jacksonianmarch

No, loads of yankee fans were jealous that the sox took advantage of the arizona GM. BTW, nice kneepads. I had the fluorescent green ones when I play rec league basketball a LONG time ago.

if you take advantage of another GMs ineptitude, is that a bad thing? Good GM's take advantage of bad GM's.

I dont think Oklahoma has had its worst team in 8 yrs. That team can play. I thought Boise was pretty damn good last night. They looked like a team that belonged and deserved to be ranked higher than they were.

a new rumor has arisen. I dont have a link for this one, but it seems to be all over yankee boards. The new rumor is that the Yankees and DBacks have agreed to a deal involving reliever Brandon Medders, Micah Owings, and first baseman Chris Carter. Carter just turned 24. He is a 6 foot 225lb first baseman who hit .301 19HR 97RBI 10SB in AAA in 2006. In 351 minor league games, he has 1331AB 409H .307AVG 78doubles 67HR 282RBI with a .396OBP .526SLG and a .922OPS. This kid can MASH. No idea how he is defensively. He is left handed which is good in yankee stadium but bad in our lineup. But this deal would net us a rookie 1b with lots of pop, a potential middle of the order starter with lots of polish and a young power reliever with 1.5 seasons of semi-success in the majors. Not bad haul if this works. GO CASHMAN!!

http://www.lohud.com/blogs/2007/01/status-of-johnson-trade.html the diamondbacks have officially requested a 72 hour negotiating window with Randy. This means that the yankees and dbacks have successfully agreed to a deal and now it is up to the DBacks to make a deal. The likely scenario is that the yankees and dbacks agreed to conditional deals, potentially more than one based on the amount of money the dbacks will ask for. For example, if the yankees pay 2-4 mil they will get 2 prospects and a reliever. If they are asked to kick in 5-6 mil they get more. 10 mil a lot more, etc. This is pure speculation, but I would assume this is the case as the dbacks really have no idea how much Randy will want for an extension, so a lot will come down to the amount the yankees are willing to pay.

the market corrected itself cause the FA class sucked cajones. The only true blue, A#1 player to hit the market in that time and not get a monster deal was Vlad, and that was only because he had a back issue in his walk yr.

if you want to see the latest on Johnson, check the johnson post. I updated it with the az central's story this am. As for hansen, a guy by the name of Kerry Wood didnt really have an injury history when he his the majors either. But adding innings to poor mechanics leaves him a shell of his former self.

you want to use one season, which just happened to be one of the 4 seasons drew has actually followed through on to completion and it just so happened to be a career low yr for Huff. How convenient.

i think they were worried about durability and his motion. If that is the case, then you must tinker.

well, depends on what your definition of better is. If it is OBP, then you may have a point. But Huff K's less, has more power and has the track record of driving in more runs, staying healthy, hitting for a higher average, and playing more than just a corner OF position. This is all assuming he returns to some semblance of his previous form, but even so, he did hit 1 more HR than Drew did last yr in 13 fewer games and in many fewer PA's.

Yeah, I remember watching that guy get interviewed after he signed. Then he gets into a fight, busts up his hand and never makes it back. I feel as if the yankee system was overhyped to the gills after Jeter, Pettitte, Mo, and Posada made it. As you could see, the rest of the guys who came out of the system during that time frame never lived up to expectations. Guzman, Claussen, Hansen, Milton, Westbrook. All okay to good players who never lived up to the hype. That led the media to underhype the yankee system and then Wang, Cano, and Melky helped fix that. It is a continuum. It just seems as if sox prospects get the bulk of the hype the majority of the time.

another thing to consider is that the media helps inflate the sox organizations own prospects. They should use that to their advantage sometimes rather than cut bait too late or too early.

agreed old timer.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cheapseats/gambo/0110rant.html Cashman is about to fleece the s*** out of the DBacks should be the title of this article. The DBacks want cash relief. They want Randy to defer some of his 2007 money into his 2008 extension, then speed up some of the deferred payments already owed and essentially make RJ play in 2008 for money he would earn anyway. I dont see him buying that one. SOOOOOOOOOOOO. In come the yankees. They have asked for Medders, and 2 of 3 of their pitching prospects Nippert, Ohlendorf and Owings assuming they eat 2-4 mil. That was reported ad nauseum by all reports. But now the AZ central is reporting that the yankees want a young infield prospect thrown into the mix as well. One can only assume the yankees are willing to throw more cash into the pot. Cashman has em over a barrel and he will use his deep pockets to essentially buy more DBack minor league talent. He is really showing us that he is a great GM.

Clemens is the ultimate mercenary. But sometimes, mercs are necessary. If we deal RJ, then we are relying on Pavano as our #5. With our farm system and the options available pitching wise, I dont mind that. We need to develop young pitching, we have it MLB ready, why not now? But if Cashman is of the idea that these kids need one more yr (which I would certainly endorse) and he is of the idea that Pavano is a walking 15 day DL and cannot be trusted (which again I'd endorse) then he has to fill the 5 hole with a commodity that can handle the Bronx and pitch well. Clemens will give him that. And if that means slogging through april and may with Pavano et al in the 5 slot only to have Mr May make it through the season and not be lame in October, then so be it. Is he a merc, absolutely. Will he always be a merc, absolutely. Does anyone actually think he is going to give a rats ass about sentiment in his hometown, in boston or in NY. Well, they'd ne naive.

Bosox, BIG difference man. You are talking about Papelbon, a young flame thrower who was brought through the sox system properly and was fully ready for the majors both in demeanor and in stuff. Then you have Hansen who was rushed, and questions obviously abound as to whether he can handle Boston, the majors etc. If you want to throw Hansen, a guy who hasnt handled the pressure well at all thus far, into the closers role on day one, then you might as well give the yankees the east again. He still has some serious growing pains, as he should be in AAA right now if the sox cared about developing him correctly. As for Cox, he was drafted last season and was successful, but only made it to High A ball for 13 games. I dont think you make that jump from a small sample in A ball to major league closer without significant risk to the player's development. If they care about bringing Bryce along and are trying to avoid what they did to Craig Hansen, then Bryce shouldnt touch the majors until mid season of 2008 AT THE EARLIEST. Bard hasnt thrown a minor league pitch. If you think it best to give the John Olerud treatment (for those who dont know he never spent time in the minor leagues until a rehab assignment for Boston in 05) to a young pitcher who didnt even have blow away success in college as a starter, then you are rushing a player again. Now, starting pitching is priceless, if it is high level, A-#1 talent that is can't miss. That is very rare. Of the minor league prospects who I put in that grouping, there are only two right now and that is Hughes and Homer Bailey of the reds. Previous A#1 guys IMO were Prior, Liriano, and Felix in Seattle. You dont deal those guys before hitting the majors. Other than that, dealing kids who will start the season in single A is a common practice, assuming you deal the right ones and you deal them for the right reasons. If the sox wanted to nab Todd Jones from Detroit as a one yr stopgap, I'd be against dealing any strong starting pitching prospects, cause once those guys hit the bigs, Jones is gonna be gone and it will be the bagwell, larry anderson thing all over again. But when you are talking about a 25 yr old closer with major league success and durability, then you are gonna have to give up something to get him. Now, anytime you package starting pitching prospects, especially highly regarded ones, you better get a sure thing in return. If you wish to say Cordero is not a sure thing, as Kilo so eloquently put it, then you have a good, sound reason to move away from the table. As for what I'd do in those shoes, I'd say, take Hansen (about the same age as Cordero and obviously not as polished) and then something is going to be needed to bridge the gap. They need pitching, and for a team that picks near the top every yr in draft order, they are one that never seems to pick pitching and if they do, they cannot develop it properly or they pick crappy picks. They want pitching. So, you say, take ONE pitching prospect from our system. And since none of them stand out as WOW prospects yet (either without the wow stuff or the wow production in the minors thus far) you can get away with sending either B or any other guy for them so long as it is not Lester.

example. I dont think you are making a fair analogy here. You keep tossing in Sanchez like he is some sort of low level minor leaguer. If you want to make a fair analogy, then it should be JB Cox (will be in AAA as a closer/SU man this yr just like Hansen should be) and one of the trio of Chamberlain, Kennedy or Betances. I never advocated sending the Nationals Hansen, Buchholz, and Bowden. I did advocate sending them Hansen and whichever one of the B's they liked best. So, if Mo up and retired right now, then I'd tell the Nats "you can have Cox and one of the trio of Chamberlain, Betances, and Kennedy." Make your pick.

the question is, scaffolds, if you have Natale and Lowrie, which one makes the majors? Which one is held in higher regard? And if these kids have any value at all, and project as weak armed 2 baggers, why are they still in the sox organization when Pedroia has outplayed them all?

guys. Lets be honest here. Any good pitcher who just watched Barry Zito, essentially a solid #3 and a potential #2 sign for 7yrs at 18 mil just saw dollar signs flash before their eyes. He will be the barometer for future ace deals. Carlos Zambrano? Younger, better stuff, just as durable, and improving rather than regressing? He'll beat Zito's deal. Johan Santana? Will turn 30 in ST of 2009. He'll be a FA after the 2008 season. He is by all accounts the best pitcher in all of baseball. He has the best stuff in all of baseball. He has the best location, etc. And, he is left handed. Expect him to BLOW both of those two above out of the water. How do you expect Minnesota to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and the like for him? And lets not fool ourselves here. He may be a nice guy, but every agent from here to japan is telling their pitchers to wait it out till FA cause someone will make a ridiculous offer. He is done in Minnesota in 2 yrs and if they want to get something for him, he should be dealt by 2008.

Got a prediction for you. Aubrey Huff will be just as good if not better than JD Drew for a fraction of the cost over the life of that 3 yr deal.

He is a young kid who was brought up to the majors for a playoff team. Some kids have more composure than others. Give the kid a break. His attitude should mellow out. He did not seem like Bonds or Everett. Milledge loved to play, you could see that. If they are in the mood of giving him away, I'll take him.

But the question remains. They wont be the highest bidder when Johan hits the market. Hence, they have to protect themselves against his impending departure. They get a 1st rounder and a sandwich if he leaves via FA. They can fleece a team for 3 or 4 top 100 prospects if they deal him. I think they deal him.

I am not a selling kind of guy. I dont like the idea of sending Joba Chamberlain packing for nobody, and he is in the same class as the other B's you are talking about. But if I had a glaring need, and I could send one of those lottery tix to get a young player who could admirably fill that glaring need for years to come, then I do it, hands down.