jacksonianmarch

Miller's upside tops them all. A 6'6" lefty who can throw high 90s consistently has the upside on anyone.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2007/12/05/2007-12-05_brian_cashman_yanks_balk_at_millions_and.html?page=0 So the package was Hughes, Melky, Marquez and Hilligoss. Wow. I still had a tough time with the idea of dealing Hughes, and it seems that Cashman had an equally tough time. Good for him, sticking to his laurels. If it works, he will have jump started a dynasty that could last for a decade and a half. If it doesnt, the sox may win 5-6 championships before we get off the mat.

47.25 mil, yes, but there will be one open slot in the rotation after Buchholz snags one, an open left field slot, and an open catchers slot. And I am not sure you can totally expect Vtek to take a pay cut with the market the way it is. Lets assume, for one second, that the sox go out and pay 12 mil for a #4 starter and resign Vtek to a 2 yr 20 mil deal. That 27.25 mil will not cover a starting LFer, and Santana. 23-25 of that will be Santana. And a loss of Manny will hurt astronomically.

a high teens contract doesnt get him. I have been wrong before, but this time, we arent dealing with a moron GM. We are dealing with an agent. Santana will make 23-25 mil a season on the open market. There is no way he settles for less.

http://wintermeetings.mlblogs.com/nashvilleconfidential/2007/12/tigers_set_to_a.html Tigers get both...

oh no doubt. Your rotation with Santana is ridiculous.

so now Lowrie is out of the package? That makes no sense.

Insurance to me is if a guy is out for an extended period of time. Nobody really cares if you need to have a spot starter throw a couple games. Lets say for argument's sake that Beckett takes a comebacker off the pitching hand, needs surgery and is out 3 months. This is the kind of insurance I am talking about.

The only guy with any projection left is Pauley, and he reminds me of Karstens, a lot.

That is what again? A huge package of potentially average to pretty good players. Yes, that is true. No spectacular players going their way. The best potential player is Kalish who hasnt made it out of the short seasons yet. And in terms of you being right, it has more to do with Smith's idiocy than your knowledge.

In terms of insurance... The Sox top 5 would be Santana Beckett Schilling DiceK Wake the #6 would be Buchholz as the insurance. Past that, you have Michael Bowden and thats it. For the Yankees... 1. Wang 2. Pettitte 3. Chamberlain 4. Hughes 5. Kennedy The 6 being Mussina. After that, you have Horne, McCutchen, White, Sanchez, Marquez, Wright, Igawa, Karstens, Rasner. By 2009, assuming a lot obviously... 1. Wang 2. Hughes 3. Chamberlain 4. Kennedy 5. FA signing most likely with other guys maturing and coming into the roles. The same guys as above with the potential to have Heredia, Betances, Barreda, McCallister, Reyes, Nova and some of the other longer range guys. I dont think we lack in insurance policy. But if you want to make an analogy.... Your car is the supped up Mustang but your parts facility is running low. Our car is the old mustang sitting on the blocks with an instruction manual and all the parts we could possibly want. IE, if nothing goes wrong, your rotation with Santana is gonna be ridiculous. If we get some luck and the kids progress the way we think they can, we can match you, but likely not anytime soon as we still need to work the kinks out.

you sick f***!

Hughes had one good second half? Hughes was hurt for the first half and totally sucked for a stretch of 3-4 starts. Once the pitching coach from AAA came up and unmonkeyed around with his mechanics (thanks Gator) he started pitching well again. Well, that pitching coach is now the MLB pitching coach, so that excuse has flown. That being said, I expect Hughes to be very good this season. Chamberlain hasnt started, that is true, but in the minors he wasnt just dominant, he was dirty. And we saw what he could do to MLB hitters in the clutch. It wasnt even fair. As a starter, he likely wont be throwing 101, but he can sit in the high 90s for 5-6 innings like he did in Tampa and Trenton. And in terms of Kennedy, you dont rocket through a system having the success that he had and winning the MiLB pitcher of the yr if you suck. He is a good pitcher too. All three of these guys have high upside. It all depends on how they adjust. But to imply that they will flop is more wishful thinking than anything. And in terms of Wang, um, aside from last yrs playoffs, where else did he flop? Yeah, he didnt. He is about as good a bet to win 15-20 games as anyone with the offense returning. Face it, with Wang and Pettitte atop the rotation, we have 2 guys who will likely give us 400IP and 35-40 wins.

the rotation still is better than any we have come into the season with the past few seasons. Think about it. RJ- bust Pavana- bust Wright- bust Vazquez- bust Brown- bust Last yr we started the season with a rotation of Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Pavano, Rasner all the while knowing that Clemens was in the wings. Aside from Wang and Pettitte the rest failed. Well, Wang and Pettitte are back. And instead of relying on old guys or fringe players, we are relying on 3 hot prospects at the back end of the rotation. We know what we will get out of Wang and Pettitte (for the most part). If only one of the kids actually pitches well, then we have a top 3 of our rotation that is nice. If all 3 make strides this season, obviously not CY type strides, then our rotation will be solid. And instead of having to rely on moose every 5th day, we get to use him as a spot starter, ie his arm will be fresher. And when he had time off, he was good in return. If you guys get Santana, your rotation will be far and away the best in the game. But it doesnt mean ours will suck.

Status quo is not a bad thing IMO. Hughes and Joba are gonna be filthy for a long time. Wang at 27 would slot in as a very goo #3 and Kennedy has a long future in the game as well. In a yr or two, we will have one of the best young rotations in the game.

So its true. The twins value both Lester and Ellsbury higher than Hughes. What idiots.

hahaha. If health is the issue, though, I'd assume the twins should be more worried about leukemia. Dont you think?

Which is EXACTLY what the DBacks did when they dealt you guys Schill. I find the package the sox are offering to have equal ability to be nothing more than mediocre than they do of being above average.

ceiling for a AA player vs a player who rocketed through the minors and is currently in the majors leagues. And BTW, nowadays, a solid middle rotation starter is more valuable than a setup man. A solid #3 pitcher who can keep their ERA around 4 will make 10-15 mil a season.

first of all, it isnt XYZ for you guys, it is X and Y. The X could be two variables, but both wont be included. That being said, lets assume the deal is Horne for us and Masterson for you guys. Hughes >> Lester Melky > Crisp Horne = Masterson Nobody

I think the twins are more interested in restocking their positional depth with mediocrity than having another ace with poor players around him. So instead of having those "little piranhas" as Guillen talked about, they would rather than MLB average to above average players (Crisp, likely Lowrie) around an average to above average rotation. Sounds like that'll sit them squarely in the 3 hole in the division for yrs to come.

Put that 11-2 in context. 11-2 4.68ERA 144IP 152H 110K 74BB ---- 9.5H/9IP 4.6BB/9IP 6.9K/9IP 1.57WHIP Those numbers are absolutely god awful.

Liriano was thrown in because his arm was falling off. But that point aside, that was more Terry Ryan vs idiot SF GM (Sabean) than anything else. This time, he is dealing with two good GMs who wont get boondoggled. And he is dealing a player he kinda has to deal and has a limited number of suitors.

that is true, but it can be broken down further. You remember, HS algebra? Its broken down, but not all the way. You can do better than that!

Milledge and Dukes in the same outfield. Ladies and Gentleman, watch out.