jacksonianmarch

the fact that it is a one yr contract means that teams will not require the yankees to pick up too much. The thing is, the more money that goes one way means the more talent that comes back the other. If I were the yankees, I'd gift wrap sheff with his 13 mil and say, give me a good pitcher.

He showed his wrist was okay when he raked on return. We shall see. Thing is, there is a major dearth of power hitting in this yrs FA pool, so the yankees have the market by the balls.

He is the epitome of a fair weather teammate. When things are going well for both the team and him, he is great. He is a solid, grade A offensive player who will stilbe dynamite in the middle of any offense. At the same time, he was a grade A cock every chance he got. I think there will definitely be a few teams looking for power hitting who may be goated into giving up pitching for Sheff, and the quality will depend on how much of the 13 mil will be picked up by the yankees. If the yankees wait until after Carlos Lee and Soriano sign, then he could be a nice chip to snag some pen help or to couple him with a few minor league guys to get some pitching help. I wouldnt be surprised if teams like Chicago or Houston were in the running. They cannot hit at all, and he would be a monster in Minute Maid or Wrigley.

I think the sox farm system has taken a major hit recently. You have the guys who have graduated to the majors and the multiple bad deals that sent top talent away. A lot of the rankings are not just based on the future of the players, but how close they actually are. The sox have one big prospect in the near future, with Ellsbury likely to come up in 2 yrs. Other than that, there isnt anything coming down the pike for next season unless the sox wish to overmatch the young catching prospect. Their farm will drop like a rock in the rating.

He made his career on one start? Career ra under 4 while playing most of his career in the AL East is pretty damn good. And, when you factor in that he averaged 17 wins for his first 8 full seasons in the Bronx and he is 14-9 in the postseason, you get to see what kind of pitcher this lefty is. While I agree that pursuing Pettitte in lieu of Zito or Matsuzaka is a pretty dumb idea when the yankees problem is age more than anything, pursuing him along with either of the afore mentioned players is very smart. The return of Pettitte would be a good buffer for the other new pitcher to get his feet wet. If I were sox management, I'd strongly consider Pettitte, he will pitch well in any situation he is thrown into.

agreed. Timlin is an aging guy whose luck ran out. I can certainly see another Seanez except worse next yr. I wonder how Timlin's albino look would fare in the san diego sun?

wow, I missed this. This is a huge benefit to big teams. Wow.

My point was that there can be tons of rumors about doctor reports, but nobody will ever know for sure. The Red Sox do have access to exams that they foot the bill for, but they dont have to tell the entire truth. What happens if Andrews gave a green light, but 9 other ortho docs gave thumb down. Essentially, the sox and Beckett control the flow of info, and no independent reporting can hunt down documents to prove otherwise because of hipaa.

ARod should be dealt this offseason. Right now, he can still be a franchise SS and should command a top flight, young pitcher. If they wait another yr, he wont be able to.

RIP Cory.

Both teams need pitching. The yankees have only 2 pitchers in their current starting 5 under contract for 07 (Randy and Wang) and those will be their #2 and their #5. Mussina should not be re-upped because he faded late and that is a horrible predictor of performance for an aging, injury riddled, overly expensive pitcher. Wright has a huge buyout, but he either should be traded or bought out as he is not good enough to manuever through an AL lineup and he is death to a pen. Lidle was a good pickup for the reg season, but he shouldnt be in the rotation in the AL anywhere next yr. Pavano is under contract, and he will get a rotation spot next yr, with Hughes being his insurance plan when he hits the DL. Essentially, the yankees will have an open ace position and an open 3 hole and I think they go after Matsuzaka and Zito hard. For the red sox, their ace (Schill) showed serious decline and had wear and tear injury problems really for the first time in his career, which if you see my discussion of Moose, I dont like that. Their 2 (Beckett) should be the 4 or 5 next yr until he either figures it out or gets moved back to the NL. Their 3 hole is open. Their 4 is Wake who is starting to wear down and he isnt as effective as he was in the past. The 5 hole is open. I think the sox should see if they can insert themselves into the Matsuzaka race and if the yankees bid too high, they should chase Schmidt. The 5 hole should be filled either internally or with someone who has the rep of being an innings eater, not a guy who put up good #s in the NL but hardly goes past 6. The sox pen will still be awful next yr and having to rely on them for more than 3 innings every 5th turn is gonna be awful. So, if the yankees or the sox move their enigmatic sluggers, they better get pitching in return. Whoa, whoa, EDIT. Forgot about Papelbon. Insert him as the 2 and you have a top 2 of schilling and papelbon. The 4 is Wake, the 5 is Beckett. The 3 hole is open, go out and get schmidt. Sorry.

The Yankees cannot have him on their team next yr and have him coexist with Lou. Not gonna hapen. BUT, he could have some serious value at 7-8 mil next yr and I guarantee a team like the Angels or Padres would love to get him and would be willing to send top line pitching, either as prospects or current MLB talent. I dont see the angels moving weaver or ervin at any point, but the padres may consider Chris Young if they can convince Boomer to play one more yr. It will be a fun october in the northeast as both teams look to deal their powerful outfielders for pitching.

while I do not disagree with you as far as the high priced bums is concerned, you need to look yourself in the mirror too.

Moving Abreu is plain dumb. The guy turned that offense from a pedestrian one into a great one. Also, he essentially was the reason why the yankees won their only game with 4 RBI. Otherwise the yankees are staring at a sweep. He should be kept as should the rest of the O. I was listening to Steve Phillips (I know why the hell would I do that), and he said that the yankees will likely try to exercise Sheff's option so they can control where he goes, and worst case he would stick around as their 1b for another yr. I dont think that is a bad idea, but I'd only do that if the yankees get anything greater than a bag of rocks for ARod. This is going to be a very interesting offseason for both the sox and the pinstripers.

I always find it interesting when a fan of any big market team uses the terms "don't overspend!" Who cares. Spend away, but spend wisely. I think both the yankees and sox fans on this site can see what trying to save a few bucks has done. The yankees didnt pony up to Pettitte and then they got a bunch of s***** replacements for a few less bucks. Funny thing is, the only 2 guys who really stepped to the rubber all season were the guy who was there from 2001 on and the kid who was brought through the farm system. The rest of the garbage sucked. Overall, you end up spending more if you try to find the deal of the hot stove and it doesnt work out. For the yankees, they should be trying to sign TWO of the top 3 on the market, Schmidt, Matsuzaka, and Zito. The sox need one of them. Overall, if the yankees make a rotation that has RJ as the 4 or 5 and has Matsuzaka, Zito, and Wang as the top 3, I think that no other team could hang with them. Their bullpen is pretty much set for next yr sans a lefty long man like Villone pre All Star edition. Their offense will still be superb, even if they let sheff go. They could deal ARod and get a serviceable player or even try to sign Aramis for 3b. Consider this, even if they go young and bring up Duncan for 3b, they will still have a top 7 in the lineup of Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Giambi, Matsui, Posada and Cano. For the sox, they have a ton to do, which I highlighted in my sox to do list. The closer I wanted is now gone (Cordero re-upped with the brew crew). Wickman is gone too (re-upped with the Braves). Closer by committee is scary IMHO and having Hansen there would be even worse.

Pena in CF will be a horrible disaster. His short sample size in CF is not enough to gift wrap him the position out of the hot stove.

Unless he develops an off speed pitch that has the effectiveness of his curve but does not cause blisters, we will see the same. It is said that he is very afraid to throw the curve because of the blister problem and he became a one pitch pitcher. In the AL, that dont fly. Fastballs down the heart of the plater may work in Marlin Stadium in the NL, but not in the bandbox that is the fens or anywhere in the AL. Also, his curve is nasty when on and that is why he was so good in the 2003 playoffs IMHO. If he doesnt learn a pitch that is controllable, that is a good disparity in speed from his heat, and that doesnt cut his fingers, he will be a 5era pitcher next yr.

I dont think it works for the yankees, im my opinion. They already have Abreu, Matsui, and Damon in the outfield with them trying to get Melky into 140 games next yr too. Also, with Giambi coming off wrist surgery that will keep him rehabbing into spring training, you will have a guy who will likely need to DH half the games. Unless Manny could play 1b, it wont work. Also, if the sox FO is so worried about salary, why would they deal 2 yrs of 21 mil for 4 more yrs of what amounts to 18 mil (7 mil is being paid by Texas and then a bunch of the $$ is deferred).