jacksonianmarch

BUT HE PUT UP A .900OPS AND HE'S AN INDY BALL SIGNEE!!!

You lost your #3 starter. Beckett and Lester were always 1 and 1a.

He might take Hall's spot on the roster, but he is being groomed as a starter. He doesnt see the 25 man until 2012 when Scutaro is gone

My bad, he was 23 yrs old. He will be 24 for 2010. One season isnt THAT big of a difference. He's under 25 and he has locked up a spot on a big league roster.

I did read it. And you didnt use the 2490IP but you made conclusions based on about 800IP. There were 3 seasons in there where the difference was negligible, or he was better with runners on.

I have no care for this to happen. These players are exhausted after the World Series and the pitchers are usually worn thin. We take their best players after awhile anyway and thus far, none have been HOF quality. And since baseball has more chance to it than anything else, a loss would be more humiliating than actually a result of inferior talent.

We have an indy ball signing too, his name is Jorge Vazquez. He was dynamite in his first yr, damn near the best hitter in AA until he broke his wrist. He's 27. I expect nothing out of him other than a big league cup of coffee.

I need you to answer a question honestly. Do you think that the 2010 Red Sox are a better team than the 2009 Red Sox were entering the season last yr. I need an honest answer here.

Here is the entire problem with your Vazquez argument. You pit him against 2 other pitchers and try to make it sound like he is being compared with the league. Well, it is difficult to prove a point when you... A. arent using a significant sample size B. arent comparing like players C. arent taking into account the entire career of Vazquez yet take into account the entire career of the others. One of the things that I have ceded is that Vazquez is a MAJOR flyball pitcher. And that makes Yankee Stadium dicey. All that your stats show is that Vazquez allows more homeruns. That is easy, you could have made that point by going to the ESPN homepage. But Burnett and Lackey, for the most part, have been even to groundball pitchers through their careers. It isnt fair to compare homeruns and OPS when the homer itself is the compounding factor and it is pretty significantly in the favor of the other two. When you figure that one homerun adds 5 points to the OPS scale (1 to the OBP and 4 to the SLG) then you see why OPS is a poor way of proving a point. You can make a case that Vazquez' homeruns are a reason why he has underperformed when talking about FIP. But you cannot say that that is A. a trend, and B. not attributable to chance. You made a lot of work, and some of it was informative, but it is skewed by your comparison of non-like variables.

After you lose in the first round of the playoffs and the fan base figures out they were duped by the FO's defensive push.

when they are 26 and havent made it to AAA yet. There are some players who get converted from position player to pitcher and vice versa who have an excuse. But when a player doesnt dominate until he is older than the league, you typically see the makings of a AAAA player

And how many runs, real actual runs, did the defense of Lowell and Bay cost you? And how many runs will the drop off from Bay and Lowell cost you offensively. These nice sabermetric numbers are useful when put into the right context. If you cling to them with all of your heart, then you're bound to be disappointed. I can hear it right now. "The Yankees spend more and that's why they win...." Oh, and when the sox go out and sign a big ticket FA next offseason, will it be with defense in mind?

I have the night off there Dipre. Rough month in December. BTW, you are one to make a comment about working. Also, I told you exactly why the Vazquez argument was wrong. It is all about year to year variability. It's right there in your "research". I know, you are proud of it. But it proves nothing aside from the fact that Vazquez gives up a lot of homeruns. That isnt rocket science

Its amazing what a little bit of information, a lot of hope and no sense can get from someone. Putting Tug Hulett in the conversation for anything but a great first name and a pun about beating off is stupid.

The argument about run prevention can be made when you talk about Lackey. Not when talking about LF or 3B, especially when you take a massive hit offensively.

Let it get hijacked. It was going nowhere since the Yankees havent made any moves in a couple weeks

And a Gabe Kapler type is exactly what this sox team needs.

He very well could be. Anyway, if the sox get him, then it helps their overall organization and its a good move. I just think that his lack of a 3rd pitch and his perceived lack of command has dropped his appeal and kinda silenced the hype for a bit. I hope he ends up in pinstripes, but I doubt it happens. He's gonna get paid by someone, and the new suitor sounds like Toronto.

Are you really buying the whole defense in LF at Fenway argument? f***ing seriously? Are you also buying the argument that the sox end of season woes were due to defense at third? Really? So let me get this straight. Upgrading in LF and 3b on defense was well worth it even with a significant loss on the offensive end, but the catcher position was okay to leave to a guy who is AWFUL on defense. Are you really buying this argument? He's a modest upgrade offensively in any yr that wasnt his career season. If you think you are getting a guy who will reach base 38% of the time then you must be on some good s***. How did you get more consistent? You added a guy who OPS'd under .700 at 3b and a guy who carries the K ability of Jason Bay without any of his plus offensive capabilities. Have you even thought this through? The sox got swept in the playoffs because their offense was run through by good pitching. And you will seriously sit there and say that version 2010 is better suited to face the best of the best than the 09 version? Really. I am sorry if I do not think that defense in LF and 3b are the key to winning a pennant. You upgraded at two non-prime positions while taking a MASSIVE downgrade offensively. Congratulations on your defensive achievements. I am really happy for you. And I will be even happier when that #1 defense seats you #2 in the AL East. Which is all but a guarantee now. You have no clue what a 5th starter is. Even if he gives us EXACTLY what he gave in Chicago, 200+IP, 200+K, and a 4.5ERA, he'd be a #3 at worst. Regardless, think what you want. Drink the Kool Aid with the rest of them. Notice that none of the older posters who might have a bit more insight, a bit less pep, and a bit more levity have chimed in here. It's because they understand that this sox team is at best status quo from 2009 and most likely a downgrade. And that doesnt cut it when the Yankees are on top of the world. When the sox won the World Series, I felt like someone kicked me in the nuts on a continuous basis. I can only imagine what those who don't drink the Kool Aid must feel. NY is going into 2010 with a DECIDED advantage, and after the sox little spending spree, that is a damn shame for sox fans

Its not even close. You underestimate O'Neill, Williams, Jeter, etc. Not surprising though. Tino had OPS's between .800 and .948 from 1996-2001. He hit 175 homers in those 6 seasons. Bernie had OPS's between .917 and .997 for all 6 of those yrs. He hit 157 homers in those 6 seasons. Jeter had OPS's between .775 and .989 through those 6 yrs. He had 4 seasons of .850 or over. Paul O'Neill had OPS's between .760 and .912 in those 6 yrs. He had 3 seasons of .880 or over Posada had 3 seasons in that stretch of .830 or more OPS and had one season of a .948OPS. The Yankees had a bunch of players who put up career seasons during that time, and when one player was in a down yr, the other was in a career yr. Every yr, there was someone new stepping in with Bernie and Tino to be the big power and RBI threats. In a sense, they were just as lucky as they were good.

And another thing. By diminishing your offensive potential, you essentially erase your margin for error. If any one of these guys goes down, you're f***ed. If Ortiz' knees start acting up again, or Martinez' shoulder or if Drew gets a case of necrotizing vaginitis then you are looking at an already weaker offense getting even more depleted. Plus, I dont see any of the sox prospects having a major offensive impact this yr, so it isnt like they can pull someone from AAA to play DH should Papi go down.