jacksonianmarch

If its just money, then its fine. But the internal options take away the desperation, especially for a position that is traditionally defense first.

Dojji, there arent too many positions in the yankee minors that are strong outside of the pitching staff. Catcher is the strongest, much stronger than the sox. Now, you are right that neither of these guys will be Mauer. But it takes away the urgency in dealing for him. Now, if he hits the FA market, then we'll talk

I would not deal for Mauer at all. We have the best catching depth in the minor leagues (per BA) and dealing for a catcher would seem a bit rash. That being said, if he were a FA, then its fair game. Cervelli Montero (who knows if he stays at C) Romine (FSL MVP) Higashioka Murphy Sanchez The catcher position is loaded.

They got assraped for Santana though

he isnt disagreeing with you dumbass

Ellsbury+Bard+ about 3 other guys.

Reddick his .169 and had an OPS of .549. He was terrible, granted it was a SSS

Ellsbury would be one piece in a massive package

Actually it isnt. Amalie Benjamin agrees with me.... http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2009/10/15/sox_farm_system_not_at_level_best/

ARod was willing to take a 16 million dollar pay cut to play for a contender.

okay, refute my point instead of continuing to be an idiot

The market has changed. For the guys in the middle. The top FAs are still getting top dollar. And Bay is a top FA

Once again, very naive. I am saying that the sox dont have a top prospect in their upper levels.

If the sox went into the season with Josh Reddick as their LFer, would you be pissed?

http://soxprospects.com/index.html Look at how many players in the top 40 are below the level of AA. And of those that are, look at how their seasons turned out and where they are going to end up. I can list them for you actually... Reddick- looks like slower Ellsbury clone- will end up in AAA Kalish- did well enough to stick at AA, but will likely repeat there at AA Anderson- sucked in AA and will repeat the level Tazawa- did well in AA, sucked in the bigs, will likely start in AAA Bowden- did well in AAA, sucked in the bigs, will likely start in AAA Exposito- performed well after his promotion, will likely start in AA Doubront- was serviceable in AA, will likely start in AAA Richardson- was converted to relief, pitched well in AA and AAA and will likely end up in AAA Wagner- sucked in AAA on promotion, will likely start there, but he isnt much of a prospect Jimenez- played serviceably in AA, but was old for the league and was repeating it. Likely to start in AAA Place- played average in AA, likely to repeat the level Mills- not sure why he is a prospect, he throws pus and isnt very good, but he pitched average in AAA on promotion Thats 12 guys on the top 40 list that are within a stone's throw of the big leagues. Of them, 5 actually look like potential impactful big league players (Kalish, Reddick, Tazawa, Bowden, Anderson). Of those 5, 3 are likely to see the bigs at some point in 2010, with none of them locking down a key spot. This is why I say that the sox MiLB depth is thin. None of these guys are standing out as lights out prospects like Buchholz, Lester, Pedroia, etc. Their best looking prospect sits in High A (Casey Kelly).

With what they have commited and with Beckett being in his last season in Boston, a rebuild wouldnt be prudent. If the sox strike out on getting Felix and then Beckett walks after 2010, then a rebuild would be in order. I think Theo might be biding his time thinking 2010 and 2011 might be two of those 3 out of 10 yrs. Remember the initial speech? He said that his goal is to be competitive at the highest level for 7 out of 10 yrs and then need to retool in the other 3. If he doesnt go out and get one of either Bay or Holliday, then I think he will go to war with what he has (with minor tweaking) for 2010 and potentially shed a lot of dead weight after 2010 with a leaner yr in 2011 and finally come out with another playoff contender in 2012.

Fair market value? For a guy like Bay when you consider the deals given to players at his age and production? I have already gone over this. Bay should be able to get a deal for 5yrs and should likely collect $15-17 million per season. Compared to other big time corner OF deals, that is "fair market value." Now those contracts always include paying a player for his production after he starts to decline. But I would argue that on a standard dollar for dollar basis, that Bay's 2009 season was worth more than 15 million dollars. And the hope is that you have a player who is worth more than his AAV for the beginning of the deal so you can negate his worth late in the contract when its likely below the AAV. Also, if the sox "just go with Reddick" then they are flat out done as a top contender in the majors unless they make a MAJOR upgrade elsewhere. Losing 36 homers and 115RBI for a slower clone of Ellsbury will be a MAJOR downgrade.

It shouldnt. Damon could be signed for a 2 yr deal, as I do think he gets offered a 1 yr deal to stay in NY. Abreu may want something more. He already rejected a 2yr 16 mil deal from LAA. We'll see how much he will want.

He was signed to be the CF, you are right. Doesnt mean he hasnt lived up to his contract. And Posada had an injury in 2008, it was surgically repaired, and now he looks better than ever. Posada had his 4th best OPS of his career in 2009. And his arm looks like its back.

The weather is a significant limiting factor. The ball just doesnt travel when it is 35 degrees out and there is a 20 mph wind blowing directly in.

Would you want Johnny Damon back? Especially seeing his home/away splits with NY? Abreu would be an interesting choice, but even though his numbers look good, check his trends. His OPS has dropped for 3 yrs in a row.

Well, the Angels obviously struggled with the power pitchers. They havent seen a finesse pitcher in awhile, but Pettitte also has the added caveat that he can limit the running game with his move. I honestly think this is gonna be another game dependent on the bullpens. Even when he is pitching well, Weaver is the kind of guy who you can run his pitch count up on.

Lets broaden this conversation a little bit. Lets say the sox lowball Bay and only go to 3yrs with a club option and then lose out on Holliday to the Yankees, where do they go? And if that is the case, how long will it take for them to recover?

Actually, name the players on this yrs team who were signed to too many yrs? As it turns out, the guys we gave big contracts to, on the whole, produced in their final seasons. Giambroids had his issues in the middle of the contract, but at the end, he was still good. Mussina was so good he was resigned. Matsui had trouble last yr with the knee, but this yr he is good enough to consider resigning. Damon was productive as well in what could be his best offensive season. Posada has proven halfway through his contract that he still has it. And Mo still has it for his. Jeter's contract was solid as he is finishing yr 9 of 10 in the MVP conversation. ARod is showing that he is worth the money at the beginning of his 10 yr deal even after hip surgery. Example, twist the truth if you want, but the yankees signings over the recent yrs have been solid. You can harken back to the deals given to RJ, Brown, and some others, but the guys on this team, on the whole, have earned their money.

An ocean of depth in the minor leagues? Really? The sox have a lot of talent at the lower levels. But they havent made their way to being "depth" yet. The sox system has thinned out thanks to the promotions of Lester, Buchholz, Pedroia, Papelbon, Bard, Ellsbury, etc. I would actually consider the sox minor leagues to be a minus in comparison with NY for the next 2-3 seasons, until the 08 and 09 high school kids make their slow way up the depth charts. You need to look at the very stark reality that the sox are going to have to win with what they have at the MLB level for a little while. They've tapped that minor league resource dry.