jacksonianmarch

Kilo, Stanton used to be a power lefty back in the day. He used to hit 95-97mph when he was in atlanta and in his first few yrs in NY. He was a premier lefty reliever who dominated. Now he is a loogy lefty who cannot break 86. Aging is a bitch, lol.

I take a different approach 700. I will follow what the experts say about guys who get drafted and hope for them to be good. Once they make it to AA and show their salt, then I get excited about them. Too many times injury or the talent level in AA claims a player. For us, I am very excited about what Clippard, Hughes, and Sanchez bring. If they get Owings and Nippert, I'd be very excited about them as well. Whereas guys like Betances, Chamberlain, and Kennedy are guys I really hope for and will get very excited about them if or when they get to AA. That is why I think hope should be the term for the sox pitchers. All 3 B's will be starting the season below AA next yr. There is a decent chance that none of them will throw an inning of AA ball, hence none of them will reach excitation (or loathe when on the sox) level in my book.

I cannot argue with that Kilo. Everybody has gut feelings about players, and I sure cannot argue with yours if you think Cordero will not be worth it. You also bring up a valid point of the increasing HR numbers. I didnt see that, and that is a bad thing for closers.

I would rather a deserving #9 team crying about being left out of an 8 team playoff than a deserving #3 team crying about how they should be in the championship.

thus far .700, the sox are having trouble identifying which ones dont make it. They cut bait too early once they get to AAA and then overhype their A ball guys.

I'd deal Farnsworth and Clippard if I needed a closer. But the thing is, you are talking about 2 prospects who have tamed AA and will be in AAA this season. Sanchez and Clippard can reasonably be considered MLB ready and on a team like Washington, they would be mid season callups from AAA. Buchholz is starting in A ball. He hasnt tamed AA yet, and that is where the hitting really takes off.

which schmuck chose BCS?

I am not necessarily sure why Buchholz is off-limits and he is actually not on the fast track per se. The guy is a college grad in 05, so you would assume that a guy on the fasttrack would have started his first full season in the minors at A+ or higher. Instead, he spent nearly the entire yr at Greenville and only 3 starts in Wilmington. Chances are, he spend the year between Greenville and Portland next yr. Portland and maybe Pawtucket in 08 and then maybe he is a mid season callup in 09. That is if everything breaks right. He still hasnt passed the biggest test of the minors (AA) and wont even start there. Yeah, the kid may have great stuff and yeah he has had success thus far, but the lower levels of the minors are very pitcher friendly. Now granted, throwing Hansen, Buchholz and Bowden at them is too much IMO, the big problem is, none of them are guys who will hit the majors in the next 2 years. Therefore, they have little worth. Once Buchholz gets past AA, his stock will jump. BUT, if Washington loves him, then subtract Bowden and make the deal. It isnt like you are getting a 40yr old one season rental. Cordero is one of the best young closers in the game, and he is only 3 yrs older than Buchholz.

Man, you truly have travelled deep into your delusion. I'll wake you up when he signs in NY and then you'll be my bitch (sig wise).

And how many times do I need to tell you my friend that you are more marketable in cities where there are more marketing opps. NYC is the biggest city in america. It is also the Mecca for advertising, ask any advertising executive and they'll tell you straight out (my wife is one, so I dont have to go very far). Combine big city with marketing Mecca on perhaps the most world renowned team in sports worldwide and then take the best pitcher of our era and return him there. Nobody can beat that 700. Not even the warm and fuzzy feel of NESN specials closing the circle on Clemens.

the rumor is that Kenny Williams hates the fact that his entire rotation is a contact rotation and feels that he will make a better long term team by getting some swing and miss guys. Danks is a swing and miss guy. McCarthy is not.

I understand the region very well. Grew up in NE, lived in Mass for a long time. Clemens was not thought of highly when he left to Toronto. Then he was reviled while he was a yankee. Now, 3 yrs pass, and he is some sort of prodigal son? So let me get this straight. He wont go back to the manager he loved playing for, the organization he wants to go into the HOF with, the teammates he won WS rings with, the organization that will undoubtedly put up the biggest bid, the organization who just signed his best friend whom he has played with for 8 seasons, and the place with the most extra-baseball cash opportunities for the feeling of the fans in Boston? Yeah, I see that happening. Also, if the sox go over the luxury tax again, they will be 3rd time offenders and their % goes up to 40%. I know Cashman doesnt give a rats ass, but would John Henry be willing to throw 20mil at Clemens knowing that it really is 28mil for a 45 yr old pitcher? Logic, 700 my boy, is always better than the warm and fuzzies you may get from thinking about a certain situation. While we are at it, I heard Johnny Damon wants to return to Kansas City and ARod wants to go back to Seattle cause the prodigal son feel is worth way more than anything else in their mind. (just kidding).

I think Boston or NY would have to seriously outbid Houston, because if you factor in cost of living and taxes, Houston will make that bank go further.

The operative term is "reached". That time is passed my friend. Coming back to NY will open up many more opportunities for him, and I'll tell you what. If he leads NY back to the WS after 6 yrs of debauchery and debachle, then he'll be a big time hero. Boston no longer has the whole lovable losers, or heartbreak city title attached to it now that it won 2 yrs back. If the sox had not won a WS, then I'd follow you a bit. But now, the sox dont have that draw of breaking the curse. Plus, I think the bloom came off the rose when he was forced out well before his time. And btw, if he wants to go into the hall as a yankee, he'll need to put in another yr.

your "facts" continue to include the ideal that he will somehow have more marketing opps in Boston than in NY. Boston has just as many stars now as the yankees do, so it isnt like he'll be the lone star on a team of nobodies. Then you factor in how NY is the mecca for advertising and marketing and your theory on that account holds no water. If you feel that his want to "complete the circle" is the reason for your ideal, then I cannot argue with you there, but will respectfully disagree. If you think that he'll get more lucrative marketing deals or ad deals in Boston, you are not basing that on sound judgement.

yeah, it happened too late for it to fit into sportscenter, but it has been on the update screen. Too bad, 24 and the whole world ahead of him.

Riverside, I know there is a ton of peril in NY in that rotation. I think the Wang thing was overblown, and potentially was a misdiagnosis. He obviously didnt need surgery and last season was pretty durable. His style of pitching leaves me to believe that he'll be fine this season. Mussina is always a minor worry. He never gets injured seriously enough for him to miss a large chunk of seasons, but he is always banged up at some point. Either way, he should be around 170IP which is what he has been at for a long time now. Everyone talks about Pettitte as if he is some invalid with a ticking time bomb in his arm. Yet, he made the most starts in the majors last season and is coming off back to back 200IP seasons after having surgery in 04 after a freak BP accident. Igawa is an unknown, yes, but his one MO is durability. 200IP average over the past 6 seasons. That is Zito-esque durability. He at least makes me comfortable in knowing he'll take the bump every 5th day, while his performance is certainly a major ??. Pavano is the 5 for now. Clemens may be the 5 a month in, who knows. Now, I think the sox rotation is a stellar rotation, if things break right it could be the best in baseball by a long shot, and if people stay healthy. The reason why I dont like the sox staff (pen included) is that there is no spot starter that inspires even a bit of confidence and there are no options in the minors labelled as MLB ready this season. Couple that with a bad pen (as of right now, I know) and you have a major fragility issue, especially when injury concerns can be placed on 4 of the 5 starters (5 of the 5 if you think Matsuzaka's workload may take a toll this season, which I dont believe in full). So who comes in should, for the sake of argument, Papelbon goes down with a shoulder issue and needs to miss a month. Gabbard? He lasted 5IP per start in his 4 spot starts, had a WHIP near 1.6, and walked 16 in 26IP (plus his minor league numbers show he is no control machine). He is an option albeit not a good one. Pauley was terrible sans his start in the Bronx. Abe Alvarez? Kyle Snyder? Lets not even discuss Lester until he shows he can perform and stay healthy, god willing. All are guys who will stay in for 5 at the most, and most likely will leave the sox with 4-5+ innings of pen work. When your pen is the weakness of your team and you really have no viable contingency plan, you are VERY succeptible to injury. That is where the yankees have you over a barrell. Depth. They have 2 guys with solid minor league track records who came up last season and filled in very nicely when Mussina was out and Lidle was ineffective. If RJ is dealt, they will likely get 2 more MLB ready arms back. Add that to the 3 MLB ready arms in AAA, and you have a AAA rotation that includes 5 top 10 talents as well as 2 guys who spot starter very well last season. The Yankees will have injuries. So will the sox. It happens every yr. Someone misses a month, a couple starts here or there. It happens to every team. I just feel that an injury to the yankee staff can be handled better than the sox staff due to depth and the fact that the yankee pen can be leaned on more heavily than the sox one can be. The sox are putting all their eggs in this 5 man's basket. Should one of them go down, they are in big trouble.

Broncos CB Darrent Williams' limo was drive-by'ed last night, killing the young CB shortly after the Broncos were eliminated. Sad news, 24 yr old kid getting killed. RIP kid.

http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=174781 Looks like the most significant talks outside the org have been about Chad Cordero. The Nats surprisingly dont want WMP. They are asking for Hansen, Bowden, and Buchholz. Sounds like the sox are balking at Buchholz. Maybe this is getting done?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01012007/sports/yankees/yankees_push_for_rocket_yankees_andrew_marchand.htm Yankees push for Rocket. Looks like a full court press on the Rocket starting NOW! Go get him Yankees, yahooooza. Happy Frickin New Year all.