jacksonianmarch

Pettitte finished the yr sub 3 in the last half of the yr. His first half was very unconventional for him.

Sanchez, Ohlendorf, Clippard for starters. Chamberlain, Kennedy, Marquez, Betances, Nova and the rest to be ready in 2 yrs. We have an insane amount of pitching in our farm. Aside from Tabata, Duncan, and Montero, we are lacking a lot of offensive depth, though.

no, I'm not. Look at the matchups now. Wang > Schilling Mussina > Beckett Pettitte Igawa Pavano >= Tavarez Our top 2 held up to your top 2 even with Papelbon in the rotation. But you had the 3-5 slots locked up at that point.

not this yr. At least this team has a future to it (pitching wise anyway). 2 yrs ago, when I was in full throat in the fire Joe campaign, we didnt. If we win it all, then fine. But in 2-3 yrs, this teams staff should be dirty.

The yankees were closer, btw as both Wang and Mussina were well below 4 and Pettitte was at 4.2. Papelbon in the rotation gave the sox the advantage in the NYY-BOS rivalry. Paps out and Tavarez in gives them a tie IMHO, and that is because Wake is more reliable than anything we have in the 4-5 hole.

He was pitching in the first few starts last season if I remember correctly. His first 3 starts, he was damn near untouchable. That was when the cut on his finger occured if I remember correctly. If he gets around getting cuts (which is something they can do now that they know the diagnosis, but it still wont be 100% preventable) he should be fine. It is on the sox, though, to protect their investment and sit him after he cuts himself. If he tries to avoid getting cut or having blisters erupt, he will go back to the BP machine.

Just saw this little gem on another website. The quote is from the Post I believe. With Karstens and Wang down, and with Pettitte likely needing a week as well as Mussina refusing to pitch on short rest this early, the opening day starter looks to be......... gulp....... Carl Pavano. Karstens injury could be something very serious, especially when I hear the words painful elbow. This likely moves Rasner into the 5 hole and thins out the yankee depth. They are desperately trying to stem the tide in bringing up Hughes. The good thing is, Wang is expected back by the 3rd or 4th week of April, so that likely means only 2 starts for Rasner as the 5 until the original rotation is back intact. This rash of injuries shows you how important depth is. Rasner and Karstens are good 5th starter options and the depth in AAA is damn good. If this happened to the sox, Gabbard and Pauley would be hitting the rotation, you better hope it doesnt.

I think the only consensus was to have Papelbon strengthen the shoulder to a point where the laxity could become a non-issue. I had heard the media report that the subluxation was due to weak rotator cuff muscles. That could play into it, but a subluxation is essentially a "dislocation" with the joint returning to natural alignment. This would make the ligament the likely culprit. But the shoulder is essentially the most unique joint in the body and my expertise is only on a med school grad's level. From my training, I would believe that the glenohumeral ligaments were the culprits and the rotator cuff muscles getting stronger will help stabilize the joint extrinsically because the intrinsic ligaments are weak. Either way, his cuff sounds like it is very sound right now, and the fact that he is throwing at all makes last yr look less and less likely to recur. Either way, if it were me, I'd call Andrews and just ask his opinion. He is the shoulder/elbow God.

I have 3 of my final 4. But I lost my champ in the round of 32.

very surprised Humberto Sanchez missed the list. He was a top 40 prospect at the end of last season, but ever since being dealt to NY, he has dropped off the lists. And this is before he had his forearm strain.

this is his yr to shine. He has the year under his belt, figured out his blister thing, and got belted in the face 30+ times last yr. If the adjustments dont show after this season, I think the sox deal him.

this is the perfect time for Curt to create the blog. This is a GREAT way for him to counteract the s*** in the media that will undoubtedly be surfacing in his contract yr. Dude is a smart mo fo.

I find it very interesting that people think the sox top 3 is going to be a sub 4ERA, three headed monster. Schilling and Beckett still have a lot to prove as does Matsuzaka. After watching Matsuzaka this preseason I would assume that he will be right under the 4ERA mark. He will not adjust seamlessly, but the arsenal will make him very effective this season. I expect him to get better as he learns the league. Beckett was a disaster last yr, and even if he figures out his blister issue, he needs to bring that curve back to what it was in the past. A 97mph fastball is not enough in the ALE. I'd think Beckett improves over last yr, but more in the mid to upper 4ERA range. Schilling is a guy who will start out strong again and with his age, probably fade to a 4ERA guy overall. The top 3 isnt bulletproof, they can be beaten. But with the closer and the offense, they should be very good. Papelbon gave them 4 starters who would likely be the same way. Solid, dominant at times and tough to beat. But the loss of the closer would make all of them a little easier to beat as they would just have to be waited out. At the same time, this move rushes Lester, something I am adamantly against. I like the kid, and after watching him throw last season (cancer or not), his stuff wasnt there and neither was his location. I have heard from some on multiple sites that he isnt even breaking 90 these days. Can anyone confirm this? If that is the case, then Lester shouldnt even be sent to AAA right off the bat. He should be sent to Extended ST so he can work on rebuilding his arm and his body's strength. I said it when he was diagnosed and I'll say it again. Lester needs a year. To rush him hurts the organization and could seriously damage (either physically, emotionally, or command/stuff-wise) his development.

In his defense ORS, they are both right. You can find medical professionals on both sides of the fence on this issue. Actually, for most tough decisions, you can find damn good doctors on both sides of the fence on nearly anything. I can see both sides of the argument. And Paps will be an anecdotal case for this discussion later. If he truly did strengthen the cuff while stabilizing the shoulder, then he should be in better shape. But he needs to keep up the shoulder strengthening during the season. Like I said, I am not going to be an orthopedist, so this is as far as I can go. But both are right until it plays out. And it isnt like his brother doesnt have a useful opinion. He is in a surgical specialty and he did finish med school. Depending on how far he is into residency could make his opinion very useful. And one other thing. These opinions are being displayed through the sox media net. Meaning, they really only allow what they want to hear to hit the airwaves. I have been trying to get an opinion from the ortho docs at my school, I'll see if I can get anything useful.

Well, as I was dreading, Wang's "cramp" was just as bad as Timlin's. DL it is. Even though Karstens has been bombed 2 games in a row, he is a better starter than Pavano at this point. And while CMW may be out for a couple weeks, we may see Karstens outpitch Pussano. If an injury is to happen, now is the time. We always suck in April.

Gom, relievers typically do throw as hard as they can on every pitch. That is why they are relievers. Paps would sit in the low 90s as a starter, but as a reliever, he sits high 90s.

spot on kilo. You are handing what is being termed a fragile shoulder over to tito to be used "sparingly." After Timlin goes into his typical late season swoon and the rest of the jokers Theo brought in go belly up, who will be used for 2 inning saves on a near nightly basis to prevent the august flop? Paps is going to be upper 70s in innings again with half of them coming in the last 6 weeks.

RS, 90 wins is contention. With a +/- 5 win margin, they will certainly contend. They are always in the race come August 1st. Their problem is hanging onto that title into October. In 03 and 04 they made a late charge after dropping like flies in july. 05 they collapsed very late. 06 they collapsed at the trade deadline. Regardless, the sox are always good for 4 months of exciting, ass on edge of seat baseball.

they are calling it a cramp. Then again, they called Timlin's oblique a cramp. They will be very cautious with him. Pettitte's scare is pretty much over, now we have a Wang scare.