jacksonianmarch

I honestly think Polanco is insurance for Utley who is coming off that hip injury and might be better suited to move to 3b.

He proved 2008 was not a fluke by being even better in 2009. I dont think anyone could count him out as a possible CY option for 2010.

No problem.

No, I cannot. I think he'd be a better overall value than Lowell.

I smell a trade

You dont read well do you.

Beltre is a wild card. He is coming off an injury that limited him to 111 games and divided his manhood in half. Now, one could hope and wish on a prayer that he returns to his 2004 form when he had an OPS over 1 and hit 48 homers. But I have to think that that player is long gone. He's been in the bigs for 11 full seasons. He's had an OPS over .800 3 times (..835, .801, 1.017). He's put up 20 homers or more 7 times with one season at 19. He's walked 50PAs or more only 4 times in his career and has K'd in over 100ABs 5 times. His BA has been over .280 twice in his career, the last being his ridiculous 2004 season. So, he is what he is. He's had chronic injuries that he can play through (his ankles have been operated on a few times now) and he's had one big injury that shouldnt be chronic (contused testicle). He plays a good D. He's good for a line of .265 20HR 85RBI regularly with an OPS in the high .700s. In Fenway, maybe he's .275 25HR 90RBI with an OPS right around .800. He wont all of a sudden regain 2004 form by ballpark alone. But at the same time, his D plus his O makes him valuable as a bottom third of the order stick in the lineup.

I still dont get how Wagner grades out as the 6th highest FA in baseball when the rankings are based off the past 2 seasons and he missed a full yr to Tommy John. Regardless, the sox made a shrewd move here. And to answer someone's question above, the picks are protected. SO if the sox go out and sign 3 type A FAs, they will lose their own 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounders. But any compensatory selections will stay with the club.

2Bs are definitely easier to come by this day and age. Its kinda funny, a few yrs back, a good SS was a dime a dozen. Now, its reverted back to the way it used to be. If I had to make a prediction, I think the sox still sign Scutaro. I doubt they make a deal for Uggla, seeing as it would take away prospects that are being groomed for either big league use or trade chippage. And since Uggla really is a 1b playing 2b. Same can be said for Phillips from a trade chip standpoint. I do think the sox kick every tire available though and might make a deal for one of the above guys if they decide that Mauer, Gonzalez, Johnson, Ramirez, and Halladay really wouldnt be worth the asking price

His trade value is definitely at an all-time high and I would definitely move him for the right price. The only problem is that he really is the only stable force in the OF right now in a FA market that has 2 impact guys and then a ton of crap. No tweeners in there to pick from.

The Yankees are interested in Brandon Lyon per mlbtraderumors.com. No s***, NY is interested in a late inning reliever? Actually, Lyon is probably the best option IMO since he is a Type B FA and wont cost a draft pick.

btw, can this be the most boring off-season of all time. Christ, Dec 1st and nothing has happened. If it wasnt for #27's glow, I would be pulling my hair out.

The logic is there. Yankee stadium is a homerdome for lefties and he takes about 2/3 of his ABs from the left side. Yet he sucked there in what can be considered more of an aberration than anything else. THe same can be said for his insane split away from NY. My thinking is that his home split will increase more than his away split will drop, meaning his OPS has room to go upward. Especially when you consider that he will still be hitting in the lower third of the order

You did defend Cashman, kudos. And whomever pretends that the Swisher deal was anything but sheer genius is an idiot. You add a guy with an .869OPS and 29 homers who takes pitches with the best of them for a bag of baseballs and you have to give kudos to Cashman. WHat I find miraculous about Swish's season is that he absolutely sucked at Yankee Stadium. His splits were .946 away, .776 home in terms of OPS with only 8 of his 29 homers coming at home. Imagine what he could have done if he took advantage of the short porch. He is my pick for an even bigger 2010 and I am really glad we got him

Per mlbtraderumors.com, NY will not be offering arbitration to any of their free agents

Now thats an interesting proposition. Pedroia to SS absolutely requires an upgrade at 3b. Now, we saw Youkilis over at 3b and he did a good job, but a lot of his lack of 3b type range was masked by Gonzalez just tearing s*** up over at SS. And putting Lowell on that left side would be brutal. IMO, if Pedroia needs to go to SS to fill that hole, they would need a 2b with lateral range like Hudson and a 3b with lateral range like Beltre. You put an IF out there like.. 1B- Youkilis 2B- Hudson SS- Pedroia 3B- Beltre and you will partially cover up the lack of range that Pedroia will exhibit for the position.

Ladies, chill out. This was a good thread until the provoking started

It might have. Right now, maybe marginally. But by the end of the winter, the asking price will be anything more than 2 draft picks

Holliday lost the ball in the sun/lights/crowd what-have-you. Watch the replay, he looked lost on it. He certainly wasnt hot dogging it

Thats pretty big news.

Jeter earned it this yr. Good for him

The concern is that a player will accept. For Damon, who might not get anything over 2 yrs on the open market, could make a lot of money if he accepted. Remember, you cannot make less than 20% of your prior years salary. So for Damon, he'd be coming off a $13 million deal, that means the least he could make in arbitration is $10.4 million. And, he is coming off 2 solid seasons, so he could expect maybe a $15-$16 million one year deal, which is right around where NY wants to sign him for 2 seasons. In the past, everyone was offered arb, and the majority declined. But in this economy, a short term, high salary deal might be in a player's best interest until the economy turns around.

It has confounders. Thats the point. K/9, BB/9 and baserunners per inning (WHIP) are pretty much exclusively controlled by the pitcher. The next most important stat IMO is GO/AO and then its ERA.

His ERA was 8th in the league for starters, which isnt too bad. Also, ERA is not a terribly useful tool for evaluating pitchers. I think the K/9IP and the WHIP is a much better barometer.

UZR does not adequately reflect a 1b's ability.