jacksonianmarch

the Yankees called CMW, RJ, and Mussina the big three. It may simply be because the last 2 just arent very good (as was the case with us last yr).

good point.

AGon is an all world fielder. Pedroia likely wont be.

very true. We can argue this until the cows come home. We are both right in a sense, since e cannot pit Jordan vs Wilt. Well, we could, but Jordan would run circles around his rotting corpse.

awesome.

Kilo, I have some friends who were in the war in Iraq, some family completely f***ed in the head because of Nam and grandparents who came back heroes from Europe in WWII. I will argue with a guy about baseball regardless of what he has done. But if you call out his duty to this wonderful country of ours, then we have problems. Rob, you are in my sites, you have some explaining to do.

can we open a special ed wing to the board? Jesus Christmas, between the half wits and the hippie flag burning crew, I dont know which way is up.

Is it ban o'clock? Wanna burn a flag while you are at it you f***ing traitorous f***?

yeah he did. Some nights he is solid, others he gets mashed. Overall, I see him in the low 5's in terms of ERA if he were to pitch a full season. s***** on a bad team, but with our offense and lineup, you can be well over .500 with that. I just want him to eat innings is all. We have a very solid bullpen, but Torre loves to overwork the pen if his pitchers show they have no depth. Even with the depth in our pen (took a hit with JB Cox going down with TJ btw) Torre will burn through it if we have more Chacon's and Jaret Wright's.

I am not comfortable going into the playoffs with our rotation at all. I am very comfortable going in with our rotation plus its depth going into the regular season. In the regular season, all we need is a guy like Karstens or Rasner to give 6IP of 4 or less runs per and 75% of the time, we win those games. Neither will dominate and neither would be good options to pitch in the playoffs. But against the DRays while CMW is out? I'd take my chances vs a walk machine like Gabbard.

dont worry about the fact the guy is never healthy, though.

I am not making a prediction numerically on Karstens or Rasner. Just think that when you watched Pauley or Gabbard throw (surprisingly I saw all of Pauley's starts and a few of Gabbard's) they were timid and had trouble with baserunners. Karstens and Rasner did not have that problem as they have better control than Gabbard and Pauley is just way too easy to hit. BTW, say what you want, I'll take their late season performance over the sox guys, even though it was a small sample. 10 starts and both of them outpitched our #4 and our #5 from a yr ago.

agreed.

Baseball is different though. You give Babe Ruth the same workout regimen and the same training as the guys of today and I have no doubt he dominates. Size is less of an issue in baseball, whereas in basketball it can be everything. I never saw Wilt play. I saw the numbers and they are astounding. But I also saw the fact that he had trouble winning the big one against the C's. When you dominate like that, you should make the players around you better. This is what Jordan did. Yeah, Pippen was a fantastic player and having 2 play together is plain unfair. But how many big shots did guys like Kerr, Armstrong, and the like hit while Jordan and Pippen were on the court. And, you have to take into account that Jordan was one of the best defenders of all-time as well. Plus, whenever the game was on the line, Jordan either kicked it out for the game-winner or took it himself, knowing it would be 5 on 1 and still beat it. When I see a guy who has the flu to the point of not being able to lift his arms in celebration, yet still taking over an NBA finals game, I know the guy is inhuman. He was amazing and I dont think I will ever see that much heart and determination, plus skill and teamwork in my lifetime. He transcended the sport.

and this is why I dont even have a guy like Marquez on there. He is being rated by some as a top 10 yankees prospect who will start at AA. But his career WHIP is in the 1.42 range. When you dont have power stuff and you allow that many baserunners, you have no shot.

you couldnt be more wrong ORS. Karstens 3.67MiLB career ERA >6IP per start over last 2 seasons 1.29 career MiLB WHIP 1.20 MLB WHIP last yr 2.29B/9IP MiLB career Rasner 3.44 career MiLB ERA 5.6IP per start last 2 yrs 1.29 career MiLB WHIP 1.08 career MLB WHIP 2.39 BB/9IP MiLB career Gabbard 4.23 career MiLB ERA 5.6IP per start last 2 yrs 1.37 career MiLB WHIP 1.56 career MLB WHIP 3.9 BB/9IP MiLB career Pauley 3.91 career MiLB ERA 5.7IP per start last 2 yrs 1.35 career MiLB WHIP 2.31 career MLB WHIP 1.35BB/9IP MiLB career as you can see, Rasner, Karstens and Pauley are accurate. Gabbard gives up way too many baserunners via the free pass and it continued in Boston to a higher degree. Of the 4, Karstens is the most durable. Both Rasner and Karstens allow fewer baserunners than the Boston duo on the whole and they kept it up over 10 starts coming down the stretch last yr. Listen, I am not saying Karstens and Rasner are ideal SP options. Not in the least. Both project as back of the rotation starter if they project in the rotation at all. But both of them have been more successful than the sox duo and it carried over into their starts at the big league level. And seeing as they keep their walks down and have a history of keeping their total baserunners down, they have the higher propensity of lasting longer. All 4 lack 2 plus pitches. Guys like Rasner live off the plus curve and a MLB average sinker. A guy like Karstens has 4 MLB average pitches but he can locate all of them on a dime (reminds me of a Jeff Suppan type) Of the 4, I have a feeling Karstens makes the rotation of one MLB club at some point and stays. Once Hughes and Co. hit the big leagues, Karstens may be on his way to the NL.

the white sox will not be out of it.

You also need to factor in the drop in D with Youk at 3rd. Lowell is a defensive wizard.

Let me recant and say PECOTA blows when it comes to players who are either declining or improving. PECOTA is only good for players who have been around for awhile and are still in their prime. And I do know how it works bro. I can read.

Pecota blows.

sorry to make you vomit further, but Drew's contract is 5 yrs.

Example, couple things. First off, Wang and Mussina were better than Schilling last yr. That isnt conjecture, that is fact. Second off, the depth that we have comes in all varieties with all sorts of potential (to be both good or bad). Chamberlain does nothing for us this yr. Here is the list of candidates. 1. Wang 2. Mussina 3. Pettitte 4. Igawa 5. Pavano The next 2 major league options 6. Karstens 7. Rasner The next wave of MLB ready talent that is ready for a full season 8. Ohlendorf (180+ innings last yr, he is fully stretched out). The future 9. Hughes 10. Clippard 11. Sanchez The fringe 12. White 13. DeSalvo (had an abysmal yr last yr, hence why he is fringe) Guys who could be rushed 14. Horne 15. Wright All of the above options have played well in the lower levels of the minors and all will start at AA or higher. Note, none of them include angel reyes, ivan nova, dellin betances, ian kennedy, or joba chamberlain who all have very high ceilings. Having depth is nice and not only do we have depth, we have depth with guys who are young. The worst part of watching a pitcher go down is watching the minor league journeyman take his place (read: Small, May, Redding, Henn, et al who took the mound in 05). Sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle but all of those options are short term, right now options. Other annoying things that come along with an injury in your rotation is when you have a minor leaguer come up who has no idea where the strike zone is. This creates heartburn and bad memories. The one constant with all of the guys mentioned above (this does not go for Sanchez or Horne who have some bouts of control problems) is control. You get depth with guys who wont walk the park and you will get them deeper into games. This saves your bullpen. Hence, our depth gives us the worry that maybe they will get hit hard. Yet at the same time, we know we will see strikes, we know they will give us innings and it will be a look to the future rather than offering some schmuck a start here and there. On the other hand, the sox "depth" is laughable. This is because their best pitching prospects are not ready for the show. Your best #5 pitcher will rot in long relief or even in AAA (Hansack). Tavarez is a joke on the hill and was way worse than his ERA indicated last yr. This happened with Chacon in 2005 and eventually he came back to earth. After Hansack, you have Gabbard, Snyder, and Pauley. Gabbard and Pauley walk the park and Snyder just doesnt have major league stuff anymore. This is my point. With Beckett's history, with Tavarez likelihood of folding, with Schilling and Wake's age, the depth in the rotation should have been addressed better than this. Trust me on this one. If Tim Redding (or someone of his ilk) starts a game for the sox this yr, please turn off the TV, put down the remote and walk away.

I dont necessarily think this country's leadership has its head on straight, but the people who answer the bell when the country calls should be given our utmost reverence. I dont like our soldiers being degraded for the ineptitude of our government. Either way, that is done, lets give RZ a chance to recant.

I have a lot of respect for those who serve. If a guy says he served, then you give him some props. Even if you think he is s***ing you, the thing is, if you are wrong, then you are spitting on a man who put his life on the line for you. No matter how much s*** ORS gives any of us, remember that he put his life on the line. You crossed a rough bridge IMO.

had to throw the gurriel reference in there didnt you. Violent swings are not sweet swings and gurriel swings his ass off every time.