jacksonianmarch

there were reports yesterday that it reached 91 mil over 5 yrs, but those have since been debunked. The most recent rumor I heard was that it "exceeded" 80 mil over 5 yrs, most likely 84-85 mil. Like I said before, I dont give two shits about the money. Its the yrs. I dont like 5 yrs on Burnett. But so be it. We have a brand spanking new money machine being rolled out, might as well peak the interest in the fanbase from the getgo.

Looks like the yankees have entered the fray. I doubt they are true players in the market for Tex, but it would make some sense if you figure that even with Burnett, CC and Pettitte, they will still come in 22 mil or so under budget AND they have 56 million coming off the books after 09. Why not get the best guy now, move Swish to LF or RF and move Matsui, Damon or Nady in their walk yr

actually they've made 2 acquisitions on offense. Trading for Swisher was one and then dealing for Cameron is another. But they have the cash. Look at the guys coming off contract in terms of AAV and single season payout... Pudge- 13mil in 08 (option picked up by Tigers) Giambi- 17.1mil AAV (21mil in 08) Betemit- 1.1 mil AAV Abreu- 16mil in 08 (option picked up by Yankees) Pavano- 10 mil AAV in 08 (11 mil in 08) Pettitte- 16mil in 08 Mussina- 11.5mil in 2008 That comes out to 84.5 mil coming off the lux tax cap and 88.5 mil off the 2008 total payout. Now lets look at the guys we are adding Marte- 4 mil per, which is a 1 mil increase over his salary from 08- +1mil Swisher- 5.3 mil salary in 09 with a 5.4mil AAV of his salary- +5.4mil Cameron- if no salary is picked up, +10 mil, lets say for argument's sake, the Brewers pick up 3mil of it. +7mil Sabathia- +23mil Burnett- +17 mil (I think the 5yrs 85 will do it) If all the above are finalized, we'll have no holes in the lineup and one hole in the rotation with a total of 53.4 mil being added to the payroll. Therefore, our team salary will decrease by $31 million and our total payout for 2009 will decrease by $35mil. Lets say for argument's sake, we meet Pettitte in the middle and sign him for 13 mil. That would leave us with a 22 mil savings from 08 to 09 while allowing us to field.... C- Posada 1B- Swisher 2B- Cano 3B- Rodriguez SS- Jeter LF- Damon CF- Cameron RF- Nady DH- Matsui Bench: Molina- Backup C Ransom- Backup IFer or OFer Miranda- Backup 1B, LF, DH Gardner- 4th OFer XXX- utility guy to be named (sounds like either Bill Hall or Nick Punto) Rotation #1- C.C. Sabathia #2- Chien-Ming Wang #3- A.J. Burnett #4- Andy Pettitte #5- Joba Chamberlain Relief Rivera Marte Veras Ramirez +2 from a long list of viable candidates. For the first time in a long while, I can honestly say that the team is stacked if the above team is fielded. We arent overly offensively loaded. We are significantly pitching loaded. And the only thing that will slow us down is the injury bug. The scariest thing about the above team is that after 09, another 56 mil comes off the books (Cameron, Nady, Matsui, Pettitte, and Damon) and if things break right, Pettitte would be replaced internally. That means we'd have another 3 offensive holes (Action Jackson would likely start 2010 in CF) to fill with a good market once again in 2010. Just in time for Holliday and Magglio to hit the market.

The deal has been talked about for weeks and the only sticking point was how much salary the brewers would eat. If we give them Melky and they eat some salary then that s a frickin steal.

I understand that Cameron is getting towards the end of the line, but he is much better than Melky. In 08, he posted a .808OPS. He is still one of the best defensive CFers in baseball. He can still steal a base and hit homers (17 and 25 respectively in 08) and the best part is his patience. He K's a ton, but he saw 4.2P/PA last yr which was 10th in all of baseball. As it stands, the yankees have... 3 players who posted 4+ P/PA #1- Swisher- 4.51 #10- Cameron- 4.21 #23- Johnny Damon- 4.10 ARod was 3.88, Posada's career #s are in the 3.8-4 range, and Matsui has been above 4 twice in his career. That's 6 guys in the lineup with a history of chewing through pitching. Jeter (3.75), Nady (3.6) and Cano (3.3) dont see as many pitches, but to have a lineup that averages 35 pitches per 9 man turn is phenomenal. That brings us right back to where the sox were (35.2) in terms of P/9 man turn. The more you grind pitchers the better your lineup will be.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/12/11/2008-12-11_sources_yankees_to_trade_melky_cabrera_t-1.html All they dealt was Melky. Wow.

I have a feeling that Pettitte's injury is more serious than he is letting on, otherwise, this would have been resolved awhile ago. If Andy is fine, then there is no reason NOT to re-up him for one yr.

I am advocating both. And read the post again. I put pitcher in quotations for a reason. I didnt mean better player. Wang is worth a ton more than Lowe. Lowe is the better "pitcher" as in he has better secondary stuff and better control. Wang is the more valuable player because, even though he really has one pitch, he is so damn effective with it that he's carved out a nice niche in the yankee universe as their pseudo-ace. Wang>Lowe. No doubt. But in terms of secondary stuff and location, Lowe takes the cake

Because you can pencil Lowe in for 32 starts and 190+IP. Remember Gom, we had one of the worst SP workloads in baseball last yr. That hurt a lot. With Lowe, you get a guy who can eat a ton of innings. And if he is the #4, so be it. If we have 3 pitchers better than Lowe with the #5 guy being Joba then I am happy as a pig in slop.

There was a reason why CC threw 250+ IP last yr. The Cleveland and Milwaukee pens were total dogshit last season. And yes, with his introduction into Yankee land, I expect CC to get a big workload reduction. I still expect 200+, but I wouldnt expect more than 220

Wow, thats a big risk. But can't fault the yankees for trying. After winning 4 world series on the backs of their pitching staff, I think the yankee brass finally got their shot to restock the pitching talent. You start with a durable hoss in Wang and a young hot shot potential ace in Joba. You add one of the most durable and best pitchers in the game in CC. Add a clockwork workhorse machine in Lowe. And then add in the guy who could be the best of them all if his head is screwed on tight and he avoids the DL and we are putting together a rotation that should be the best in all of baseball. That being said, adding Burnett to this picture puts a serious *if healthy asterisk on the seasons ahead. But nobody doubts his stuff. The guy could be the best pitcher in baseball if he stayed healthy. His post AS splits are insanely good for a team still in the playoff hunt in the ALE. 8-2 94IP 82H 105K 29BB. Well, we have the financial advantage, it will only get bigger with the new stadium. Use it until they outlaw it.

Adding Derek Lowe to this team is a sound move. I may not agree with the dollar amount, but Lowe is the PERFECT fit for this team. Lets start with team factors then break down Lowe. First of all, this team is loaded with minor league pitching talent, but we cannot lean on them out of the gate. If we nab Pettitte and throw him in with Lowe, CC, Wang and Joba, that rotation would be solid. It also means that Joba would need to be spelled at times this yr and Pettitte would need to be replaced internally after next yr. This gives us a chance to break in a new #5 starter each yr for the next 2 seasons (3 if you consider Wang a goner after 2010). Now on to why Lowe is a perfect fit. The Yankees were 25th in the MLB in terms of starting pitcher's IP. 25th! And second to last in the AL to boot. This means that our relievers had an enormous burden. Derek Lowe fixes that. Lets go through Lowe systematically like I did with CC 1. Age- Lowe is 35 and by the end of the contract, will have turned 39. That's old even by today's standards 2. Size- Lowe is a monster of a man, not CC size, but BIG. He's 6'6" 230lbs. This is likely why Lowe still throws so darn hard at 35. 3. Endurance- Derek Lowe was converted back to a starter in 2002. Since then, he has made 32 or more starts in EVERY YR. That's 7 yrs of starting with 32-35 starts a yr. The man is a machine. He has also thrown 199 or more innings in 6 of those 7 yrs. That is insane. 4. His performance- This is where the naysayers get to have their fun. DEREK LOWE SUCKED IN HIS LAST YR IN BOSTON!! That much is true. But I think that is as much of an outlier as his first yr in Boston when he was right up there for the CY. In his last 2 yrs in Boston, Lowe walked 72 ans 71 guys respectively. In his other 5 seasons, he walked a maximum of 59. His BB totals are down, his K totals have stayed the same, the innings have stayed the same and the GO/AO ratio has been in the 2.8-3.5 range every yr except this past one. He is worse than his 2008 stats looked, but he is better than his 2004 stats look. He is a guy who, if he came to NY, would have a 1.3 WHIP with a GO/AO of 3, he'll throw 200IP and probably win 15-18 games with our offense and bullpen. He isnt like CC in that he isnt rising. He has been remarkably consistent, and right now, as a #3 starter, that is what we need more than anything.

So the biggest fish on the market lands in NY. Fitting, and awesome. Lets break down CC for awhile. 1. He's 28. It is reasonable to assume that the 7 yrs will take him through his prime and likely into the beginning of a decline phase. 2. His size. Both a boon and a potential curse. He's a power pitcher, and we all know that small power pitchers burn out faster than the big ones. So when he throws, he isnt likely to lose the mid to high 90s heat as say a Pedro Martinez did. But also, he is SO big that the lower body joints will give him trouble as he ages. The back, the hips, the knees. So it is both a boon and a curse. 3. His durability. CC entered the bigs as a 20 yr old and threw 180IP. In his 8MLB seasons, Sabathia has started less than 30 times only once (28 in 2006). He has surpassed 180IP every yr of his big league career. He's surpassed 190IP in 6 of his 8 yrs and has surpassed 200IP in 3 of his seasons. The man takes the mound. 4. His performance. One of the things that hasnt gotten much pub is how improved CC is over his past 4 seasons. He started his career as a prototypical power pitching prospect. High K, high BB then transformed into more of a contact pitcher, then found his power again. He really started to turn it on in 2005. He saw his BB total drop, his K/9 get above 7 again and his WHIP get below 1.3 for the first time in his career. He also saw a sharp rise in his GB/AO from 0.8-1.3. Since that time, Sabathia hasnt looked back. His K/9IP since 2005 are...7.37-8.04-7.81-8.93. All consistently in a power pitcher range. His K/BB have risen sharply since 2005. 2.60-3.91-5.65-4.25. And he has seen his OPS against drop as well. 2004 on: .736-.682-.654-.682-.622. All of this points towards CC actually getting BETTER. And he is entering the prime of his career. The point of the matter is, we got a guy who is one of the top 5 pitchers in all of baseball who is the most durable pitcher in baseball at a young age and while his numbers are getting better. We havent made an acquisition like this since we signed Catfish Hunter at the age of 29. Previously, we were all about getting the wily veteran and going yr by yr. Now we have a guy in his prime who is at the top of his game and rising for a huge portion of his career. This is something we havent seen in 30 yrs.

The yankees have a certain amount of class? Class comes from winning apparently. The Bronx zoo teams didnt have any class. The late 90s dynasty had some class. And all the while we had an owner who was a loudmouther ******* who got himself thrown out of baseball. Cmon now.

Matsui isnt in "decline" in terms of his ability. He's in decline in terms of his health. If that knee is finally right (which I doubt he'll ever get back to 100%) then we'll see the standard .290+ 20+ 100+ that we used to

no leash to keep. Hank is all bark but has no bite. He makes no decisions

I agree ORS. That being said, 3 yrs of CC is better than none. And I have a hard time thinking that he's gonna opt out. Granted, in 3 yrs the economy should be better, but I have a hard time thinking that as a 31 yr old, he'll get more than 23 mil a yr.

I dont care about money when it comes to pitching. I care about yrs. And while I would have liked 2-3 yrs on Lowe, 4 isnt too bad. I'll tell you this much. Lowe is a much better bet to pitch all 4 yrs and throw a lot of innings. I think that's why we are going overboard to get him. Lowe as the #5 in Boston would be devastating

Hank may want Manny, but we dont have a spot for him.

Aceves was very good and he gained a lot of velocity as the yr went on. He'll be in AAA with Hughes and Kennedy and might be the first callup at the first sign of trouble

This is hilarious. Those who are trying to compare Beckett to CC in terms of price will get their say this upcoming offseason. Beckett is gonna get a massive payday and he will parlay his offseason successes into tons of cash. That being said, I stand by what I said earlier in the offseason. I wanted Lowe, but not as the sole offseason pitching acquisition. But add CC and you have a 1,2 and 3 as well as a potential ace in Joba as the 5. Throw Pettitte into the #4 slot and you have a top 4 in the rotation that will exceed 200IP per, which is EXACTLY what this team needed. Last yr, we were one of the worst teams in terms of IP by our original starting 5. Instead, we will have 3 or 4 guys who have reached the 200 mark on a regular basis. That is huge