jacksonianmarch

Last night's loss, or what I have seen of it second hand since I was working into the wee hours of the morning, was not on Tito. Okajima and Paps were burned for more than 1 inning apiece. MDC was pretty bad in relief of Beckett as well. Gagne was the logical choice for the 9th. The other 2 times, not so much. He has been the best trade that could have been made in the yankees favor all season. What other deal would shave 3 games off the lead in half a month solely by that one deal? All the while, Joba keeps showing why he is a stud.

there are many scouts who think that aside from ARod, he is already the 2nd best overall player in the game. ANd he will only get better.

Giambroids certainly has come back strong.

rumor has it, the sox are actually getting someone of value. Chris Carter, the 1b who was formerly with the dbacks and someone the yankees were close to obtaining in the Randy Johnson deal is a candidate to be sent back to Boston. He is a masher, who is very much like Shelley Duncan. Great power, good eye, horrible defense. That would be a solid trade for the sox since Carter is far more advanced in his hitting approach than Pena.

I love nickel, get off it, okay?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/news/264685.html Tabata will miss the rest of the minor league season while having his hamate bone removed. He had a cyst in the wrist which many believe sapped his power the past 2 seasons. He has seen 5 hand specialists and finally he decided on removal. It will be a 6 week rehab and will likely not hinder any plans for Tabata to begin winter ball. He finished the yr with a solid line in A+ as a 19 yr old. .307 5HR 54RBI with a .371OBP. Expect him to have more power next yr as he will take on AA Trenton. The other surgery is for a guy already rehabbing. Christian Garcia injured his knee in running drills and will require surgery. While they wont elaborate on the type of injury, they are saying it will stall his arm rehab until November. He is still expected to return by spring training 08.

No true. Mirabelli can be DL'd retroactive to the first game and his spot could be opened up for Cash. Then Buchholz can be sent down for Ellsbury. It shouldnt change much.

if Theo decided to throw in a BJ and a small vietnamese harem, maybe. WHen healthy, Nick Johnson is a franchise player for them. There is no way they dealt him, none.

Buchholz reminded me a lot of Hughes. Some jitters, inconsistent with the location in spots but his stuff is so good that he didnt get hurt too badly. As with Hughes, both had been babied in the minors and seem to fade when they hit the 70 pitch mark. Very similar styles and composure. Neither give in and this leads to both of them getting a bit squeezed and raising their pitch counts. But as they get along in the league, they'll start getting those borderline calls. I know I didnt advocate for his callup, but this kid has worlds more talent than Jon Lester. Lester should be the one optioned if you ask me.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2978642 90 mil with a 6th yr option.

I agree. This isnt the yankees here who have one spot filled long term with a proven effective major league pitcher (Wang). The sox have 2 spots filled with proven guys in DMats and Beckett and both will be there long term. That makes things a whole lot easier and makes the second tier guys a whole lot more expendable. You figure that the sox long term spots are.. 1. Beckett 2. Matsuzaka 3. Buchholz 4. Lester 5. Bowden and a point can be made that even if the sox dont make ANY trades or FA signings that even at his best, Masterson wont make the rotation. And how likely is it that the sox wont sign one FA or make one pitching trade? Exactly. And notice, if one of the trio of Buchholz/Lester/Bowden reach their potential, then the sox would have a killer top 3 which makes the last 2 spots a whole lot less meaningful. Move to the pen. Closer- Papelbon Set-up- Okajima 7th inning- Delcarmen outside of these three guys, I have Masterson as 3rd on the long term depth chart with Hansen and Lopez (only because he is a loogy) ahead of him. Like I said before, the top 2 spots are filled with proven guys and Masterson's slot even if he pans out totally in the pen, is likely to be that of what Brendan Donnelly had prior to his injury. I know you can never have enough pitching, but when your big time spots are filled, you can afford to part with some. In opposition to this theory is the yankees and Alan Horne. Horne is very similar to Masterson although he seems to be a bit more advanced in terms of his potential as a starter. The Yankees had the opportunity to fix up a big hole in their pen short term with Gagne who at the time was considered to be a wonderful option for the pen. With a guy like Horne and with the yankees aging pitching staff, parting with him is a whole lot more painful. Here's why... Long term, the yankees staff has one proven MLB starter 1. Wang The second guy you can pencil in will be Hughes who looks like he certainly could be a good one, but he is far from a proven commodity. So pencil Wang and Hughes in top 2. Following them would be Chamberlain (if he isnt considered closer to be when mo hangs em up), Kennedy, then Horne. So long term, Horne is in our plans as the #5. There are tons of options behind him like Marquez, Clippard, Wright, Kontos, McCutchen, Sanchez, Garcia, Nova, McCallister, Brackman, Betances, el al, but Horne is more advanced or is flat out better than all of them. Hence, dealing a guy like Horne, who many consider to be a top of the middle tier type pitching prospect, could have had devastating effects on a neophyte rotation. Looking at the pen.. ??? Bruney maybe, Britton maybe. Edwar maybe. Henn maybe. Chamberlain maybe. There isnt anything locked in like you guys have. To go along with guys like Cox, Sanchez, Melancon, Robertson and others, you have a very unproven neophyte pen for the future that brims with talent, but does not have the proven major league efficacy that yours does. Hence, for us, dealing a guy with the kind of arsenal and versatility for a half yr rental could really hurt us, even though our minor league pitching depth is far superior. Hence, I think the majority of the guys on this site are correct. Masterson shouldnt have been a breaking point in the Dye negotiations as he isnt as integral to the sox as a a guy who is very similar to him is to the yankees. Team specific is the way you have to look at it.

6 in the L column. But this is the kind of game that gets us rolling again believe it or not. We get thumped early, then hold and make a comeback. The bats got hot towards the end, I think we take it to Robertson tomorrow and start a mini winning streak.

He cannot contribute from a power position on a pennant winning team. He also has the potential to become a monster. But he has a significant hurdle to climb to reach his potential, and the sox dont have the luxury to wait. Drew is terrible, I agree, but his ability to reach base is still more useful than WMP's occasional homer threat. Unfortunately for the sox, they didnt sell when they should have, which was right when they signed Drew. Now they are giving WMP away. WMP would do well in Pittsburgh where guys like Jose Guillen have resurrected their careers with regular playing time. In 3 seasons, WMP will be a .260 30HR kinda guy, but between now and 2010, he could be anything from a .200 hitter to a .280 hitter with 200K per yr and a sub .330OBP. That isnt conducive to winning.

cortisone decreases inflammation, which can paradoxically help to heal an injury. Your body produces inflammation in response to injury which leads to more blood and more nutrients being rushed to the site of injury, thus causing healing. But with a chronic injury or one that the body cannot fix (like a torn meniscus or a torn labrum or with osteophytes from osteoarthritis), there will be inflammation without an end in site in terms of total recovery. Hence, you take down the inflammation with the cortisone shot and it allows you to play pain free. But there is only so much you can take. It is a steroid, this is true, but it is not anabolic like Winstril.

well, remember that dickpunch line. Yeah, that one. Damn, they continue to be hot or cold. Oh well, 3 more games in NY before going west to face the Angels. I think they'll right the ship only to get waxed in ANA like they always do. This team is frustrating at times.

BA rates the yankees as the biggest winners of the draft. http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=228

yeah it has.

since the AS break, he did.

Mussina found a poor time to lose it.

Andrew Brackman signed a major league deal, but he will be having Tommy John surgery within the week, according to some reports. hence, he'll be on the 60 day and wont take up a roster spot.

Watch the Cardinals win the world series on the back of a scrub like Pineiro, just like they did on the back of a scrub like Weaver.