jacksonianmarch

In terms of acquiring Swisher, there are a few things to consider 1. Swisher is the perfect buy low opportunity. He's a career .805 OPS guy who is coming off an abysmal yr after putting up 2 solid mid .800OPS yrs. 2. He adds power back to a team that has sorely lacked it. He's a .451 career SLG guy who will likely experience a surge in power once he moves to lefty friendly yankee stadium. 3. His versatility will help a ton. He could tag team with Damon and a couple of the rookies to lock down CF. He could be the everyday 1b. He could switch off with Nady at both 1b and RF. And he can also play LF if needed. 4. He's 27 and has already hit 104 homers. If you consider that he is entering his prime, you should expect him to improve significantly 5. He's signed for the next 3 yrs at 21mil with a 10.5 mil option for yr 4. Hence, for a versatile, switch hitting power hitter, we have him locked up pretty cheap through his early prime yrs. AND THE BEST OF ALL.... We got him for our utility IFer who lost his job to Cody Ransom, a minor league pitcher who looks more and more like a long man, and another reliever who has bounced around between WAS, NYY and now CWS. To be honest with you, I think Nunez will be the best player of the bunch when its all said and done. This is a solid move. It doesnt rule us out for anyone, but covers us at one of the two positions of need.

I agree with having Marte for 2009, but commiting to him now for 3 yrs when we have some power pen lefties close to being ready isnt best value when we could get 2 picks for Marte after this upcoming yr. That being said, He turns 34 and throws cheddar from the left with a sick slider. He is still gonna be one hell of a reliever, but 2 picks and one yr would have been nice.

3yrs 12 mil. For financial motives, this makes sense. By picking up the option they would have paid 6 mil, so this is essentially a 2yr 6mil offer on top of the option. But I disagree with this move entirely. I thought the option was much better. The Yankees have Coke, De la Rosa, and Dunn either in the bigs or in AA or higher. All three left handed and all three with high upside velocity and breaking pitches. I thought the idea of Marte for 1 yr would give them time to develop WDR and Dunn as well as keeping Marte as a Type A FA to nab 2 picks for 2010. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/yankees/2008/11/marte-gets-three-year-12m-deal.html

Laird is a solid catcher who wouldnt embarass himself in the 8 or 9 hole. He's also 28 and 2 of his last 3 yrs havent been awful offensively. Listen, I think Salty's offensive potential is much higher than Laird's. But Laird as a catcher is a finished product. A defensive minded catcher who can hit at times. There is no doubt that if you get him, he's your catcher for the next 5 yrs. Salty OTOH is a question mark all around. He's shown good patience, but hasnt hit with consistency above A+ ball. He has also been described by scouts as being terrible defensively. Slow feet, poor mechanics, inaccurate arm, etc. He's an absolutely awful defender. So much so, that most people think he's gonna be a 1b. He does have great potential offensively, but can you tell me that he's worth a guy with the potential of Michael Bowden, when he might end up being a 1b? Cause if he didnt have catcher attached to his resume, his worth would plummet

I have to think that Beane has a side deal, cause this deal makes no sense. The A's deal away Haren, Harden and Blanton in a 12 month span. One of the guys who steps in and does well is now on his way out too in Smith. Dont knock the kid. He did have a low 4 ERA in the AL, he's 24, a lefty and he threw nearly 200IP. He's got a good ceiling. Street is worth a lot more than as a throw in, and Gonzalez is considered to be the A's best OF prospect. This doesnt make sense from the A's perspective. They dont have the rotation to belly up to the table with Anaheim. Hell, their rotation as it stands now is Eveland, Braden, Duchsherer, and ???. They found a replacement for Street in Zeigler, but losing Street takes away a key cog in the middle of that pen. This doesnt make much sense. Everything the A's were doing looked like a stockpiling process. They arent even close to being finished with a rebuild, so they go out and get a guy who's on a 1 yr deal when the A's know they have no shot at contending next yr? I have a feeling the A's are gonna swing him off. Maybe the Cards were offering Rasmus and the Rocks dont like him but the A's do. We'll see. Cause this move makes no sense for the A's. As for the Rocks, this is a great move. Smith will slide in with Jimenez, Francis and Cook to make a pretty solid 1-4. Street will team with Corpas to make a solid 8-9 inning tandem. And Gonzalez can go to CF, and grow in Coors where his numbers should skyrocket. The rocks must have had to ask 3 or 4 times if the A's were serious. Cause this is a f***ing haul, and it will set the market for marquee offensive talent this offseason

we need a catcher. Posada has a good chance of not being ready to catch for the yr, and may be done as a catcher. But Salty is not the guy I want to empty the farm for. I'd take Laird over him anyday of the week. The reason being? Salty hasnt proven he can hit consistently above the A+ level, and he is an awful defender.

he's a massive project who will likely end up a 1b. And it will cost a ton to get him.

Salty is a s***** catcher, period. And is Varitek gonna help him hit?

Bleich finally started again last night and he dominated once again. 5IP 4H 0ER 0BB 9K. Since starting off rocky in his first 2 starts in the HWL, he has put up this line: 24.2IP 16H 2ER 1BB 28K. After getting some time off after an injury plagued Jr yr, Bleich is absolutely dominating and is now starting to see his velocity come up into the low 90s range once again.

Good. Peavy isnt a horse and thats what we need. We need a guy capable of fronting an AL rotation and giving up 7-8 innings a game. And there are a few of those guys on the FA market, where no return talent would be needed.

Boras can squeak out 2 yrs from the sox. The Sox know that their best catching prospects are in A ball. Exposito is the highest ranked one and this really was his best yr, so we'll see. The sox are deep in a lot of positions, but catcher is not one of them

It makes no sense. Varitek obviously is past his prime. All he has is this mystical "game calling ability". He can't hit. He can't throw. And his quickness and blocking skills are sliding.

It was a tale of two seasons for Pavano. He stumbled down the stretch, that is no secret. But getting 200IP at 100 ERA+ isnt bad at all. I'd hope for better, but that is certainly good.

adds MLB depth. When he is on, Mitre has a good sinker/slider combo. Maybe they are banking on us having a good amount of luck with Wang and the possibility that his issues were due to injury and not suckitude. Its low risk and at the very least, it attempts to prevent Ponson III

If they pursued Tex, I dont think there would be much question who would take the 1b slot, so there wont be a roster scrum per se. I just find it hard to believe that a FO like the sox who preach flexibility, would lock themselves up with a player like Tex for 8 yrs (which is how long its gonna take) when... A. They have the DH slot, 1b slot, and 3b slot filled with all star caliber players locked up for at least the next 2 yrs. and B. they have a top 20 prospect in all of baseball at that position who looks like he can become a Tex in the future. I dont see the reason to pursue him when they could fill the position internally with AS caliber talent in the short term and top notch prospect talent in the long term.

http://blogs.weei.com/alexspeier/2008/11/03/peavy-blocks-trade-to-sox/

The nebulous idea of dealing Lowell. I see.

Sounds like a trade will be in order.

I dont know about this idea. Sounds like the yankees are going to offer him arbitration and potentially offer him a multi yr deal. I do agree that you get more value out of a reliever by getting Type A compensation, but you would leave Phil Coke alone as the yankees LH specialist. Unless the yankees are sold on Wilkins de la Rosa as a LH specialist come mid season (btw, he will start in AA, so he aint ready). I liked the idea of keeping Marte. But Gom, you liked the idea of letting him go and getting the comp, so you should be happy.

I was thinking Mirabelli in his yrs in Boston when he was actually a good backup.

Its official. They exercised it

Carlos Quentin might win it. IMO, it should be Youkilis, but I think they both end up stealing votes from each other and someone else will win it

Atkins to 1b maybe? Regardless, I dont see how this does anything for us. I could see Kennedy being the centerpiece in a DeJesus deal, and I'd f***ing love that