jacksonianmarch

Imp, I am not sure how you want to slice it, but I like to pinpoint when he fell off a cliff. August 1st, he fell off that cliff. I am not cherry picking, especially if the argument is about both fatigue and his role change. He was obviously fatigued by the end of the yr and the change in the way he was used didnt do him any favors. The numbers bear it out. If you want to be lazy and just use the splits column on ESPN to see the pre and post ASB, go for it. But if you really want to pinpoint when he fell off that cliff, you'll actually do the work and crunch the numbers yourself. From August 1st on, his ERA was over 7 and his WHIP was almost 2.

I didnt know diony was from the dominican. Hmmm. Interesting

Reddick really got overhyped because of his part season in A+ ball in 2007 when he hit 17 homers in Lancaster. He has consistently been a .800+OPS guy with moderate patience who strikes out in bunches and will hit double digit homers. He's turning 23 in a couple weeks, so he still has a couple seasons to make a mark in the bigs. I will not rule out his chances of being a starting OFer for Boston and I definitely think he profiles as a starting CFer in the major leagues. I just dont know if the stick will be enough to play the corners in the majors. Hence why I think he gets a cup of coffee this season in the majors as a showcase, say when Drew goes down or if Cameron gets hurt. He's prime trade bait, though. Especially if Kalish has a good yr, since he fits the sox mold a bit better (higher BB rate and developing power).

the IP is from the Dominican. I wonder who posted it...

It all depends on how you want to slice it. Here are the stats from the first four months and the last 2 months.... First 4 months- 110.6IP 105H 44ER 97K 50BB 1.40WHIP 7.9K/9IP 4.1BB/9IP 1.9K/BB 3.56ERA Last 2 months- 45.2IP 62H 39ER 36K 26BB 1.92WHIP 7.1K/9IP 5.1K/9IP 1.4K/BB 7.68ERA I dont think there is much debate that both fatigue and the monkeying around affected him. His numbers bear it out

He threw 107IP last season and if you count in the 40 innings of Arizona Fall League in 2008, he was over 100 then too. Thing is, he hasnt reached the 146IP he threw in 2006. His IP totals have been.. 2006- 146.0IP 2007- 110.1IP 2008- 109.2IP (including AFL) 2009- 107.1IP These all include MiLB numbers btw. Hughes hasnt been shortened, he just hasnt been fully stretched out. I think the overall state of the pen will determine how he is used this yr. If Dave Robertson and Damaso Marte pitch like they are capable of pitching, then Hughes could be rotated into and out of the setup role. He could go from being the setup man to throwing 3 innings of relief back to setup man to keep his arm stretched out. If the rest of the pen falls through, then he'll probably be in the 70IP range, which isnt enough. Regardless, if Hughes gets stretched out to starter in 2011, it will be similar to how we handled Joba last yr. He'll start out the yr going as long as he can and then start skipping starts or being shortened like Joba was. That being said, there is a pro and a con to that approach. The pro being, the player isnt overworked and should be healthy going into the next season. The con is, you run the risk of rendering that player totally ineffective, which is what happened to Joba. But after #27 last yr, I am really happy it worked out and Joba should be healthy and ready for 190IP or more come 2010.

That's typically a shrewd thought when it comes to MiLB pitchers since the majority do end up in the pen. I think this kid is the good, though.

I highly, highly, highly doubt that Younginer is in the bigs for 2012. While he has more ceiling than Buchholz or Kelly, he also has a lot further to go. I bet they take it very slowly with him, probably have him in short season leagues at least through the end of this yr and go one level at a time until he reaches A+. I bet he hits the bigs as a fine tuned machine in 2013 or 2014.

After the sox 2009 draft, I'd probably take the over, although I think many more players will come to fruition on other teams. They traded a few good prospects away last season and once other players come up the pipe and are blocked, they'll probably have to deal away a few more.

I am not sure 26. I think the eventual plan is to have both of them in the rotation. But right now, none of them are strong plays as anything more than a #5 starter due to their unpredictable nature. Also, we proved last yr, that both of them could be lights out setup men, and we proved how important that role is to this time. Hughes going to the pen was probably the best thing that could have happened to this team. He went out there and stabilized a bridge that was so bad that 5 run leads werent safe. Now, the pen seems to have settled down a bit, but having Hughes or Chamberlain out there would really make it a lights out case. Overall, I think I see the FO's plan here. We have 6 starters if you count Hughes and Joba. 2 of them are on 1 yr deals in Vazquez and Pettitte. Assuming all goes well, I expect Joba to break camp in the rotation. The hope is that Joba performs akin to a #4 this season and becomes more reliable. That means that next offseason, NY could either resign Vazquez or go after Cliff Lee and leave that #5 slot to Hughes. This is all perfect world speak here, but I highly doubt Cash will ever leave 2 spots in the rotation up to chance again after the debachle in 2008. He'll work in one pitcher per yr, IMO, and once that pitcher becomes reliable, then he'll work another one in. Joba just needs to step up IMO

You said it correctly, its all about their health. If they stay healthy, then I think they should put up similar numbers to their norms. But as these guys age, it typically becomes more difficult to go through the grind of 162. If these guys don't get any sort of nagging injury or significant DL stay injury then they should be fine. But it is much harder to guarantee that when they get into their late 30s.

Cameron is a question mark mostly due to his advanced age, but I do expect him to put up something close to his numbers Above is EXACTLY what I said. Pulling out pieces of a quote is an Imp specialty. I expect Cameron to put up numbers similar to his career norms. His age is a concern. Same with Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Mo, etc. I expect them to put up numbers similar to career norms, but their age is a concern

I never said that their age wasnt a concern.

But that's after the fact, which doesnt help you much going forward

VMart and Ellsbury arent either Cameron is a question mark mostly due to his advanced age, but I do expect him to put up something close to his numbers And JD Drew is always a question mark due to his propensity to develop random injuries.

Kevin Youkilis isnt a question mark. Pedroia isnt either

Its more of a future thing and being able to see these guys when they were nothing. Also, prediction who is gonna be good is fun, IMO.

We shall see. He is still a massive questionmark coming into the season.

After 2007, Lester wasnt a prospect anymore, technically. Prior to 2007, the sox had it. After Pedroia, Delcarmen and Lester graduated, the Yankees took the lead

Also, back to this Piliere guy, do you know what scouts get paid? Yeah, they get paid jack-s*** until they get into the cross-checker role or into a national role. Being a lower level scout is a tough life and why a lot of guys will do it for a few yrs then become an analyst or a writer. Making articles is easier to do, requires less travel and hours, and is more lucrative. Its kinda funny, I actually spoke with Piliere on PinstripesPlus. He's a regular contributor to Scout.com on many levels, on the sox, the yanks, the rangers and a few others. He had to go away for the 3 yrs he was a Rangers scout and now he can update people there. He knows his s***.

Here is a list of farm systems from the same Frankie Piliere. http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/26/2010-farm-system-rankings/ He has the Red Sox at #11, the Yankees at #15, and that is after the trades of Vizcaino, Dunn, Jackson, and Kennedy. I think that's about right. I'd give the sox the edge by a nose right now after dealing away the talent we did and after the sox dynamite 2009 draft.

Ital, the yankee system was ranked higher after the 2007 season when Joba, Hughes, and Kennedy were still considered prospects. Also, prior to their trades, this season the yankees system would have rated out higher in a lot of areas. When you deal Vizcaino, Jackson, Kennedy, and Dunn, you thin out your depth a bit

6'3" at 17 yrs old is big.

Plumpa and Imperial on their typical rampages. Not surprising. That being said, I am intrigued by how BA is going to handle this. BA released their yankee top 30 not too long ago and Banuelos was 5th on that list. Also, how Austin Romine isnt on a top 100 list is downright ridiculous. He was only the player of the yr in the FSL and was younger than almost everyone to boot. I have a feeling BA will have an equal amount of sox and yankee prospects as I believe both systems are pretty comparable at this time