jacksonianmarch

the sox offense would be so bad that they might as well mail 2007 in.

EXACTLY the point I wanted to get one of you to say. Why you ask? Because Kaz Ishii was very good....if you get rid of his walks. Take a look at Ishii's career stats. 564IP 278ER 508H 435K 354BB less than a hit per inning, actually, significantly less than a hit per inning. But when you walk 5.6 guys per 9 innings, you will not be good. Now, you tell me that Igawa looks like Ishii without the walks? Well, if that is the case, then he should be pretty damn good. If you take Ishii's stats yet construe those out to 2.4BB/9IP rather than 5.6, then you subtract 151 baserunners and drop his whip from 1.53 to 1.26 which is a stellar whip for a 2 or a 3, let alone a back of the rotation guy.

Lowell will not nab anything significant.

tgov, he was terrible offensively prior to his injury.

again, more hoping and praying on your end. The general scouting consensus is the guy should be a 4/5 type pitcher whose durability, control and curveball will be his only highlights.

those comparisons are without merit. Ishii's undoing in the MLB was his insanely high walk total, which is something he had in Japan as well. Take a look at these numbers in Japan. Ishii last 5 seasons in Japan 805IP 287ER 617H 906K 372BB 3.20ERA 1.23WHIP 10.1K/9IP 4.2BB/9IP Igawa last 5 seasons in Japan 997IP 348ER 916H 952K 274BB 3.14ERA 1.19WHIP 8.6K/9IP 2.5BB/9IP They are two different pitchers altogether. Ishii didnt get hit any harder in the major leagues, but his walk totals rose into the 100's. He had had at least one 100+BB season in japan before and was sitting in the 70-80 range in 170ish innings. Igawa is less of a power pitcher, so his hits should rise some, but the control and the durability is something that the yankees want out of their back end of the rotation starters. I am not saying he will be a stellar player, far from that, but the comparisons to Ishii end after you discuss left handed japanese pitchers.

I am not sold on him being a top of the rotation pitcher. I did watch some you-tube of him and he has MLB type stuff, just nothing overly impressive. The one thing I am impressed with is his averaging over 200IP for the past 5 seasons. Sounds like Zito-lite to me and he will come much cheaper.

I dont think he will suck, but I dont think he will be a 20 game winner like he was in Japan. He has the numbers which essentially show that he has good location and is durable. That sounds like a #4 or 5 starter. The yankees biggest problem during the season last yr was their lack of endurance that the back end of their rotation had. At the beginning, Chacon and Wright were averaging less than 5 innings per start. This guy is likely to give more and he will be cheaper than Lilly.

Why? Open the eyes my friend. Manny's worth is higher than ever and this offseason the pile of dogshit being shoveled into the morning papers i getting higher and higher. Correlation: The Red Sox are moving him. And the guy they are asking for do not look like much in the way of 2007 production. They asked the Guardians for Trevor Crowe, Fausto Carmona and Adam Miller. All 3 are top 100 prospects, but neither are likely to be of big help this season. If the sox go for a bundle of prospects, then Drew is essentially the replacement of Manny.

Tek can bat put up Mike Matheny #s and his worth to the team will still be felt. The guy is a frickin gamer.

not sure who will want to trump that offer though. The Mutts and DBacks are interested, but if Mulder goes to ARI, then that leaves the mets as the only team rumored to make a strong push. Consider also that the mets are likely to sign Zito and you get rid of their interest as well. The Marlins do not need to deal Willis, but they do want to keep payroll down and Willis is certainly due a huge payday. The Marlins also have some of the best talent developers in the game if you see how many top notch players have gone through that organization. If you can get a power corner IF, a top 5 pitching prospect, a switch hitting CFer coming off a solid rookie yr, and a reliever who had a nasty 100IP+ season and I am not sure if any team could beat that unless they deal from their MLB talent.

Boston is a small big city if you will. It isnt the mammoth NYC. But there are a lot of people in that small city and in the surrounding area. Consider also that Fenway is a huge landmark for Boston and the fact that the fans are extremely passionate and you have a pressure cooker. Small space, fanatics, high pressure baseball. The great players can handle it, the not so great cannot.

Not likely. Typically catchers slide with age faster than others and Tek is coming off a serious enough knee injury that it cost him 6 weeks of the season. Add that extra yr of age and he will likely not do much better than last yrs putrid stats.

manny wil be dealt if the sox are serious about drew.

You and I both know that the cap is not the only thing the sox watch. 51.1mil will hurt as well. The sox will want to drop that payroll, not increase it.

that would be funny as hell

I would absolutely include Proctor over Sanchez. Proctor is one yr removed from an insane workload and is an injury just waiting to happen. Plus, Proctor is no spring chicken at 30yrs old. Sanchez is a guy I would not trade right now. Absolutely NOT. The guy was one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball last yr until he hurt his arm. His injury is considered to be healed at this point. There was a ton of speculation about the tigers bringing him up last yr as a sept callup with the possibility of carrying him in the postseason. If the pitching loaded Tigers loved the kid this much to consider putting him in the pen for the playoffs after pitching zero MLB innings, then i think he has something to show. Right now, dealing him would be selling low. To tell you how high I am on this guy and how high a lot of scouts are on this guy, there is some discussion as to which player will make the majors first, Hughes or Sanchez. That is how good this kid is. If the marlins would accept a deal of Proctor, Melky, and Duncan, then the yankees should accept before the marlins see how far their s*** is getting pushed in.

32 mil came off the books. Timlin came back for 3 mil, Wake back for 4mil. They got Okajima for 1.2 mil. Cora took 2 mil. Drew looks like a 15mil deal. Matsuzaka will be at least a 10 mil deal if the sox truly want to sign him, most likely a 12mil deal. Now for the appreciating contracts. Beckett from 4.3 to 6mil in 2007 Hinske from 1.1 to 2.8mil in 2007 (sox portion only) Ortiz 7.75 to 12.5mil WMP is arb eligible and made 440K last yr Manny 19mil to 18mil assuming WMP makes close to 3mil, Matsuzaka signs at 12mil and Drew signs at 15mil, then the sox will be 10.15mil over where they were last yr without having their infield filled, nor their bullpen touched.

I think the sox are going into this offseason thinking that they may have as many as 4 holes in that infield. There has definitely been some rumblings about the readiness of 2b Pedroia. With the sox not offering arb to Loretta, it seems like he will be the man at 2b now, but this was not something that was easily agreed upon. There have also been rumors of the trade of Mike Lowell which would have opened up 3b and many on here have called for Youk to be moved. Therefore, there has been speculation about all 4 infield spots. Right now, I agree, there is at most 2 in my opinion with Lowell still being on the chopping block. With the release of Nixon, it sure seems as if they are going to need to find a place for Wily Mo. With Drew being acquired and with Manny seemingly on his way out, it will be interesting to see where WMP fits. Also, moving Wake to the pen is a 100% mistake. Would you trust him with a lead that someone else acquired? He is so hot and cold, as is the nature of all knucklers, that he is completely unreliable in the bullpen. In the rotation he is the perfect back of the rotation pitcher. He is a guy who will go 200IP+ and will go .500 for the most part. Perfection at #5, something that if the yankees had at #5, they probably would have been much better prepared for the playoffs last yr.

so the sox will get a 2nd rounder and a 2nd round sandwich pick for AGon and nothing for Loretta? Interesting.

2-2, yup, he sucks against the sox.

you dont offer trot arbitration with a minimum salary of 5+mil to sit on the bench.