jacksonianmarch

Nixon is going to get a bone thrown his way by an AL team that would love to have him in the OF half of the time and at DH the other half. I could see Trot ending up on the west coast with either Seattle or Oakland. I agree, his days as a Boston dirt dog are done.

young SS prospects are gold in the major leagues. They are also few in major league readiness. The best SS prospect in the game right now seems to be Brandon Wood, but the reports on him are that he is going to be a 3b by the time he hits the bigs. Many other teams have SS prospects who, if they hit are too big for their position and will be moved to 3b, or they are slick fielders with no power.

Lee is being offered 5yrs 73mil. I can only imagine what he will sign at. Still, he hit .300 37HR 116RBI and he has been very consistent over the past few yrs. That is worth a lot.

not really. How am I wrong? The sox biggest need is bullpen and the two best FA options have signed on, one in the AL East. How is that a rationalization, it is a fact. As for BSN's post, the market is drying up. It is VERY thin in the areas of the sox needs. The SP market has some good options and the sox nabbed arguably the best one, but he still needs to be signed. The relief market is as bad as I think I have ever seen. That is an absolute dire need of this sox team, and that horrible market just got horribler (not a word I know) with Walker and Speier inking long term deals. There are times when you go in guns blazing and regret it and there are times when it is necessary. To fill the MR, Walker got a shade over 3 a yr for 3 yrs and Speier got 4.5 a yr for 4 yrs. They could have easily beat that, but instead they threw 51 mil into Matsuzaka and left the bullpen for dead. The only way I see them landing anything to shore up that pen is to deal their biggest chip. Manny is a guy who can get you a bat and a top notch closer, but his market is limited and his preference is even more limited. As his contract becomes more affordable, there really are still only 10 teams that can afford him, only 8 or so are options and Manny may only want to go to 4 of them (remember full no-trade clause for ManRam). One of those options is Texas. They have lost DeRosa, Mathews and are on the verge of losing Lee. That team needs a big stick to go with Teixera and Young, and their biggest strength is turning into a weakness. The Rangers strength is that they have a lot of power arms who can take over in the pen. So I could see the proposed 3 way deal work in the sox favor. Helton is a tier below Manny, but he is certainly capable of .320 20HR 100RBI and Otsuka is the closer the sox could ride to 40 saves.

No, he is not. He is following Johnson's career path in that it is taking him awhile to adjust as he goes up the ladder. He is only 21 and was rushed to AAA. Injury and poor performance sent him back to AA where he did very well in limited duty. His ETA was supposed to be 2007, but that was rushing him a bit. He showed what he could do when he was MVP of the AFL last yr. He is likely on pace to be in the majors in mid-2008. But if you can nab a guy like Johnson while he is still young, you make the move. The on thing I'd be cautious about if I were the yankees is the fact that the lineup will be lefty loaded as is. The yankees need a right handed bat at 1st, but I think they could do worse than Johnson.

I gave you a chance Gom. Now you are just acting like a bratty little kid.

Eric Duncan for Nick Johnson? If Cash pulls that off, he should be locked up for grand larceny.

I will go on record as say that the sox will have to either go for 3 yrs or for 8 or 9 year to lock up Matsuzaka. Either get him to be a FA still in his prime or lock him up well into his twilight yrs. At the same time, while the speculation is truly fun to consider, I think the sox will get a deal done.

I think his whole hard on for Matsuzaka really took his eyes off the prize. The sox didnt need an ace pitcher. They needed a #2 or a #3 style pitcher who could eat innings. That guy is Zito, or Meche, or whomever. They could certainly use and ace, mind you, but they didnt absolutely need one. They absolutely NEED a bullpen. Thus far it is Mike Timlin and the kids. They dont even have Foulke to kick around anymore. Under Theos watch, he saw the best left handed and the best right handed relievers sign already (Walker and Speier). He is rumored to be going after Joe Borowski, who is an absolute disaster waiting to happen. This is a guy who has put 3 good seasons together in his career and all of them were in the NL. His only stop in the AL that was serviceable was a closer gig in TB that he subsequently lost due to his 30% BS percentage. I dont know who he will get, but if he goes with Borowski and Gagne, he will be asking for Hansen and DelCarmen to be the closer and SU men this yr as both will be ineffective and both will be injured by midseason.

One other thing that Heyman never talked about is the potential for a side deal with whomever signs him. It is well known that this is the dumbest system in the game. The posting system is only tracked halfway. The bids are kept by MLB, but it is on the MLB team to pay Seibu and that money is not tracked. So long as nobody complains, then nobody ever checks if the money was actually transferred in full. So we do not even know if the sox are truly sending 51.1mil over to Japan or if the sox and seibu have an agreement. At the same time, lets say Matsuzaka gets lowballed by Theo. Humor me. Seeing as the sox won the bidding, there wont be another posting. But what could happen is that another team could always call Seibu and "persuade" them to release him. This is not traceable and would free Matsuzaka from the confines of the posting process, making him a free agent. This is possible in the current state of the game, and it should be fixed. I think that the MLB should essentially send a slush fund as a whole over to Japan and in return, the japanese should allow their players the option to leave Japan after their 6th yr, like we have the option of FA after the players sixth yr. This gets rid of this ridiculous posting process and opens up every team with big money to make a bid.

This nonsense was spurred by an SI article, so I am not pulling this out of my ass here. This is why Boras wants a short term deal. He wants his client to cash in when he is still in his prime. Hence, he wants his client to hit the FA market at 29. That would make him a guy likely to get a 6 yr deal at ace money, which is anywhere from 15-18million a yr. That six yr deal will take him to his 35th birthday. So, either Boras will want 12-15 mil a season for three yrs which is still top tier money and gives his client an out when he is still in his prime or he will want ace money right now to his 35th birthday. The logic seems to favor Boras asking for a 3 yr deal unless theo sends a brinks truck to Matsuzaka's house every season until the guy is well past his prime. If Matsuzaka signs a 4-5 yr deal this season, then he will be over 30 when he negotiates his next deal and that is perceived to be on the downswing, and for a small pitcher, that will hurt negotiations. Boras is a smart snake. He will already be positioning for the next payday before he secures the first one. You will see how much confidence he has in his client when the deal comes in. if you see the sox getting Matsu under control for 4+ years early on, then Boras is selling out. If you see Boras negotiate a short term deal, then he really has faith in this kid. As much as Heyman and I want to ponder the opportunities. Gun to head, right or wrong I pick Matsuzaka to the sox 3yrs 45 mil with an agreement not to offer arb after the contract is up. Lets see if I am right.

Everyone can win. A: if the sox give Boras a 3 yr deal at lots of cash B: if Boras is able to buy Matsu's freedom and he becomes a FA The sox have the ability to control this by doing A. It is on them to do so.

this is a tough topic. Proctor was a total lynchpin of the pen last yr, one of their unspoken MVPs if you will. But when you go from being a 50 inning a yr pitcher to having to throw over 100 innings, wear begins to take effect. If he is asked to throw another 100innings of relief, he will blow out. If he goes to the rotation, I think he would have some success, but he truly lacks that 3rd pitch that I have doubted Papelbon on. He has a hard heater and a sick slider, but his changeup is pathetic at best. If he doesnt develop a 3rd pitch, he will be Jaret Wright without the sub 5 era. This really could blow up in their face and would definitely weaken an area that I thought was a strength for the yankees going into 07 That middle relief (although poor in overall numbers) was very solid when a lead needed holding. That is a marker of a good pen, and Proctor was the best guy in that middle. Moving him would put a lot of pressure on Bruney and Britton, something I dont think they can handle as yet.

another thing Mr. C. When the yankees were the best in the game, they made solid trades. These included the Justice deal, the O'Neill deal, the Knoblauch trade, the Clemens trade, etc. They always seemed to be on the winning end of the deals. I think the deals the yankees have made in the past few yrs have been stalemates at best and total disasters at worst. These most recent deals really look like they could pan out for the yankees, and once they get trades in their favor added to their money, then they will be tough to beat for a long time.

John Heyman's column in SI today was interesting. He said that the sox like a lot of teams set a total value on Matsuzaka, and he has sources which say that the number was 80 mil. He goes on to say that the sox will consider some of that money as a "down payment" toward Matsuzaka while Boras will likely counter with the "he doesnt ee a red cent of that money" bit. He is predicting that this will go down the wire, and if forced to accept a lower than market deal or go back to Japan, he speculated that Boras could try to buy Matsuzaka's freedom from Seibu and make him a FA. Very interesting stuff.

unless JD Drew somehow develops a sick fastball and curveball and can close, I dont see why this is an issue. As currently constituted and even with Drew in the lineup, this team will win 80 games and be 3rd in the division again. No bullpen = no chance.

Yes seabeach, the sox did slump. Back on topic. If Matsuzaka signs for less than market value, then Boras loses face. If Matsuzaka signs for too long a deal, the Boras loses face. He is an agent, not a Red Sox pawn. He will ask for the moon in a 3 yr deal. Expect it. It is the sox who will lose the most face. If they make the biggest bid by far, then lowball in an effort to sign him, it will make it look like they never intended to sign him at all. That would effectively plant a big f*** you in japan rather than a plan for future development. You can expect no team to even consider sending their players to the sox in the future. This is a big risk for the sox, but they have come this far, they have to finish.

Gte him used to 200 innings? He should be expected to throw 200 innings. If I had a pitcher on my team who was extremely effective throwing a curve, yet got blisters every time or he threw them, I'd send him to a doctor to see how he can build up the skin in that area. Then I'd work my ass off trying to develop him a devastating 2nd pitch. If all of that fails, then I tell him to throw effectively, I dont care if you develop blisters. Because 150 innings of a 3.5 era are a whole lot better than 200 innings of a 5.0 era.

Here is the stressing part, though. AGon is a whole lot better than Cora, I think we can all agree on that. Pedroia is really not a major league shortstop. That really only leaves the sox with Lugo or having a yr of Pedroia and Cora in the MI. That is scary. Lugo is being courted by the Mets, the Cubs (who have outspent everyone this offseason), and the sox as well as as many as 6 more teams. He may earn a Renteria-esque deal. But his best asset is his speed and at 31 (which I believe he is) he will most certainly slow down. That leaves you with a guy who will get 10-12 mil for 4 yrs who may be very bad by the 2nd yr of that contract. Remember, this isnt Damon here. Lugo really has had only 1.5 good seasons, and those coincided with a lot of SBs and infield hits. Take those away and he is AGon without the defense.