jacksonianmarch

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4385643.html Tavaras, Buchholz for Garland. And this all but eliminates the chances of Pettitte going back to the stros.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/12/lake_buena_vist.html at the same time, Foulke will decline arbitration http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/12/foulke_says_no.html

Mr C, declining is not the word I'd use for Mussina. After 2 yrs of 4+ eras in 2004 and 2005 he posted a 3.51. That is an incline if anything. Johnson is very frustrating. I watched almost all of his starts last season. He had 2 or 3 starts where he started using his splitter. A pitch that was in the 70s with slight bite but it was enough of a change to make him effective. He then goes to Boston, his first splitter he throws ends up on the street off Manny's bat and he never threw it again for the season. If he can develop that splitter to be used 10% of the time, he will be very effective again. But at 43, he cannot rely on an inconsistent fastball (anywhere from 91-98 last season) and a slider that bites or doesnt bite at nearly the same speed (that slider was anywhere from 80-90mph last season). He needs an off speed pitch and thus far he has refused to use it. If he uses it more often, then I'd expect him to drop that era into the low 4's. If not, he will fly past 5 on the ERA charts this season. Pettitte is a guy who you have misjudged. His 2005 campaign was brilliant. Low 2's era and ate a ton of innings. He struggled in the first half of last season, but was brilliant again after the AS break while the stros were fighting for their playoff lives. The one thing about Pettitte is that he is not really an injury labelled guy. He will go 200+ IP and he has a yankee pedigree. He is also 34 and with a huge frame like he has and a strong work ethic, he should still be in his prime. If he comes back to NY, I'd expect 220IP 15-20 wins and an ERA right around 4-4.2. That would be enough of a bridge to get to the young kids. Right now, Sanchez, Clippard, and Hughes are very green. Bringing them up this yr would be akin to the Mutts bringing up the big 3 way too early and ruining all of them. Buying 1-2 yrs could be the difference between having 3 young kids who come up and fill out the rotation admirably or 3 guys rushed too fast and ruined. Pettitte on a short term deal fixes that last hole.

Imagine for a second that Ortiz was a FA right now. How much would he command? I'd say, at age 31, we might have another 20mil a yr player, and he's a friggin DH!!! He really hurt himself signing another less than market deal.

I understand Boras' position though. Either sign him for big money for 6 yrs, essentially buying out his arbitration yrs, or sign him to a shorter deal with a clause that lets him hit the open market after that contract ends. Forget the money for a second. That is a breaking point for any japanese player. Matsui had a clause that disallowed offering arbitration, and I think Boras will ask for that in any negotiation shorter than 6 seasons.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/12/07/getting_dicey_with_matsuzaka/?page=1 So in summary. Boras is trying to convince Matsuzaka that returning to Japan for 2 yrs is worth it to him. The sox want to control Matsuzaka for 6 yrs, meaning they will not put a clause in his contract that requires the sox to deny arbitration, while Boras considers this a breaking point. Like I said before, he either wants big bucks for the long haul or a shorter term deal with the quick option of being a FA. The sox are offering neither. Varying views have less apprehension about a deal being done, but it looks like Boras is being very firm with his demands and refuses to barter down.

Predictions. Hmmm. Crapper. Okay. 1. Lugo SS I am actually not the biggest Lugo fan. 2005 was the first time he eclipsed .280 in a full season in his career. Then he goes through last yrs mess and has a Jekyll and Hyde season. His history says that he is a .270-.275 type hitter. His power is up and down between 7 and 15 HRs. He isnt a long fly type hitter, but a line drive hitter and that may hurt him in Fenway with the monster. His biggest asset is his speed and we all know Francona doesnt use it. His OBP was almost like clockwork in the .333-.338 range until 05 when he jumped to .362 and started it off at .373 in tampa before the trade. So what to believe. Hmmm. Well counting the adjustment period, I think he will have a good but not great yr. .280 10HR 60RBI 90R 15SB with a .345OBP and a .450SLG 2. Youkilis 3B You guys may not know it, but I like Youkilis a lot. This guy will bleed himself to his last drop for the red sox. He also declined a lot late, because it was his first full MLB season. I see an improvement on the way. .285 15HR 80RBI .400OBP .450SLG 3. Ortiz DH .280 50HR 2976RBI (j/k more like 140) OPS well over 1 4. Ramirez LF yawn..... .300 38HR 130RBI 1+OPS 5. Drew RF Seeing as he is hurt every other yr and this just happens to be the yr to be injured, he will injure himself playing tiddlywinks with Ortiz and will miss 60 games .280 14HR 60RBI .395OBP .480SLG 6. Lowell 3B DECLINE. Trade him NOW. The league learned him very well in the 2nd half last yr. If he doesnt get dealt, I see. .260 15HR 70RBI .310OBP .450SLG 7. Varitek C I like the guy, I really do, but how often does an aging catcher look this bad for an entire season and rebound into a fabulous hitter again? Very, very, very infrequently. More of the same from old ironsides. .240 10HR 50RBI .315OBP .385SLG 8. Crisp CF He declined as the season went along rather than got better as it was expected due to his injury. I see him as a .270 10HR 50RBI guy at the bottom of the order with a .300OBP and a .400SLG 9. Pedroia No friggin clue.

Coco is not a top of the order hitter.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove06/news/story?id=2688380 Gio Gonzalez and Gavin Floyd going the other way.

that is a pretty good rotation.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061206&content_id=1753129&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp fell through

At the end of the day, we regret getting to know you. Good day.

That is a GREAT 3-4 with a good 5. The rest of that lineup is essentially up in the air as far as predictability. If Manny goes bye bye then that lineup goes down the crapper.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/sports/baseball/07yankees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin The yankees are willing to go to 2yrs 30mil for Dandy Andy. The stros thus far have offered 1 yr 12 mil.

this isnt a carcinoma. It is a lymphoma. There is a difference.

yankee and sox fans are full of s*** 3/4 of the time.

you have an anger problem. And are delusional.

pettitte