jacksonianmarch

Using the money excuse is always there when talking about the Yankees. But this offseason, they acquired these players AND cut payroll. Plus, if the sox had gotten Granderson and NOT signed Cameron, they would have come out even. So while convenient, the money excuse doesnt work this offseason

And in terms of the Damon situation, they were still negotiating with him after the Granderson deal. They did exactly as y228 had said. They offered him what they thought he was worth, and he tried to drag it out. He got a better deal on a worse team in a park that will assassinate his value. It was a poor move on his part.

Dipre, I have been monitoring this thread for some time and think it is generating good discussion sans Gom's intrusion. I do agree that both are different scenarios, but both are entirely different teams with similar but different styles of filling their teams due to their needs Cashman does benefit greatly from NY's flexibility, which I believe was one of your first points. But he also generated the second half of that equation. Flexibility, IMO, entails both solid farm system depth and large sums of cash to spend. Nobody would argue that Cashman has a massive advantage here, to do so is stupid. And I am glad to see you give Cash the credit he was due by calling the offseason a good one for him, as I tend to agree. But you are not ackowledging the cut in payroll. Granted, it is pretty slight, down about $6 million from 2009, but it is a cut nonetheless. To get younger and better while also cutting payroll is a feat to say the least. Now, to your most recent comments, you are right. Cash has had his eyes on both Granderson AND Vazquez for the past 2-3 yrs. He was quoted as saying that he had been trying to reacquire Javy since he traded him away and that he'd been pursuing Grandy since 2008. It just so happened that Grandy's situation plus the development of AJax made the deal happen. In terms of Theo, he has the second most flexibility in the game. He's got less money and probably equal (well, now more after the deals to move Arodys and AJax) talent in the farm system to play with. So he has a massive amount of flexibility as well, which is what I think played into his decision with Jason Bay. Bay would have been very easy to resign for Boston. 4yrs, $66 mil for a 31 yr old LFer who perennially hits 30HRs and 100RBIs is an easy move. But Theo craves the flexibility as well, and he knew that signing Bay would mean that the DH spot would not be as fluid. I think this is the last yr of the full time, long term DH in Boston. He'll go yr to yr with it while using it as a resting place for overworked players or a proving grounds for some of his unproven hitters. It is not a bad model. So signing Bay would have removed that flexibility based on their assessment of his knees. So they went another way. All in the name of staying more flexible, a la his counterpart in NY

Not surprised. Its a different baseball and a different grind than what he's used to. Not surprised to see a young arm under that stress give out. Hell, it could be why his velocity was down last yr.

There's good and bad coming from the yankee minor league camp. The Good: Jairo Heredia looks like a beast these days and seems poised to overcome his injury plagues 2009 season The Bad: Alan Horne tore his rotator cuff and is due for surgery. His season, and likely his career, is done

WHEN THEY WERE SIGNED. Christ almighty. Kelly reached levels that Almanzar could only dream about ONCE HE STARTED PLAYING. Its like you are intentionally ignoring facts now

I have a feeling they'll ask for at least $9 mil in salary relief. Theo is over a barrel on this one, he has no leverage with a Lowell deal. He's screwed if he keeps him since his return is gonna be marginal and the longer he rides the pine, the lower his value sinks. And he's screwed if he deals him because he'll get 20 cents on the dollar

Yes, they are having ownership issues, but tellis us to believe something isnt going to work Dipre. They are a large market team. They have promising young pitching, but have no leader in the rotation. Lee or Beckett would do that for them. Regardless of their financial problems, I have a feeling LA goes back to their roots (pitching and defense) this offseason.

wait, I thought the 2010 season was over?

They are a large market club with lots of resources. With Manny coming off the books, I dont see how they dont make a run at Lee and/or Beckett

I am sorry I was working and didnt respond right away. I know that the concept of work is foreign to you, but some people need to do this to afford their daily expenses.

This sounds pretty reasonable. Also, I know the dodgers are habing their problems right now, but they will definitely be in on a pitcher especially with Manny's ridiculous contract coming off the books

Wake me up for the regular season. The spring is good for minor position battles (like the 25th man) and getting pitchers up to speed. That's it

This is exactly what I said. Exactly. Note the bolded portion. When the sox signed him, he was a massive hype job. WHEN THEY SIGNED HIM. He never reached the level that Lester, Kelly, et al reached later on because he never was very good in the minors. But WHEN HE SIGNED, he was hyped a la Kelly, Buchholz, etc. I am making a comparison to when he signed to when the sox got Kelly, Buchholz, Lester, etc. Seriously, you guys are just waiting for anything I say to jump on it here. Must be getting kinda ancy since the season's about to start. Here are a few articles from around the time the sox got him... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/58902-boston-red-sox-prospects-report-third-base http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2009/267146.html Very interesting that he'd be 2 spots behind Kelly after Almanzar was struggling in Greenville. And seriously, Dipre, you are quite possibly the biggest troll here. You really are waiting for me to post and monitoring my status? What are you, some kind of dominican stalker? You need to get a life son, I have been working for 24 hours posting sporadically. That's why I didnt see your little baited trap.

If they dont go to 5 or more yrs after giving Lackey 5 yrs, then I dont see Beckett staying. He'd get a 6 yr deal on the open market

Exactly. INTL signees arent trade chips until they show something in the states. Almanzar never did. And Dipre, once again, you are wrong. When the sox signed Almanzar, he was being primed as a generational talent who was a can't miss player who would be in the sox lineup for years to come. His signing came on the heels of NY beating the sox out for Montero and they spun it to make it look less bad.

I would absolutely go out there as a shell of myself for $13 million. Anyone saying that they wouldn't either is a liar or stupid

Rotoworld is reporting that Brett Gardner will get the bulk of the PT to start the season in LF, with Randy Winn and Marcus Thames playing vs lefties. There is a good chance that the OF will be... VS RIGHTIES LF- Gardner CF- Granderson RF- Swisher VS LEFTIES LF- Thames CF- Winn RF- Swisher

Almanzar was considered to be up there with Montero when the sox signed him. Place was a guy with high upside but fell off the map. I would argue that Almanzar was hyped a la Kelly when they got him, but that shine quickly faded.

This guy just cannot catch a break

y228, I think they are liking what they are seeing out of Mitre. I think the extra recovery time is helping him. Regardless, the spot will be rendered moot by midseason when McAllister becomes the best option outside of the top 5 to start.

The Pirates by far. They take our trash out, sometimes recycle it into useful parts then sells them back to us on the cheap