jacksonianmarch

Like I said about Rodriguez, he ultimately decides if he wants to stay, and with the recent comments by Boras and that eery look that ARod had prior to leaving the field (have you seen the pic), I dont think he is coming back. He was the last to leave the dugout as he essentially just looked around the field, at the fans, all over. I think that was his goodbye.

Gom, they are old guys who could fall off the map at any point. The only guy who would be leaving who I'd really want back (ARod) may be leaving anyway. Also, I do know the percentage. About half of all first rounders make it to the majors. BUT, with the current draft structure, who says we need to take guys who are the 16th best with the 16th pick. Remember, we have been drafting guys who are much, much better than their draft positions for 3 yrs now since we have invested more money than anyone in the draft. If you increase the picks but continually pluck the expensive, top tier players, you arent just getting first round talent, you are getting superstar talent later in the draft. This wouldnt be drafting a tweener late in the first round. This would be drafting a guy who should be going top 3 but fell 15 spots due to salary demands.

You know what Yankee fans, it might be time to do something none of us ever wanted to see (except me about 3 yrs ago, but who is counting). It might be time to....REBUILD. And we have the absolutely perfect opportunity. Looking at our rotation, we have the potential to have 3 rookies in our rotation next season. If we dont do something to change that (like resign Pettitte and then deal for Santana) then we are likely to go through a rough patch as all rookies have their inconsistencies. But overall, a rotation with Wang, Hughes, Joba, and Kennedy looks like it could really be something in a year or two. Hell, it might even be great now, but lets stay in reality here. Our offense has 2 guys in it who look like they could be awesome players for yrs to come in Melky and Cano. But the rest of the offense is over 32 or unproven (Betemit and Duncan) and the help in the lower levels is at least 2 yrs away. The bullpen was unproven all yr and only got more unproven with Proctor being dealt. And while some of the pitchers out there have fantastic arms, it may take awhile for them to gel and become the pitchers that they could become. All of this is happening while the free agent market is just god awful. There is one closer worth throwing money at who is not named Mariano (Cordero). The lefty options begin and end with a 41 yr old soft tosser named Rheal. The rotation options look worse and the offensive options have 2 CFers, one who is coming off his worst season and the other who has trouble staying healthy and isnt young either. The rest of the options suck. So if we are going to "improve" it will be through the trade route and would thin out our minor league stock. All the while knowing that status quo just isnt working. So, with the veterans trying to hold management hostage for the return of our braindead manager, why not just let these guys walk? Mariano, Pettitte, ARod, Abreu, Posada. All arb eligible if they walk and all type A free agents. Throw in Vizcaino, who would be a type B, and you have what could amount to 5 first round picks (depending on who signs them) and 6 sandwich rounders. This doesnt include our own pick at #28. Throw in the fact that this draft is supposedly deep in prep pitching and college hitting (weak as s*** in college pitching though) and we could take our pitching deep farm system and load up on long range prospects and take our relatively thin short term offensive farm and infuse some closer range talent. Plus, we would considerably decrease the average age of the team which could make this team healthier in the long run. Now I know the yankees fans wouldnt appreciate that, but I sure as hell would. I remember the days of Guetterman, Tartabull, Pagliarulo and the rest and I dont want to slip into those days anymore. No more 1 and done playoff visits. No more AARP members. No more ********. Lets relive the mid 90s when the farm started pumping out HOFers and All stars and were the building blocks of trades that put us over the top. And it would drop the bandwagoners off the bus and restore the foundation of the club for yrs to come. And to those who want to stop the sox at all costs, well, I hear your point, but if we stop the sox then promptly exit with nothing but a participation banner, then f*** it. This is the best way to win it all, and if the inch deep fans dont want anything to do with it, then let em go.

Johan is in the AL and has been a top tier pitcher for awhile now. Also, he is 27 right now. So it is a bit different than Randy.

absolutely not. Cano is the best player the twins will get in return. And if they want Cano, then he will be the only major leaguer they get in return from us. Like I said before... Cano + our best minor league pitching prospect (Horne) + our best minor league hitting prospect (Tabata) would get it done. Remember, Cano is a .300 hitter with 30+ homer potential who is getting more and more patient as the yrs go on. he also plays a typically non powerful position rather well and is 24 yrs old. There is no other team that will even come close to offering any one player who is better than Cano. And if they want more than that, then we take our chances with Joba. BTW, I wouldnt deal Joba for Santana period. Joba has better stuff.

dont make me reverse dickpunch you. I have had it done on me many times (thanks yankees) and I am ready to dish out the pain.

Why is that so funny? Cano is a 24 yr old good fielding 2b with 3 seasons of .300 hitting under his belt and improving power #s. He is exactly what the twins need.

Se ORS, I disagree. A deal for Santana at the deadline would be way too complicated and would be gambling with a large chance of bankrupting. If you do it in the offseason, you have time to grant windows for negotiation and the time to take multiple teams' offers. I do agree that they wont deal him for nothing and would rather see him walk and get the picks than get nothing in return. But this offseason, they have the potential to get a lot more than that. Think about it. The Angels have some serious bats they could throw their way including Wood, Kotchmann etc and then some serious pitching prospects as well. The Mets could put a package together of Milledge, Gomez and their other dominican dynamite OFer or Pelfrey or Humber or whomever. The Yankees have the trump card IMO if they want to move Cano, or they could get raped in the minor/major league pitching department. Either way, moving the types of guys that would have to move in a Santana deal will require time to replace them, and that is best done in the offseason. Also, right now, it is pretty obvious that the twins wont resign him and that he wants out.

we sucked, plain and simple.

http://www.mlb4u.com/freeagency.php

I really dont like the idea of dealing Joba or Hughes for Santana. I'd much rather deal a hitter since having the best offense in baseball has done s*** for us the past few seasons. I'd love to reload around a core of Santana and Wang and then strengthen it with solid pitching from Hughes and Joba. That rotation would be dirty.

If only we could fire her. Unfortunately, the Boss seems to love her and Kay. We could do without both. And Sterling gets on my nerves too.

HHM, I think we need a big time ace in our rotation to allow the kids some room to be inconsistent, which they invariably will be. I'd deal away some offense for Santana. Any day of the week. Maybe Robby Cano.

BL, Pettitte coming back will be a crux for us. If he doesnt, then we would need to rely on Hughes as our #2 if we dont go out and get someone better. I dont like that idea. I can live with a bottom 3 of our rotation being Joba/Hughes/Kennedy. But having them be 2-4 and needing to find another start to fill out the rotation would be bad news. Pettitte and Wang would be the buffer that we'd need in the event that one of these kids needs more minor league seasoning off the bat next yr.

Wang is unique. I am sure most anyone will agree with that statement. He doesnt fit into most conventional categories, but the one category that he certainly doesnt fill is team ace. Doesnt mean he isnt one of the best pitchers in the league, he just doesnt have the kind of shut down stuff you need out of your top spot in the rotation.

you are preaching to the choir. There arent too many yankee fans who tolerate her, but she is irremoveable. Kinda like Kay.

You guys arent following. This season he was one of the best in the league. He was the same last yr. I know that wins are a team dependent stat, but at the same time, they do count for something. That being said, 2 consecutive yrs of 19 wins and a 3.7 ish era is damn good. So yes, he has been one of the best pitchers in the AL over the past 2 yrs. But he isnt a prototypical ace and essentially fits as a middle of the rotation (hence #3) kind of pitcher because he is better over the course of the season than you can stick him for in one game. That isnt true for the so called aces like Santana or Beckett this yr. Both of those guys have the shut down stuff to rise to the occasion in a winer take all kind of scenario and that is the kind of guy we need to acquire.

Sign Bonds yet deal Giambi? They are essentially the same player these days, minus the pigment. As for Santana, they have tons of good young pitching. But they are losing Hunter and could also use more offense. So I think any deal for Santana needs to start with Cano. I only do that deal if we keep ARod. And any deal that includes Chamberlain needs to be stopped too. Chamberlain has better stuff than 99% of the major leagues, if he carries that over to the rotation he would be dominant from day 1. We dont need to bring abreu back at a reduced price, we have the ability to bring him back on a 1 yr deal. I'll take flexibility over price any day, especially in NY. And see above on Pena, he stays in TB for the time being.

He won 19 games this yr kilo. He sucked this postseason, but you cannot deny that he was one of the best pitchers in the AL this yr.

I sure as hell hope not

You arent following me. People have many definitions of an ace. One definition is that they can lead a pitching staff, which both Beckett and CMW have done effectively. In that breath, both are aces. But to take it one step futher, an ace is a guy you can throw out there in a must win and feel pretty good about taking that game. Beckett fits that bill right now, while Wang obviously does not.