jacksonianmarch

Sabathia hasn’t had microfracture. He has an arthritic knee that he has periodically drained and to this point it’s held up. But CC is looking to tack onto an illustrious career. If microfracture or makoplasty we’re in his future, he’d retire. It’s different for younger players trying to add prime years onto their careers. You do what you gotta do

There is no guarantee Pedroia is out at the start of the year. The problem with these microfractures is the goal is to create inflammation. Sometimes the inflammation leads to scar tissue and a cleanout is needed. Sometimes the inflammation worsens the arthritic condition and that is career ending. Sometimes, it does allow for some cartilaginous regrowth and extends a career. Rarely do you see a guy return to prior levels of mobility after the procedure. This is why expecting Pedroia to be able to play 2b might be far fetched. Daniel Murphy came back last year after microfracture, and after a 20 game suck fest, he dominated at the plate. But his legs turned to stone and his mobility as a 2b was entirely gone. This is why he is being marketed as a 1b this offseason. I wonder if Pedroia gets back to being pain free, can he show enough mobility to not be a total liability on the defensive end

What I am saying is Vaz has guaranteed outlay, so if they get him and he totally tanks, they cannot just cut bait. The arb schedule is far more appealing in a case like Vazquez. I doubt the Mariners get more at the deadline for a guy like Diaz. There are closers available and then there's Diaz, arguably coming off one of the top 10 closer seasons of all time. He is also young and has stuff for days. If he is dealt, he will return a kings ransom no matter when he is made available, especially with him coming with 3-4 years of cheap control

I think he is more apt to getting hurt at a position with which he is unfamiliar and one where contact with a runner is more likely than contact with a teammate

That is true. In 2017, he was not a homer prone pitcher and he produced in the AL. I like the move as the only real loss is Sheffield. DTW and Swanson were likely to be Rule 5 casualties and we got something of worth for them

The mariners may be interested in Vaz but one has to remember two things about him. He’s not on an easily droppable arb contract and he is coming off an absolutely abysmal offensive season. He is also coming off a season where his defensive reputation was tarnished a bit in that Sandy Leon started just as much as he did and Vaz is supposed to be a D first catcher. My guess is the Mariners wouldn’t deal Colome for him without the Sox offering something painful to part with. I also think the Mariners are gonna keep Colome and install him as their close. I think the M’s capitalize on Diaz’ big 2018 and get a kings ransom for him this offseason

He is coming to Yankee Stadium for half his games. While it is certainly not Safeco, Yankee stadium has been very good to lefties since it's creation. You usually worry about pull side opposite plate hitters. So you worry about left field for lefties and right field for righties. I expect Paxton to perform. The durability concerns are where my head is at. That being said, there is absolutely no way we get Paxton for what we gave up if he was a durable 200IP annual pitcher.

End of season top 10 from BA 1. Sheffield- now dealt to SEA 2. Florial 3. Loaisiga 4. Pereira 5. Seigler 6. Cabello 7. King 8. D. Garcia 9. Contreras 10. Abreu Estevan Florial is a legit CF prospect who had a bad start to 2018 then broke his hamate bone. He never really recovered. His OBP was solid, but his hit tool was down and his power suffered. The Yanks pushed him to the AFL this fall and he was awful. It really was a lost season for him. Despite all this, he doesn't turn 21 until this coming Sunday and was already in High A. He likely gets pushed to AA as the FSL is a notorious pitcher's league and he needs to get used to the breaking balls anyway. His ETA gets pushed back a year so they can improve on his approach. He is a legit 5 tool player, but needs to rebound from what was a lost 2018. Jonathan Loaisiga was an intriguing name coming into the year, and he didn't really disappoint. He was picked up as an MILB FA after TJS. We rehabbed him and he finished 2017 looking like a budding ace. He shot through the minors and ended up making 4 starts for us before shoulder fatigue shut him down for a bit. His short MiLB numbers for 2018 were scintillating. His first stint in NY was actually really good after 4 starts. He returned as a pen arm and wasn't very good. He is now a top 100 prospect and likely headed for the AAA rotation. As a member of the 40 man, he will likely function as our 6th starter Everson Pereiera was a top INTL signee in 2017. He skipped over the DSL and GCL and came to the Appy league shortly after his 17th birthday. He was facing mostly college graduate arms and really held his own. He is a defensive ballhawk in CF. His speed is top notch. He slashed a .263/.322/.389 in 167 AB's and showed enough for BA to have him top 4 in our system. His approach needs refinement as one would expect and his penchant for the K is far too high, but he has the ability to be a 5 tool player and has an outside chance of debuting in the long season leagues at the age of 18 Anthony Seigler is a switch hitting, switch throwing catcher who was drafted with the promise of a top notch hit tool, stellar defensive tools and developing power. He missed some time with various ailments in his debut season which limited him to 24 games. In those games, he showed the ability to make contact and take walks. He hit a respectable .266 across two levels and walked more than he struck out. His power was virtually non-existant in his debut season. I expect Anthony to start in the NYP this year for SI. He will turn 20 in season, but the Yankees take FOREVER developing catchers. They probably have him on the track to replace Sanchez assuming they let him play out his years of control as a catcher. This puts his needed ETA four years in the future. They may take that long to develop him, but the tools are there and more importantly, his defensive game is sound. Antonio Cabello can hit and he can fly. He was drafted as a "catcher" but was quickly converted to CF. He has speed to burn and offensive chops to be a top notch hitter with power over time. He played the entire 2018 season as a 17 year old. He got a cup of coffee in the DSL then moved stateside to the GCL and raked. His .308/.427/.522 line in the GCL was incredible. Consider that as a 17 yr old, he struck out only 34 times in 40 games while walking 21 times, you have the makings of a top notch contact hitter with power who knows the zone, can walk and can steal bases (he stole 10 in 46 games). The kid can absolutely rake and IMO, should be higher on the list. I doubt the Yanks push him past all the short season leagues, but his bat may push him to long season sooner rather than later. Michael King was acquired in a 40 man dump deal with Florida that got us extra INTL funds. He found extra velocity and effectively dominated the minor leagues. He allowed 2 or fewer runs in all but 3 starts this year. He ran through the minors and finished in AAA, where he was absolutely dominant in 6 starts (1.15ERA). He struck out almost a batter per inning, he walked only 29 in 161IP and his ERA over 3 levels was a miniscule 1.79. He is mostly a sinker, slider, change guy whose sinker jumped up to the 93-96 range and hence he started striking people out and getting great GB rates (GO/AO 1.42). He likely isn't going to shake the mid rotation starter projection just because he is a sinker/slider guy, but he is squarely in the 6th-7th starter depth position for the big league club and will be in AAA to start the year with Loaisiga Deivi Garcia was a beast in 2018. He turned 19 in May and started the year in Extended ST. He skipped the short season leagues due to need and went to Charleston where his peripherals outperformed his ERA (3.76). When the deadline deals were make, he was pushed to High A where he dominated and finished the year in AA where he tossed 5 no hit innings. His overall stat line for 2018 was absurb for a guy who turned 19 in season and finished in AA. 74IP 2.55ERA 0.95WHIP 12.8K/9IP 2.4BB/9IP 0.6HR/9IP 5.33K/BB. And that is a kid who doesn't turn 20 until May 2019. His stuff flashed up as expected, with his fastball sitting in the 92-95 range, but it was the command of his curve and change that really jumped out. He has the makings of an absolute monster and he isn't even done growing into his body yet. Roansy Contreras was the big acquisition of the 2016 INTL FA class for us as we were limited to a $300K max due to our 2014 outlay. Contreras had a reasonable good debut in 2017, but really exploded in 2018. His FB velocity jumped into the mid to high 90s, yet his command didn't suffer. His curveball has plus spin and is effectively unfair in the lower minors and he has started working on his change. His numbers really popped in 2018 and saw him finish the year in long season as an 18 yr old. He just turned 19 2 weeks ago and might be ticketed to High A for 2019. Incredible to see Abreu drop down to 10th when he was still listed as a top 100 prospect as little as 3 months ago. Abreu still showed the top notch stuff, but he missed time with arm fatigue and an appendectomy. He tops out at 100mph and has an absolutely lights out slider. His change is good too. When he takes the mound, he has dominated. He returned too soon after shoulder fatigue and gave up 8ER in 0.1IP, but outside of that, he dominated again. He finished the year healthy with a 5 inning no hit performance in AA and should stay there for 2019. He remains a guy with tantalizing stuff who has trouble taking the mound. If he can stay healthy, he will ascend to the very top of pitching prospect, not just in the system, but the game Overall, I like their list. I like that they aren't just tossing players with long season experience on a list and are going by talent. The lower levels of our system are totally stacked. I think the next man up on this list with Sheff now gone is probably Clarke Schmidt. He is the 2017 first rounder we drafted after having TJS. He returned towards the end of 2018 and dominated in short season ball. 30/6 K/BB ratio in 23.1IP over 8 appearances. Only 16 hits and a high GB%. He was in consideration for a top 10 draft slot when we took him and now that he is healthy, he is gonna shoot up prospect rankings. His velocity returned as well, which will be very key for him

Austin Barnes cannot hit. Realmuto is a middle of the order type hitter. The Dodgers have two prospects that profile as hitting catchers.

Anyone arguing that letting Hanley walk was a bad idea is not living in reality

Report today that the Yankees value adding another starting pitcher above adding Machado. I definitely see Corbin as out top target. I think the other thing we will need to look at is his cost. Cashman has been avoiding the big, long term pitching deals the past few seasons for guys 30 and older. We go out and get Paxton, but the money is light and 2 years of control is perfect. We got Gray with 2.5 years of control. CC has been on a year to year. The longest term pitching acquisition in recent memory was Tanaka and he was 25 at the time and that turned out well. I wonder if Cashman would rather have Happ for 2-3 years vs Corbin for 6-7. I also wonder if we aren't done dealing. The pitching in this system is deep and if we are mostly set for 2019, we have guys who will back fill if we deal from the high minors. We still have enough ammo for one big deal

I think a dark horse in the Realmuto market is LA. 2 of their top prospects are catchers, so they can move Realmuto while they’re in contention mode and Miami gets a ready made replacement

So the rotation stands at... 1. Tanaka 2. Paxton 3. Severino 4. ??? 5. Sabathia With the fact that we won’t need to add salary with Paxton as dealing Gray will negate the added salary, we should have a ton of cap space to add the final rotation piece as well as add to the lineup.

And the one thing the Yanks have in spades is pitching in the minors. Dealing off DTW isn’t a major hit to the talent on the offensive side, and we moved two guys who either were already on the 40 man or who would need 40 man protection in a crowded bunch. Our pitching prospects are now headlined by top 100 guys in Abreu and Loiasiga as well as Acevedo and the 19 yr old phenom Garcia.

To the contrary, I think we can get a top 100 prospect for Gray. He stunk last year.....almost exclusively in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Outside of those two fields, his ERA was under 2.6 with solid peripherals. I see him going to the Brewers, a team without top notch starting pitching, but rode a pen and a lineup to game 7 of the NLCS. And a team that doesn’t see Boston or NYY outside of a series or two in interleague

DTW had a great year topping out in High A, but he was 24 and way older than his competition. I like Swanson and he may slot into their rotation as early as this year. But he’s a sinker slider guy with limited upside. I loved Sheffield, but his command needed time to refine and that just wasn’t gonna happen in the majors. Plus, his small stature and high velocity makes me concerned he will be hurt. Either way, an appropriate package for an ace level talent with top notch per inning production with injury concerns. Paxton immediately slots in at or near the top of the rotation and gives us a top 3 that rivals many teams in the game, especially if Severino can avoid the late season swoons of the last two seasons. Also, Paxton offers us a rare left handed power starter, which should help us against Boston, who surprisingly struggle vs lefties. In terms of money, Paxton is projected to earn what Gray will earn. If we are successful in moving Gray for a package of prospects, we will essentially help to rebuild the farm while also trading two years of Paxton for one year of Gray.

No, he hasn’t been. He’s had all sorts of ailments. The hope is he can stay healthy. He’s a dominant left handed arm when he’s out there

Huge move. We deal off Sheffield and replace him with Paxton.

This is why the cliff exists. Cheap talent becomes expensive and no cheap talent behind it

Eovaldi is on the Yanks radar as well. I am gonna call BS on that, but either way, it is very possible Eovaldi becomes too expensive for the high salaried sox

Listen, there’s no guarantee that Pearce is still gonna be good. But what it does by having him on a 1 yr deal is guarantee that you won’t start the year with a hole. You won’t have to rush Chavis to see if he is ready. You won’t have to push Moreland against lefties. This allows for your team to also have a contingency against what’s expected to be a lefty heavy Yankees rotation. It’s a great move and on a one year deal, it’s a steal

You do t know if he will be a good defender. Let’s say he's average or below at 2b. Then you’ve downgraded RF and haven’t improved 2b defense

Do the Sox insure their contracts?

Clay also ended the year on the DL with another arm injury. He’s made of glass

Profit and loss isn’t the most important thing for these owners. The value of the franchise is the biggest gainer for these billionaires. They may lose $500 mil over a ten year period, but the franchise may gain $1 billion in value. They write off the losses as operating loss and then take the big gainer on the sale