jacksonianmarch

He has all the tools that is for sure.

Dont try to sugarcoat this a700. The Yankees offense has been a serious problem of late. But their rotation and pen have been dynamite. With Damon coming back, you get rid of one of the automatic outs. If Matsui doesnt come back, I see a trade in the works. As for you guys, the offense is there. The rotation is solid. The closer is dynamite. But the bridge to Papelbon is awful and that was your downfall in this series. If Oki was the Oki of last yr, Becks doesnt get the opportunity to lose yesterday. If Oki was the Oki of last yr, Wake doesnt get the opportunity to start the 8th. It is obvious where the weaknesses lie. And Francona has lost faith in the guys. Now Masterson is the great big hope for the middle relief. I think he can do it, but if he doesnt, the sox are setting up to be fleeced at the deadline. Cause without a better bridge, this team doesnt win the WS again and I think thats the ultimate goal.

Pettitte vs Duch is quite a matchup. Duch would be the leader in the CY voting if his team could hit. That sub 2 ERA in the AL is ridiculous.

First of all, you will be hearing a lot of "rumors" about signings. Since Selig's edict about paying slot, many teams are waiting to announce their over slot signings until the Aug 15th deadline so over slot signings dont mess with other teams negotiations. As is Boras' style, the Yankees and Cole havent had much of any discussion on money. He typically starts negotiating Aug 1st. As for the rest, Jeremy Bleich is rumored to have agreed to a 1 mil bonus. Scott Bittle and the Yankees are pretty far apart. Bittle wants close to a mil, and the yankees are offering in the mid 6 figures range after a physical showed some laxity in his rotator cuff. 7th round HS power hitting catcher Kyle Higashioka is rumored to have agreed to a 750K bonus 6th round HS power pitcher Brett Marshall is rumored to have accepted 750K and another difficult signee, 10th round pitcher from Clemson, DJ Mitchell and the Yankees are rumored to have agreed to a 500K bonus. No work on the late round difficult signees Monar, Dwyer and others.

This s*** team is 3 back of you guys in the L column.

If they sign Meyer, then this draft is a success. I thought they were a bit weak in the early part of the draft because they got toolsy guys who were very raw. Meyer doesnt necessarily change that (he is still raw) but a 6'7" 18 yr old throwing 94mph with 2 plus potential pitches is something you shouldnt be able to grab in the later rounds. Hopefully this will put pressure on us to sign Dwyer and Monar.

This is per ESPN. Manny is essentially insinuating that the sox have been deceptive in his handling and wants to know where he stands. Henry is upset because he thinks he has been straightforward with Manny. To be honest with you, with the way this market will be, I dont see how Manny hits the road. The cash is high, but the flexibility is sweet. I see him in a sox uni next yr.

they wont deal Gonzalez. They have him under lock and key for awhile and with him and Kouz, they can at least feign the goods to put a formidable offense together for next yr.

yes, they will have to. With 2/3 of our OF being young and bad and the other third being useless against lefties, we will need to have as much pop as possible.

Kelly is a projection pick. Kinda like the Dent pick, but with more power. It is interesting. The sox have gone with a HS player who is raw with lots of skills with their first pick for 2008 and 2006 as well as their 2nd supp pick last yr. This seems to be against the grain from what they used to do when they used to get college guys.

Matsui was the other .320 hitter. But it is looking more and more like he may be done. From a medical perspective, his continued effusions sound like a piece of meniscus is floating in there and needs to be removed. But I am not examining him and I am not an orthopod. Just an educated guess.

Tex is a notorious second half player with a career OPS 100 points greater after the AS break. I dunno if that is a good thing though. All of the teams he has been on have been out of the race by the AS break and this yr is no different. So maybe he is a pileon player. OTOH, he was solid for the Bravos after the deal last yr. I'd assume Tex ends the yr with his standard, near .300 AVG, 30+ bombs and an OPS approaching .900 while playing GG d

Sexson is a better 1b than Giambi, so I would assume that Giambi goes to DH when we face a lefty. Betemit hits lefties pretty poorly and it doesnt sound like we're getting Matsui back anytime soon. I like the move, but I am not banking on it being worthwhile.

Injuries have limited both our teams and have decimated the Jays. So to grade things out you must take that into account.

Lin has the tools like a lot of players do, but he still needs to make more solid contact and continue to show power consistently. He is certainly not Ichiro, as he K's a good amount and hasnt hit for a high average yet. He is 19 at A ball long season, so he is about a yr and a half younger than league average which gives him some leeway. What I do like is the fact that he plays good D at a premium D position, has speed to burn and has shown the potential to have a good eye (.095 IsoPatience as a 19 yr old). The power looks like it is there in the form of doubles and triples, but the HRs havent come yet. He is still a lot of projection and still needs to improve on his BA and consistency, but he is a player to keep an eye out for. In terms of sox OF prospects in A ball, he is less developed than Redick, but has the tools to be more versatile.

I agree with you a700. I think we will certainly be in the discussion for a lot of players, but I dont see us getting deals done. We dont need pen help aside from a lefty specialist and the only lefties available also have the boon of being closers, ie they are gonna cost a lot. We could use a bat, but the only bats worth getting are gonna cost a lot as well and we potentially have 2 .320 hitters coming back in short order. We could use a starter, but our rotation right now has 3 solid pitchers and 2 guys pitching serviceably with our ace coming back by Sept 1, so we dont have a dire need for a front line guy. And CC and Harden are gone now anyway. So I dont see any area as a dire need right now. Plus with the fact that CC, Harden, and Sheets will likely reach FA this yr as well as Teixeira, I dont think the deals we would make for them are worth it when we can get them for a first rounder and money in the offseason. Plus, we will likely be seeing a bunch of first rounders and supp picks coming our way with Type A FAs like Abreu, Giambi, Pettitte, Mussina, and Farnsworth (who was on the cusp last yr and with his excellent performance of late likely pushed himself into A status) and Type B FAs like Hawkins, so losing our 1st and 2nd rounders in FA signees wont hurt as much.

Mariano is god

What happened? Well, I'll tell you what happened. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy proved that they werent ready. Phil physically, Ian mentally. Both should finish the yr in Scranton and both should start next yr there as well. Looks like a lost yr for Phil, while Kennedy is learning the ropes in AAA, a level he never should have skipped. Igawa has just been plain awful. Our ace, Wang goes down for 10 weeks, which equates to about 14 starts. Joba steps in and pitches well. Mussina and Pettitte show they are still good Rasner pitches in with #5 starter performance. Ponson pitches in with #5 starter performance Alan Horne goes down with an elbow twinge then a tired shoulder, looks like a lost yr for the next yankee arm Chase Wright, on the 40 man and pitching well early on, goes down with an arm injury, misses a month and comes back very hittable. Lost yr for him Jeff Karstens injures his leg in ST and comes back as a mediocre AAAA player. Another lost yr Humberto Sanchez needs surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow in February, knocking him out until May and now he is in the GCL pitching out of the pen. Lost yr and lost rotation option. Steven White starts the yr on the 40 man and in the rotation, loses all control, gets moved to the pen, is AWFUL, gets put on waivers with no takers and is now stinking up the joint out of Scranton's pen. Lost everything for him. Alfredo Aceves gets signed out of the Mexican league, dominates AA and A+ ball. Somewhere between his last AA game and his first AAA game he strains his groin and is now working out of the pen Dan McCutchen lights up AA, struggles initially in AAA and then dominates again. A good option if he was a long term fix, but a poor option for the short term as he has proven time and time again that he struggles right after a callup. So in all, we had a lot of depth and anything that could go wrong, did. Nobody is hurt to where their careers are in jeopardy, so thats good, but lots of lost yrs for guys who needed to develop.

I took some heat on yankee sites when I said his diagnosis was a death sentence, usually in 1 yr. But for him, he was a high profile name and a great guy to essentially be a test subject. In doing so, he may have been a part of the first steps towards a treatment that actually works. I had been told in school that GBM was a death sentence. 6 months with no surgery or chemo, 9-12 if you were fully aggressive. And if the patient is still alive a yr out, you question the diagnosis. Well, Bobby was diagnosed 12/2006 and lasted 20 months. If his notoriety and success in battling this disease helps lead to further breakthroughs and treatments, then Bobby's last few months of his life and his subsequent death were his finest moments and could mean hope for millions of future sufferers of this awful disease. And for this, I salute Bobby. Being a guinea pig, knowing that the treatment could kill him, so he could fight for some extra time of his own and for the future. Him raising awareness and staying in the public eye up until his death was the kicker and something he didnt need to do. In terms of a player, I didnt get to see him play. But he sounded like a very nice guy who had a solid family support system and was always willing to help a cause. So, here's to Bobby Murcer, everyone should raise a glass to this man. RIP.

I was very disappointed in Gardenhire's mgmt skills. Having a 3 run lead and watching it melt with an out in the 8th while your two best relievers are rested and waiting.

I am officially the kiss of death for this guy. I made a post last yr prior to Sept about how he was one of the top 5 AL CFers and then he went 18 for 100. He starts out amazing in April and then absolutely tanks after my post. No more. How bout this. Melkman sucks

A decent package? They would want a HUGE package. They have been asking for ridiculous packages for Marte alone. Then to add in Jack Wilson who is a serviceable batter but a solid SS and then their best offensive chip who just happens to catch? The Pirates have been asking big for a reason. Wilson will likely be a type B FA and Marte a Type A. Add in Doumit whose worth is immeasureable right now and you'd be giving up half the farm

exactly ORS. He totalled 142IP last yr and going by the universal model (at least that is what it seems to be) you dont want to increase by more than 30IP at a clip. So his current pace allows him to be an option for a spot start in September if need be, but also allows him to have had an increase in IP. After this yr, the training wheels can likely come off. If he goes 170 this yr, then next yr he'd be on pace for 200, which is about as good as you could expect. The sox did this the right way. Stretch out the pitcher BEFORE he comes to the bigs.

In terms of fatiguing Mo, he is on pace for 75IP this yr. That is right around his avg IP for the past 5 seasons.