jacksonianmarch

I have a feeling Yankee Stadium will rock when he comes back. I will miss him.

This has been the plan all along, IMO. They wanted no part of Matsui for 2010. They need the DH spot quasi open so that they can get guys a rest. With Damon, you can at least put him in the OF here and there. WIth Matsui, you really cannot.

I certainly dont expect him to light the world on fire against lefties, but I think with the park change and the lineup change, he is going to have opportunities like never before, and LH pitchers are gonna have to go right at him for fear of putting a speedy runner on for Tex and ARod

$100.5 million today

I am telling you right now Gom, Montero is going nowhere. He's gonna be playing a lot of DH come the end of 2010 should he stay healthy. He is a very special bat.

I think 2009 was more of an aberration for Granderson. I could see him getting back to his .850OPS with 30 doubles, 10+ triples, and 25+ homers while also stealing 20+ bases. Regardless, he's gonna be a pest.

well, at some point you need to attach a worth of Lowell to your team. Lets say he's a platoon DH with Papi, how much would he be worth then? You dont just dump a guy to dump him, you need to see if he has a value to your team.

I think a lot of people are making that assumption here and everyone is forgetting how hard it is for a pitching prospect to become a top notch ace. As much as I love Hughes and Joba, right now, I cannot count on them being top of the rotation starters for this team in 2010 thereby making another pitcher expendable.

Depends on your team. With Grandy in CF and presumably Melky in LF, our OF defense is pretty solid, even if Swisher is milling about in RF. Damon would be a DH and he's a better all around hitter than Cameron. If we were looking for someone to be the primary LFer, I would take Cameron since Damon is about as bad as you can be in LF and Cameron is GG material

As it stands right now, I dont think Lowell moves. He apparently needs thumb surgery, meaning that he might be too much of a risk for the Rangers to offer anything of value for one yr of him. Time to face the facts, he's washed up and unless he's offered for free to someone, I dont think a team bites.

I dont think we are gonna use him as a platoon man though. He might benefit from being sandwiched between Jeter and Tex, probably see a lot more fastballs and probably have better numbers. Its a lot easier to be pitched to when you have to deal with Polanco than if you have to deal with Tex.

that's assuming Buchholz breaks out as a top of the rotation starter. I think this is probably it for Boston and 2010 is going to be a massively important yr for Buchholz. If he kinda wallows in the 1st full yr starter inconsistencies then the sox might have to pony up for Beckett. If he comes right out of the gate as a #1 or a true #2, then Beckett is expendable. That being said, I like the Lackey move for the short term, I am not so sure he will be at Beckett's level over the length of their respective contracts.

I have a feeling that they have a certain value attached to Holliday. If he exceeds it, then they can wait for next yr to fill that hole and sign Damon for 1 season. If he doesnt, then I wouldnt be shocked if Cashman pulled the trigger

On the topic of a Beckett re-sign, I have a hard time grasping it. Think about it. Beckett turns 30 in May of 2010. So, he'd essentially be hitting the market for his year 31 season. Halladay, OTOH, turns 33 in May and is about to sign a 3yr $60 million extension for 2011-2013, his age 34-36 seasons. Now, I think Beckett is above Lackey and below Halladay right now, but if he has another good season, then he could theoretically command Halladay money since they would get 3 more prime yrs out of him than they would Halladay. So, unless Beckett is willing to take a hometown discount, I find it very hard to believe that the sox would shell out $85 million for 5 yrs of Lackey and $100 million for 5 yrs of Beckett.

This is a very good move for Boston. I guess Theo agreed with me that you need 3 guys whom you can count on going into a season. They have that now.

Strange. A platoon doesnt make a ton of sense since Cameron has been an .800+OPS guy for a few yrs now and plays absolutely stellar D. Maybe this is a Cameron to CF, Jacoby to left with him now being expendable. That being said, if this is truly it, then the sox offense has come up short. I also thought the same thing about Holliday. With Boston presumably out of the mix, could Cashman get them to pony up one more time for a 29 yr old power and contact hitting LFer? I wouldnt put it past em. That would be one hell of an emphatic ending to put on an offseason

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/angels-in-serious-discussions-for-hideki-matsui.html Hideki Matsui is heading to Anaheim so long as he passes a physical. Sounds like 1yr $6.5 mil. Consummate professional who had a flare for the dramatic and brought over an avid fanbase and a lot of overseas yen. Sorry to see him go, I really wish we could have brought him back in over Damon, but now it looks like Damon is the prize fish for the yankees.

and it clearly moves them to the top of the AL Wild Card race.

Or we're one major injury away from slinking down to their level. This does even the field a bit more.

Regardless, you cannot downplay this guy. He was a horse, had a few minor injuries the past 2 yrs but finished both seasons incredibly strong. He slots in well as the #3 and offers the sox a bit more breathing room in negotiations with Beckett. I am also a bit surprised that NY hasnt entered the fray here. I guess they chose Pettitte over Lackey this yr to get a shot at Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay next yr. Its a good calculated gamble IMO, but it could lead to the sox closing the gap a bit too close for comfort in 2010.

Keeping the yankees to a 4.66ERA is pretty good.

It happens. Being two big market clubs, both teams are going to make big acquisitions.

Lackey makes any rotation better

ORS, he's called you out a few times on here and has been right.

Are you 12? First of all, you are f***ing psycho if you think the red sox go out and get AGon and Lackey while NY just stands pat not reinforcing the rotation or filling the hole in LF. Psycho. Second, you keep forgetting why your sox were in that predicament in the first place. Beckett fell apart down the stretch, the sox defense was putrid, and the offense went into a hole. Well, Beckett's still there, the defense is worse with Scutaro than with AGon and no better with Vmart taking over for Tek, and you essentially lose Lowell and Bay and replace them with Adrian Gonzalez and Jeremy Hermida, which IMO is a downgrade. Third, you seem to forget just how big of a gap there is between the two. 8 games and it could have been 10-15 if the Yankees didnt ease off the pedal at the end. Going by defensive spot since lineup is too hard to do right now since NY has a lot up in the air C- Posada vs VMart- Posada has had a better OPS for 4 yrs running now 1B- Teixeira vs Gonzalez- Gonzo had a 10 point advantage over Tex in 2009, but Tex blew him away every yr prior to this one 2B- Cano vs Pedroia- Pedroia may have an MVP, but Cano has had a higher OPS 2 of the 3 yrs Pedroia has been in the game SS- Jeter vs Scutaro- no contest 3B- Rodriguez vs Youkilis- Youkilis has been on par or better with ARod for the past 2 yrs, but ARod did slug more homers even though he missed a month LF- Cabrera vs Hermida- they both had incredibly similar yrs last yr CF- Granderson vs Ellsbury- This isnt even close. Grandy had an off yr in a bad ballpark for lefties and he still had a higher OPS and slugged 30 homers. Move him to the homerdome for 81 games and to the yankee lineup and Grandy is the much better offensive player RF- Drew vs Swisher- Drew is the better hitter, although Swisher isnt too far behind him in OPS DH- ??? vs Ortiz- OPS under .800 for Ortiz in a yr when he looked defeated and slow. Another yr of father time and this one could hurt. I fully expect either Matsui or Damon to be manning this role for 2010, and I would take both of them over Ortiz offensively. C- advantage Posada 1B- even if you go back only one yr, although I think Tex is a better bet to maintain 2B- even, although Cano was better for 2 of the last 3 yrs SS- advantage Jeter 3B- Youkilis with the better 2009 by a small margin, ARod now healthy is a winner IMO LF- Hermida with the slight edge since he has more upside CF- Granderson by far RF- Drew wins that one DH- Matsui or Damon over Ortiz Sorry JimEd, still gotta fill another hole in LF to overtake the boys in pinstripes