier minor league bat. They dont have one of those at this time

That must have changed recently. They never used to calculate options into AAV, mostly because the options at the end of contracts were ridiculous.

The sox dont have the parts to get Sizemore, well, not parts that Theo would consider dealing. Getting Magglio gives them a worse defensive outfielder who forgot how to hit for power last yr. The sox need power, so that doesnt help AJ Pierzynski is a terrible defensive catcher, so that doesnt fix the problem, as is Doumit

In RS's defense, Cameron has really looked poor in CF. It will probably pass once he learns the monster a bit, but he has made that game killing error and missed at least 2 balls that should have been caught in CF, that he pulled up on. Also, Ellsbury looks a bit lost in LF as well. This will probably blow over once they learn the monster at their positions, but I do not disagree with the early returns on Cameron here

Beltre is at 9 mil AAV since his option is a player option for 2011. Options are not included in AAV

Whomever is the GM of the Marlins hasnt f***ed up. He hasnt had the opportunity to do so

If Theo gets Dunn, then he betrays his entire offseason propaganda run. AdGon gives you the option of adding an elite level defender to your club

Lester appears to have gotten away from or not be comfortable with his cutter. That cutter keeps righties honest and is a tool to get lefties to chase off the plate. Looks like straight 4 seamers to me, which won't fool a lot of good hitters. His curve had a lot of bite, but his control was off. IMO, if Lester finds the feel for the cutter again and starts locating that curve, he'll be lights out. Just odd that he didnt seem to throw it, when that pitch is really the reason for his transformation to elite pitcher. Garza was dominant today, but the sox arent the same as they used to be. With Beltre and VMart in that lineup as well as a few others, they have gone from a grind em down club to a team that works the count above average. That doesnt get it done when you dont have a lot of firepower offensively. I agree with a few others on here, that the sox have a lot of flaws. BUT, once the pitching comes together and their offense sees Drew, VMart, and Papi settle out, they should win a bunch of games. On another topic, I do think that this sox team gets a big addition come trade deadline. Wouldnt be surprised if Buchholz is in SD tan and blue come July

http://politiclolz.com/files/2009/09/20090909-You-Lie.jpg

You want 10 ways to fix the Red Sox? Here goes... 1. Platoon Ortiz and Lowell. You cannot give up on the big Popup just yet, and having him face lefties is screwing with him more than it is helping. If still no Ortiz signs of life by mid May, you cut your losses 2. Stop looking at the Yankees. The only thing the sox can do is win games and let the pieces fall where they may. 3-10. Be patient. I stand by my predictions and my prediction is that Boston is a 90+ win team and will win the wild card. Their starting pitching, aside from Lackey, has been total dogshit and that is what this team is built around.

I know it is a small sample size, it is just funny how it is getting out of the gate, that's all. By the end of 162, assuming good health from Cameron and Beltre, they should be one of the better fielding teams in the game

For all that pitching and defense crap, the Red Sox have allowed 9 unearned runs in 11 games

Also, y228, if the Yankees do get that good this season, they'll be resting players in droves down the stretch

Goodnight y'all. Long work day tomorrow

The point is, you can get a release and stay in the bigs, which every player wants to do. Anyone want to go from the high life to riding a bus?