jacksonianmarch

Agreed, it’s about expectations. Last year was enjoyable and a success since it wasn’t expected. This year was not as successful. I’d say the Sox entered the year as World Series contenders, if not favorites. Expectations shouldn’t be an ALCS exit

Funny how we have different views of success. We eliminated you guys in epic fashion in 2003, yet not completing the WS run is looked upon as a failure

I doubt Harper sees a $300 mil total contract (he’ll get close), but I definitely could see him raking in $30 mil plus per season in his first three seasons. I guarantee Harper gets a long deal structured with a high up front with an early opt out to make the AAV more palatable for the team while giving Harper another crack at FA before he turns 30. I can see a 10 year $260 mil contract with the first $105 mil coming in the first 3 seasons with an opt out. The final seven years and $155 mil is an insurance policy against injury or poor production

CC is not a Yankee

I doubt it. Machado wasn't a good defender at SS this past yr and while Gleyber has the tools to be a good SS, he wasn't one this season. My bet is we sign Machado to play 3b long term but he sees time at SS until Didi returns. I think the Yankees will use this injury to lock him up for 2020 at least

Verlander vs Sale. My take is the game will be close through 6. Sale will be pulled in the 6th, the sox will give up the lead in the middle innings then tie the game late off Osuna. Osuna has a history of shutting down the Yankees but laying down vs the sox. Extras, game goes 17 innings.

So if the Stros go out and sweep the sox in the ALCS, you'll call this a good season? I doubt that entirely. Your team is squarely within their window. You have to win a title either this year or next or Dombrowski's plans were a failure

Big rumors day today. We will start with the first of the day. Boone admitted that Luke Voit grabbed the job and its effectively his to lose. While it seems obvious, Voit's 39 game sample size isn't enough to lock him in at 1b without someone backing him. This is telling. It also means that Andujar is available for a top notch starter. I think this is a cryptic way of letting it be known that Miggy might be dealt, we could get Machado and the grand plan rolls from there. Or maybe I am getting ahead of myself, whatever Didi having TJS has its own thread. The final news of the day is what appeared the most obvious. Sonny Gray will be traded this offseason. Now, most people would probably look at Gray and say he sucks. But look a little deeper. Sonny Gray is a soon to be 29 yr old former ace. He can be had on a reasonable 1 yr deal, probably in the $10 mil range. Yes, he flamed out in NY, but when he pitched on the road, he was absolutely filthy. 7-5 3.17ERA 3.55K/BB 9.9K/9IP. The guy still has his velocity per fangraphs. He is going to fetch a pretty penny on the open market. The team I think that will land him is Milwaukee. They have a void in the starter's department and their best pitcher is coming off of shoulder surgery (Nelson). They need starters in the worst way. I could also see a 3 way deal with Gray going somewhere and us using those pieces and maybe someone like Andujar or Sheffield to get a DeGrom

That is what I am saying. I am considering that the Yankees will show some level of non-lowball to him in exchange for Didi extending shorter than he would want. Think about it. If the Yanks non-tender Didi this year and move on from him, what deal will he get on the open market? He probably gets a bunch of 3 yr $35 mil offers. He will get some 5 year deals in the range you said. They are all lowballing his talents. If he chose to do a 1 yr deal and re-test the market? He will get maybe $5-$6 mil for next year knowing he may miss up to half of it. I think the Yankees take the prudent approach. A 1 yr $12.5 mil deal is a non-starter. There is no point to tossing $12.5 mil his way when there is a reasonable chance he isn't playing in the bigs until the ASB. Now, if he were healthy and signed the tender and then signed the QO, he would get about $30 mil over the next 2 seasons. No way he would sign that healthy, but hurt, I bet he would. It would be a show of good faith from NY while also allowing Didi the safety of knowing his job will be there when he returns.

That’s assuming no setbacks, and it’s not 6 months. Closer to 8-9. If all goes completely swimmingly, he’d be back mid May. I’m going with a more pessimistic timetable of June-July, ie around mid season. Yes, the player would take a deal like that. Nobody is gonna pay him $13 mil for a half season, assuming all goes well. Plus, he knows where he fits in history. If the Yanks cut him loose and he signs elsewhere, he’d get $6-$7 mil maximum for 2019. I anticipate the Yankees would try to leverage that into a longer term deal. Also, Didi hitting the market after an injury shortened season where anything can happen could hurt his value. I can see the Yanks signing him for 2yrs $30 mil. This gives him a nice guarantee. It gives him what the qualifying offer would be for 2020 and allows him to hit the market while he is young and healthy. If he doesn’t make it back the same or has recurrent problems, then he gets a sizable guarantee. I love Didi, but I also agree that a predicted $12.5-$13 mil arb number heading into a season where he’s going to miss a good chunk of it doesn’t make sense. Now, I’d give him that $12.5 mil plus the QO number for 2020 of he’d extend for a season

They probably NT him and work out a two year deal

I know a lot of people will use Torres as an example, but he had TJS on his non throwing arm. This is an 8-9 month injury with rehab for a position player. If he has surgery tomorrow, we could see him mid May if all is ok, although the ASB is likely more realistic. This is devastating

Manny is gonna happen now. Just book it. The Yanks may have to non tender him. He’s a FA after 2019.

Not in the post-season. We had a guy on a $275 million contract batting 8th because he couldn't cut it when the lights got bright

Cora is more decisive. He makes a decision, stands by it, answers some questions and Belichek's others. His experience in Houston helped. He is gonna be in Boston for a LOOOOONG time. Boone doesn't strike me as a good leader. He might be an analytical guy, but he has trouble making decisions when the analytics don't point to an obvious answer. Not every situation is as easy as "upcoming batter cannot hit lefties, let's bring in a lefty". I wonder if this season will provide some learning curve for him and he can improve, but for a guy who managed to take his team to 100 wins while navigating through a ridiculous assortment of injuries, he just doesn't seem to be as good as the results showed. I am willing to give him another season if only to avoid getting an old school idiot in there (like a Gardenhire).

I also wonder why he needs to be on a 2 game cycle. He should be your #4. Porcello has been nails and Eo might be your hottest pitcher right now. Why throw Price twice and once in the freezing cold, who has the second highest postseason ERA in baseball history (Jaret Wright hold the highest, btw), when you have other guys capable

You love me Teddy, lets be honest. Cannot get enough. I've outlasted trolls for years. You will be no different

One year we made back to back to... T shirts for our college baseball club after going to the CWS twice in a row. We were eliminated in the regionals the following season. Being confident is good, being cocky isnt

They used to have a 2-2-1-1-1 format, but it was scrapped when east coast teams were flying to the west coast and vice versa.

It eliminates your DH from the game. Girardi tried that a few years ago with disastrous results

Merloni brought up a really good point. Why throw him game 2 in what is forecast to be ugly and cold when he could be bumped to game 3 in Houston where the climate is controlled?

CC’s value was more than just dollars, it was length. I’d be shocked, to be totally honest, if he was back at all. I anticipate he gets a guaranteed deal elsewhere. We have predicted for years that Harper and Machado we’re heading to NY. Who knows, it could be Keuchel and Corbin or Bungarner and Thor. Who knows

Yanks in on Corbin. His numbers in a hitters park were incredible. He’s a lefty, which also suits our stadium well. His numbers were insane in a contract year. His K rate was over 11 per 9, his walk rate was down to nearly 2.1 per 9. His BABIP was right at .302. What he did more than just the K’s and walks, was limit the dingers. His K rate was a touch under 0.7 per 9, which cut his prior year’s bombs allowed almost in half. He did it with decreasing velocity (down 1.5mph from the year before) and by nearly scrapping his change entirely for a curveball as his third pitch. His LD percentage went up, his infield pop up percentage dropped, but he got his HR/FB rate to drop almost 4%. He also threw his fastball less than half the time for the first time in his career. The crazy thing is, his solid 3.15 ERA was way over his sparkling 2.5 or so xFIP. I’m wondering if he started throwing a sinker predominantly instead of a 4 seamer, which would explain the drop in homers, although doesn’t explain the drop in GB%. Either way, a guy who was unlucky in terms of ERA and utterly dominant in terms of peripherals who is only 29 year old. He’s also from NY. He sounds like a good choice

It is entirely possible that the rotation that starts out 2019 will have three new members. That’s a vastly different team

That’s exactly why we signed Walker late and dealt for Drury. Neither were needed, it turned out. I think Andujar and Torres are going to be perennial all star level talents. We just need to balance them out. It was entirely expected that they’d tank under the bright lights in their rookie season. Our only two lineup “holes” are in LF and 1b and we may have filled 1b with Voit. If we aren’t sure, both spots aren’t hard to fill with offense. I think we will get a lefty or two to balance out our lineup while investing heavily in the rotation. The team will be vastly different