jacksonianmarch

Yeah, this is gonna be one of those games we'll be talking about for a long time

It is nice that it is Yankees-Red Sox to start, but I think it takes a bit of the meaning out of it starting day 1. I would absolutely love it if Cashman, Theo and Selig had an agreement to not play until May when all the kinks are out.

The Red Sox draft budget jumped up in 2002 prior to Theo's rise to fame in 2003. George was never a believer in the draft for some reason or another and essentially used it for trade pieces and for guys who could win at all levels. Winning the WS wasnt enough for George. He wanted every single level to win championships. Well, his strategy was absolutely abysmal. NY had one of the lowest draft budgets in baseball from 96 through 2002 and didnt start seeing a rise until 2004 with Hughes signing for a million dollars. In 2005, Cashman dropped back a bit more to sign Austin Jackson and a few other flameouts, but the budget in 2006 nearly doubled. Funny thing is, that was the yr that Cashman threatened to walk away and eventually won full control of the team. Ever since then, he has spent over $5 mil in every season to sign players. Here are the yankee draft budget numbers from yesteryear... 2003- $3.8 mil 2004- $4.8 mil 2005- $3.7 mil 2006- $6.7 mil 2007- $8.0 mil 2008- $5.1 mil (remember, Gerrit Cole was pick #1 and was to be alotted about 5 mil to sign) 2009- $7.6 mil 2006 was the first time NY broke the $5 mil mark, while the sox broke it in 2003, 2005, and 2006. But since 2006, the Yankees have been over $5 mil and would have been over 6 mil every yr if Cole signed the lucrative contract he was offered. The INTL forum was something George believed in, since he was always a fan of the shiny object that you could just out-cash someone for. Hence why we have been ridiculously good in the INTL forum. From Ramiro Mendoza, Mariano Rivera, El Duque, Robinson Cano, Chien Ming Wang, Alfredo Aceves and other guys down the pipe in Banuelos, Montero and many, many others. The big thing that baseball is moving to address now is the signing bonus issue, because the way the sox and yankees are starting to work will essentially mean that the minor league AND major league talent will start to gravitate toward the bigger markets. Players making it known that they will need X dollars to sign in the draft, watching them fall then sign in Boston or NY. INTL players signing with the two rivals as well for the biggest dollar. The fact that both of these teams are using their financial muscle in the amateur forum now is doom for the rest of baseball

From 2006 on, you are missing quite a lot. 2006 Yankees draft MLB players Ian Kennedy- likely 4th starter for the Diamondbacks Joba Chamberlain- 5th starter in 2009 and set-up man in 2010 for NYY David Robertson- set-up man for 2010 Mark Melancon- cup of coffee in 2009, will be up in some capacity in 2010 Daniel McCutchen- 5th starter for the Pirates in 2010 Others of note: Dellin Betances- coming off TJS, still has more ceiling than anyone Kevin Russo- just got beat out by Ramiro Pena for utility guy, will see some time in the Bronx in 2010 George Kontos- recovering from TJS, likely to be in the bigs in some capacity in 2011 as a starter or relief Zach McAllister- will be the first starter called up from the minors, will debut at some point in 2010. Colin Curtis- afterthought turned back into prospect with strong showing in AFL and ST. Might be a 4th OFer by the end of 2010 or 2011 Out of 1 draft, that's 3 major league starting pitchers and 2 major league relievers for 2010 alone. By the end of 2010, it is likely that 8 players from the 2006 draft will have major league experience. That is a ridiculous amount of talent from one draft. From 2007 on, there is a lot of talent, but nobody has hit the bigs yet. None of the drafts are 2006 level drafts, but they all have very promising players. From Romine, Brackman, and Suttle from 2007, to the very solid 2008 draft (even without Gerrit Cole) to the very promising 2009 draft. A lot needs to bear our, but 2006 was one hell of a draft, akin to the Sox 2005 draft, which restocked their farm quickly. The problem in NY is, that we dont break our guys in quickly enough, AND, we have been later to the game. Trust me, the drafts from 2006 on will yield just as much talent. The premise of the INTL market holds true, though. The Yankees have always been the organization for INTL signees because of their name and their cash flow. From Rivera and Mendoza, to Montero, Aceves, Cano, Wang, etc, we have always scouted well overseas.

Well, Lowell just aged pretty fast and had two tough injuries to come back from.

Looks like the sox are stuck with him

We'll see who from the group from 2006 on is more successful overall in the bigs. Right now, with Joba in the setup role, Robertson in a set-up role, McCutchen starting in Pitt and Kennedy starting in Arizona, I think we have a head start

I agree on that premise only due to their head start. Look at the guys they have in the majors... 2001- Kevin Youkilis, Kelly Shoppach 2002- Jon Lester, Brandon Moss 2003- David Murphy, Jon Papelbon 2004- Dustin Pedroia, Cla Meredith 2005- Clay Buchholz, Craig Hansen, Jed Lowrie, Jacoby Ellsbury, Michael Bowden See, during that span, we drafted two players who are impact players (Hughes, AJax) and one guy who looks like he'll start in LF this yr for us (Gardner). The sox bumped up their scouting and drafting budget before we did and this is why they have a head start.

That's not all true. We lost a lot of picks due to free agency signings. Also, we didn't change drafting budgets until 2006. We are just starting to see the fruits of our drafting. Hughes in 04. Ajax and Gardner in 2005. Joba, Robertson, Melanson, and Kennedy in 06. And we'll see more from 07 on. One thing we didn't draft well was offense, but starting in 07, we finally started taking some high upside offensive talent

So Wang wasn't bona Fide?

Agreed, of course its spring training. But we'll see how good he can do in the desert. My guess is that he'll be better than half of the pitchers in the NL West this season.

Lester sucked too as a starter initially, look at him now. Both of these guys, IMO, could be top notch starters, but in NY, you have to hit the ground running. Nothing is given to you and we couldnt wait for 2 young, undeveloped pitchers to go through their growing pain. We learned that lesson in 2008. BTW, speaking of players from that time, Kennedy looks really f***ing good thus far in Arizona.

He was, there is no doubt. I thought he could come through as a starter, though. He showed flashes of sheer dominance, mixed in with s***** outings reflecting his age and his experience level

So, just because he joined the Yankees, his ERA is gonna jump nearly two points from 09. I absolutely love the objectivity that you show.

I agree. I thought his repertoire fit well in the swing role too with a good fastball slider combo. Mitre is really a sinkerballer with minimal secondary pitches which makes him a better fit out of the rotation. But as a reliever, I would only put him in for mopup duty

Per ESPN radio, Phil Hughes has won the 5th starter slot. Well, let this end all speculation assuming this story is true. Joba slots back into the set-up role where he was dominant in 2007 and showed a lot of promise last yr after being moved back there for the playoffs. Not sure if this was planned all along or if the poor spring by Joba tipped their hand, but this is kinda expected but kinda crappy at the same time. Hughes is better suited to be a starter. He essentially had been a started his whole life until last yr when he found his way into the pen and played a vital role. But in that role, we got to see him master a few different types of fastball as well as improve his curveball. This spring, he has shown a good changeup and essentially showed enough to win the job. Joba, who probably could have been an elite setup man from day 1 or a solid starter if he wasnt monkeyed around with, showed that he could dominate at both jobs until a shoulder injury in 2008 seemed to change him a bit. He started games off poorly with minimal velocity, seemingly saving it for later. This approach typically led to early deficits. But after being converted back to relief for the playoffs, he showed that hard fastball that he has become known for. Assuming he can sit in the high 90s again with that power slider, he seems to be destined for the closer's role after Mo leaves assuming he stays healthy. But the question will always be, what could have been? Joba, who was a horse as a starter in his lone minor league season, should have been an elite level starter. The presumption is that his ever changing roles led to the injury which seemed to lead to a more timid approach out of the starting 5. Maybe, just maybe, if he wasnt rushed and wasnt monkeyed around with, we'd be talking about a power pitching rising ace instead of a setup man with eyes toward the closers role. Regardless, Hughes projects to throw somewhere in the 150IP range this yr barring injury or ineffectiveness and will probably get his starts skipped in the middle of the yr a la Joba. We'll see if he handles it with more poise.

Chad Gaudin was waived today. Looks like Sergio Mitre beat him out for the long man routine. I hope they know what they're doing, cause I like Gaudin a lot more than Mitre at this point

He's a guy from a small school who came out of college with promising stuff. Low 90s heat, good curve, passable change, workable slider. Kinda got pushed too quickly, saw a massive drop in velocity last yr leading to horrible numbers. Started to get the velocity back by season's end and from what I have been told, he's got his old velocity back and looks like a new pitcher this spring. He went from possibly being cut to being back in the prospect discussion. Interesting guy to keep an eye on, but my guess is he ends up a middle reliever or a back end starter in another organization

In a head to head matcup with Ny possessing the better offense? See this is just garbage

Wait, did you really just say that Buchholz is equal to Vazquez? That is just not debatable at this juncture. If you really are going to sit there and try to make that point, then there is no debating with you. You're just retarded

He will be, IMO. But, if VMart catches for the majority of the season, then he has some leverage to ask for huge money. Someone will give it to him, but Mauer got about 5 mil more per season than I thought he would. So maybe, VMart's worth has jumped from 10-12.5mil per season to a Posada-esque $15 mil per season

Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, and Colin Curtis were re-assigned today. Montero went 3 for 8 with 2 doubles in his spring.

For the money, he's been below expectations. But he has 3 more yrs to go.

8 yrs, $23 mil per with a full no-trade? If VMart stays behind the dish, his pocket will get much larger next yr. I thought Mauer might get a $18 mil per season deal in Minny, but this changes the landscape of the position.