jacksonianmarch

They repaired more than the labrum in Lowell. That being said, this is a risky surgery that has consequences and banking on ARod right now to be the ARod of old s/p labrum repair is not a given. But I think ARod is still in his prime and is more of a physical specimen than Lowell (roids helped) so I think he will recover a bit better.

But 6-9 weeks is a much better option if it allows ARod to get back on the field for the whole yr AND avoid a future arthritic picture. That was the big thing. They are doing this initial surgery now to avoid the arthritis that will develop if he plays through the entire yr on the labrum tear

That labrum tear must be minute for them to be able to get him back onto the field in 6-9 weeks. Sounds like the biggest issue is this cyst. It must be a rather deep cyst to require 3-4 months rehab.

I had been saying it for yrs. Wang is in the rotation. Joba is in the rotation. Hughes will be in the rotation in 2010. 2/5 slots homegrown now and 3/5 next yr, thats not too bad. Especially since our bullpen is home grown (hell, even Marte was our farmhand). And more is coming. The fact that we lost by far the most players in the Rule V should show you how other teams value our talent. That they'd be willing to take guys who were AA or below (all but Kroenke) and give them a 25 man slot should tell you something.

Players begin their careers with the tools. What needs to be developed is the approach. Butler came up a free swinger and had a decent start. The league adjusted to him and its on him to adjust back. Anderson already has a good approach, the question is will he maintain that when his MLB career is in its infancy. A lot of very patient MiLB hitters who come up to the bigs very young (20-22) seem to forget that patience is a key part of hitting. They eventually re-establish it as they age.

he wants to get paid. Cleveland is a mid market team not likely to be doling out 20+ mil a yr on a 38 yr old OFer. I think he stays on the west coast for the duration with a possible stay in pinstripes if we are desperate

I do think that Cashman's eventual plan is to fill most holes internally, but our farm system was incredibly desolate prior to Hughes drafting in 2004. Wang and Cano were essentially our only hopes (aside from Eric Duncan but we wont go there). Now, the farm is stocked with pitching talent at all levels. My biggest concern is that we have only a couple of good offensive prospects at the higher levels (Gardner in MLB, Jackson in AAA) with the bulk of the offensive talent slated to start in A+ this yr. That means that the next bolus of prospects wont be ready until 2011 and we'll have a lot of holes to fill for 2010. So that means more of the same

even if they were, there are times when you have a small fracture that isnt picked up until a week later after the XRay shows the healing callous. That happens a lot. His wrist wasnt displaced, but it still must have hurt a good amount

Matsui was signed prior to his knee issues. He initially signed a 3 yr 21 mil deal and he was the balls during that run. 162 games every yr. OBP over .370. .850OPS. 24HR per yr. 110RBI per yr. He was dynamite for the money when he came over. After that, we signed him to a 4 yr 52 mil deal prior to his age 32 season. We really shouldnt have thought he would break down the way he did. He broke the wrist in yr 1 of the contract. In yr 2, he had a solid yr (25HR 103RBI .855OPS) but had knee trouble which hampered him into the playoffs. Last yr, he started off gangbusters (he hit .340 through May) but the knee acted up again. Now, the hope was to keep him as the DH, keep his surgically repaired knee off the turf at all costs and essentially coast into his final season in pinstripes with him just raking. Which he was on pace to do before the knee sapped him of his power. Damon was different. We signed him to be our CFer after 2005, but I think the biggest thing we wanted was his sparkplug ability at the top of the order. He isnt a liability in LF, far from it. But in CF where throws are needed, he is a liability. He can still track the ball well and he still has good speed. That being said, I would say the Damon contract has been well worth it. .286/.362/.448 with 53 homers over those 3 yrs, I must say he's been worth every penny out of that leadoff spot. I will tell you this right now. With the economy the way it is and with how determined this franchise was this offseason in getting prime talent, we are gonna retool something fierce over the next few yrs. Here are the salaries coming off the books after the next few yrs 2009- Matsui- 13 mil a yr, Damon 13 mil a yr, Nady 6 mil a yr, Pettitte 12 mil with incentives. Thats 44 million dollars coming off the books. With the CF slot being filled internally and the 5th starter slot being filled internally, that leaves 2 OF slots for 44 mil a yr and two prime, young powerful corner OF candidates coming into FA. 2010- Rivera- 15 mil, Jeter- 19 mil a yr. Thats 34 mil on one player who wont be returning (Rivera) and on another that will need to take a massive paycut, retire or go somewhere else in Jeter. Just in time for us to hit the market again and get a good SS. 2011- Posada- 15 mil a yr. Swisher 7 mil a yr. Those are a bunch of older contracts akin to what we had last yr when Giambi, Abreu, and Mussina walked. Even though we are playing a pretty penny to do so, we have started to get younger and I think Cashman will continue the trend of spurning the older vets who are looking for their last payday in lieu of younger players in their primes at prime money

why the hate on Grud? Or Ray Durham who does nothing but get on base.

who said replace? In my scenario, Grudzielanek and ARod are in the same lineup

There are a couple ways to try and go at this. 1. This one if obvious, just get the surgery. 4 months takes him out until the second week of July. But an in season rehab is an easy way to make the injury not heal properly, and it would also take us from being leaders of the pack to fighting for mediocrity for 3 months. 2. Play ARod at third and see what happens. This one will likely lead to him being effective early on and then we'll see him wane to being essentially useless come postseason. But then again, we've lived through that. 3. My favorite option. Have ARod play 3 of every 7 at 3rd and 3 of every 7 at DH. It will guarantee a day off a week, plus 3 days off from the field in games he plays. It would also mean moving Hideki into the OF for 3 games a week, something he might not be capable of doing. This should allow us the leeway to see ARod through the season. But this will come with a serious caveat. We'd need to find a player who is good and who is willing to play 4 of every 7 days. I think that guy is Grudzielanek. While he doesnt have the power of ARod, he does get on base at a reasonable clip (.345 and .346 the last 2 yrs) and he's one tough AB.

so it went from a cyst to a torn labrum. Thats what Lowell has. f***ing great

This is where a veteran like Grudzielanek or Durham still being available helps this team. Out until May seems to be the worst case scenario and the season doesnt start until the second week of April. So, it comes down to about 3 weeks, which is the amount of time he missed last yr. This isnt reconstruction of the joint thank god. Cause as we saw with Lowell, his reconstruction took place in November and he's still limited. And adding Tex should help offset his loss for a short period of time, but ARod is in a class by himself offensively. In terms of our in house depth, our MiLB 3b's are at best 1.5-2 yrs away (Laird and Suttle). Our depth outside of 1b in the IF is pretty thin from AAA-AA

I think the biggest problem was that they rushed him. Then his injury clouded things a bit. I think a full yr in AAA will regain his prospect status and he'll be ready to take the #5 hole in 2010.

So, I was wondering why they sent Hughes to the AFL aside from just getting innings. Which, to be honest with you, they could have done at their complex in florida in simulated games. But I finally got my answer after seeing an interview done on PP 1. Hughes added a cutter. He's had a 2 seamer and a 4 seamer, but adding the cutter gives him a bit more versatility vs lefties, something he struggled with in his time in NY. It started out as a very raw pitch but he got the hang of it by the end of the AFL 2. Hughes sped up his curveball. He now throws it with the same arm speed as his fastball and has added about 5mph to it. Now, instead of it being a loopy curve that sometimes lacks direction, it is more of a tighter curve. 3. Hughes changed his grip on his changeup to get more downward motion. Plus, his FB was noted to sit in the 91-95 range when in the AFL. This may have been another reason why the yankees went back to Pettitte with an offer that would net him more than the initial 10 mil offer should he reach his standard marks. Because these changes will require time, and having Pettitte around allows him to get a yr in AAA under his belt.

Penny didnt get his shoulder cleaned out in the offseason. There were rumors that he needed surgery. Fatigue this early in the process can be completely normal though, so dont blow this out of proportion. That being said, it still isnt good for the sox. If Penny slips and starts the season on the DL, then Buchholz starts the yr in the rotation.

How do you come to that conclusion after watching Ells for the last 4 months of last yr? Gardner got a cup of coffee in the big leagues basically due to the yankee stockpile of veteran talent in the OF. All you can go on for Gardner is MiLB numbers. And the one thing that Gardner has routinely pounded Ellsbury on is his patience. Gardner's MiLB IsoPatience is .099. Ellsbury's is .076. Interestingly enough, they both have the EXACT same MiLB OBP (.389). That should tell you that the difference is minimal in terms of getting on base. Ells is a better bat man, I have given you that and he has more power potential. But the name of the game for these two will be OBP since both dont have much power and both can set the world on fire with their speed. And they are within one month in age of each other. Their similarities are too numerous to count at this point. To say that one will be better right now after Ellsbury is coming off a terrible final 4 months of 2008 is stupid. And saying that one sucks and one doesnt is outright wrong since both are so similar. On a related front, Gardner went 3 for 3 today vs the USA team, bringing his total to 8 for 13 with 2 homers in the spring

Why is that so out of the question. Gardner has a more patient approach to hitting at this point, so yes, I'd say his approach right now is better since Ells ended the yr hacking and slashing at any pitch within 2 feet of the zone. Gardner is also just as fast if not faster than Ellsbury and covers ground just as well. They are both extremely similar in their overall games with Ellsbury having more of a power projection (which isnt saying much since Gardner has no power at all).

I agree that Bard's fastball should get anyone excited. But in order for him to even break into the sox pen, he's gotta get much better. We'll see. He's young and has made significant improvements since his move to the pen. But IMHO, he is not a guy that sox fans are gonna love. After going through 2.5 yrs watching a guy with similar stuff and command dominate and struggle like a manic depressive in our pen, I'd be skeptical. Think about it this way. Hansen was the better pitcher between the two and you saw how that worked out.

When you are involved in skimming money off contracts that go to the poorest people in some of the poorest countries in the world, you should be fired. These dominican kids get that 1-2 mil contract and that helps not only them, but their entire families as most of these kids share that with 10-20 people. Taking even one penny off the top should be investigated and I am glad this scumbag is out of work.