jacksonianmarch

there are much fewer than 5. Mauer, McCann....... Posada and Vtek were special, vtek has declined and Posada will soon as well. Estrada is borderline special, but not really and he is too old to really be special.

Varitek is signed for 2 more yrs. Estrada will be 31 this season. By the time Estrada would get the spot, he'll be declining as a C. He's a nice catcher, but he is nohing special due to his age.

I cannot believe that we are talking about 4yrs 60mil for Drew. Such is the market, but that really is annoying.

just remember, you need to convince that FA that there is a spot. I still remember Sterling Hitchcock signing with the yankees for 2yrs at 12mil total and being the 6th starter. He was not so happy and the yankees ended up eating salary to move him for nothing special. It isnt a bad problem to have mind you, but it will be tough to convince someone to come in with all 5 spots filled.

5 yrs will be a starting point in this market,

there we go

yeah, I meant the DBacks. Crap. How do I change the title again?

Not a chance in the world that a player would sign in BOS without a spot already being secured.

I agree with that statement.

Johnny Estrada, Greg Aquino, and Claudio Vargas to the Brewers for Doug Davis and two prospects. This is a big deal and what I think is a huge steal for MIL. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061125&content_id=1745907&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

???

Lets have Lester get over that cancer hurdle before we all start pencilling him into the rotation plans. I just want to hear he is healthy before proceeding with anything.

Mo finished the season healthy and made an appearance in the postseason. Bruney threw 30 innings last yr and was dominant with 1+ era. And since when does a 3.5 era in the ALE suck for a rookie? I think you are skewing things a bit.

Also, ORS, giving yourself credit for being totally off base is something you should be doing. You do not know my motives just like you do not know me. Let's leave it at that. My motives are to point out what is happening, whether you want to hear it or not. For the yankees, I think they may be on the verge of winging it in the rotation department for hopes of a better FA crop next yr or for the hopes that their farm will develop a front line starter. Yankee fans should worry if one really wants the yankees to win next yr, because absent a front line starter, they really dont have a chance (unless Randy grows a new back and finds a fountain of youth and if carl grows his balls back). For sox fans, they should be worried about the achilles heel that comes up every single yr for them. Instability in the pen. It is obvious that theo is going for it this yr and without a bullpen (and now that the options are dwindling) they dont have a chance. You can trot out any RF you want, Daisuke can be the next best thing since ramen noodles came over the pond, but without a pen, sox fans will be watching october baseball.

Matsuzaka is a different kind of FA. It isnt like Cashman knew what was on the table and passed, he had no idea how much the other teams were bidding. He technically didnt pass on Matsuzaka because he did not know the price tag. That is not the same for Zito or Schmidt or Pettitte, who I think would be the best yankee solution. If those guys sign elsewhere, then they either wanted no part of NY or Cash passed.

I will go on record as saying that if the sox can nab matsuzaka for more than 3 yrs that they will have done a fabulous job. A 26 yr old with ace pedigree is hard to come by and if they lock him up for 5-6 yrs, they will be very happy and theo should be lauded.

he would have been useful in Fenway if Manny gets dealt. If Manny stays, he would have been useless.

My money is on the mutts too.

yet you still have not even commented on the substance of my post.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/474458p-399104c.html he said that if he had to decide today, he'd retire. I dont really buy that. The Yankees could really use a one or two yr bridge to the young pitchers maturing. A 2yr deal for Pettitte and a half yr deal for Clemens would be a good move over going after Meche and Lilly.

http://www.mlb4u.com/non07.php here is a postulated list of non-tenders. None look all that great though.

ORS, how am I talking out of both sides of my mouth? Both teams came in with needs, but anyone with half a brain could see that he sox needs were much greater. They finished 3rd for the first time in a long time and came in with a lot of holes. One was filled, in the rotation, that spells a need. But their biggest need was in the bullpen, especially since the sox are taking their #1 reliever and converting him to starter. That takes the sox bullpen ERA of 4.51 from last yr (which was 21st in MLB ) to an era of 5.07 which would have been good for 3rd worst in the major leagues behind only Baltimore and KC. And thus far they have done ZERO to address it while the best right handed and left handed options have already been removed and now it seems that the most versatile reliever is on his way to SF. THAT is my point. Dont try to turn this into something else, and dont channel your anger at the sox in my direction. You want to see petty, take a look at some of your pathetic rantings in a fight ith Gom. You didnt need to keep it going yet you did and you lost a lot of respect in my book because of it. THAT was petty. Getting back on track and leaving as much personal s*** off as possible, look at need and market. The Yankees have less holes. They need a backup catcher, which in yankee land is not a crucial position because there is no certain knuckleballer that is hard to catch on their staff. They also need a right handed 1b. Hillenbrand is still available. Phillips could fit the bill, etc. The yankees managed to have the highest scoring offense in the majors last yr with only 2 months of Abreu, Matsui and Sheffield each. They should get entire seasons out of Abreu and Matsui this yr, so they can carry one pathetic bat if need be. With the addition of Britton and the full season in NY for Bruney, the pen is loaded with fireballers in front of Mo. Britton, Bruney, Proctor, Myers, Farnsworth, Rivera. Plus JB Cox is sitting in the minors as well as guys like TJ Beam , Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner who could be long men. BP is not a yankee need. Their most obvious and glaring need is SP. They have their ace in Wang returning. Mussina is also returning, but he is more like a #3 pitcher. Johnson will return, but after back surgery and a bad season at 43 he can only be counted on as a 4/5. That leaves the 2 slot and the 4/5 slot open. Pavano is an option who could fit the 4/5 spot, but if they are about to sink a spot on Pavano/Rasner/Karstens out of ST, then they better fill that 2 hole with someone better than Lilly. There are players with #2 type stuff that hasnt matched performance. Guys like Padilla, Meche, etc. There is a solid #2 on the market in Zito, although his numbers seem more lucky than good. Fact is, the market is tough, but when you remove a pen killer like Wright from your rotation, then all you really need to do to make your team better is to add a guy who will eat innings for you. Meche could do that, Lilly can't, Padilla might, Zito will. Also, there is the fact that the yankees have 3 of their top 10 prospects in AAA. One of which has already had success in AAA. Where will they go if one of more dominate to start out the spring? There are plenty of options, but I have stood pat in saying the yankees need ONE starting pitcher. Two would block the progression of Hughes and Sanchez and would gum up the works with Pavano. That ONE needs to be damn good though, and dipping into a substandard market could yield a Pavano/Clement-esque debachle all over again. So no more double talk as you call it. The starting pitching market has not even started while the relief market is nearing the finish. Cashman still has time. Theo needs bullpen and the market is drying up. He cannot afford to wait. See if you can wrap your mind around that one.

ORS, do I truly need to point everything out to you one thing at a time? The SP market has not started forming yet as only one C level SP signed (Williams). That means that options are still available. It is about supply. Currently, every option is on the table. If the SP market started drying up and Cashman still hadnt nabbed one SP, then I'd be all over him. Until then, I will sit back and wait for the show to begin. Meanwhile the third (and likely last) reliable bullpen arm is about to sign in SF leaving the sox with Gagne as their best option (and he is no sure thing anymore).

yet still the lethal flaw of RSN is still unaddressed. Can drew close?