jacksonianmarch

Gray has been an ace in this league. He was an ace prior to getting hurt in 2016. He was an ace on his return to Oakland. In his time with NYY, he kept his ERA down but had trouble with the homerun ball. I anticipate won't continue as he hasn't been a big HR guy prior to getting hurt in 2016. I have said before that Gray is my dark horse to be either our best or 2nd best starter. He has the stuff to go 200IP. He is in his prime. He is healthy. CC, who knows. 2 yrs in a row he posted sub 4ERAs. He has adapted to his stuff and in kind, his fastball rebounded a bit. Would I be entirely surprised if he throws up a 5+ ERA and is out of the rotation come June, absolutely not. Would I be surprised if he throws up a 3.70ERA in 150IP in 2018, not at all. He's a wild card with the ability to get big league hitters out. But right now, he is healthy. Tanaka is similar to Gray. He's been an ace, he is in his prime and he is healthy. He was nails the second half of 2017 and was lights out in the post season. Also, he is healthy too. I acknowledge the question marks, but I also acknowledge that 4 of our starters are under 30, in their primes and healthy. For you guys, you have two sub 30 pitchers who are currently healthy, and one is coming off an abysmal season (Porcello).

Because Price has an actual tear in his elbow

Yes, his ERA went up to 3.72 and his WHIP up to 1.26 with the Yankees, otherwise known as phenomenal #3 or #4 starter numbers

That’s not true. Moreland wasn’t a top 50 FA. Duda was. I doubt anyone would have expected Moreland to get more years and a higher AAV than Morrison and Duda

No, you cannot. You cannot move $22 mil for a no D hitter who isn't elite. JD is in his prime and is an elite hitter. Hanley, even at his best, is not an elite hitter. That contract will be an anchor for next yr

Lol, you clearly don't have the understanding to entertain those kinds of conversations.

Me too, seems vaguely familiar. I see we are counting AL East titles. How special

Aren’t you special

I don’t think he’ll have the chance. I anticipate a full on platoon through Memorial Day with the best producer stealing playing time from the other starting in June. If Hanley gets the weak part of the platoon in terms of AB’s for a couple months, The best man can get the lions share thereafter and Hanley will still miss out. He’s 475 PAs from triggering the option. If you assume 5PAs a game, that’s 95 games. A L/R platoon is usually 70%/30% in favor of the LHH. Through May, that’ll mean Hanley will miss out on 42 games. That would put him at a max of 120 games. With his injury history and the presence of Moreland, I doubt he plays more than 95 or so. He should miss the PA threshold by a bit

It’s called common sense. The sox signed Moreland anticipating a larger market for Morrison and Duda. If the sox waited, Moreland could have been had for $4 mil on a 1 yr deal

As you should. We will both make the playoffs. The battle for the ALE will be rough. We both may win 95 plus games. I love it. #rivalryisback By the way, I’ve never understood the hash tag. But if it’s gonna he used, this is the way to do it

And the sox were clearly ahead of the pack until the Yankees retooled. Guys, you have a full season of JDM and maybe Eduardo Nunez ahead of you. Provided good health, you may see a full season of David Price and Carson Smith. We have full seasons of Sonny Gray, Giancarlo Stanton, Tommy Kahnle, and David Robertson ahead of us plus have swapped in Drury and Walker for Castro and Headley while also starting the year with Bird at full health. A third of our roster has improved and is healthy. Big difference

Yes, the sox overpaid Moreland. At the time they signed him, I thought it was a reasonable contract as the expectation was still there that guys like Morrison were going to get multiple years at 8 figures annually. I think DD knew all along that he was going to sign JD. The Moreland signing had more to do with not letting Hanley’s option vest while also allowing for good defense at 1b at the very least.

We can deal with having a healthy starting 5 as of right now. You're a David Price elbow twinge away from having your rotation completely collapse

No, you cannot. Take a look at the really good DH's or 1b's and how they did this run through FA? If Hanley has a Logan Morrison type season (38HR, .869OPS, 3.6WAR), he still wont be worth $22 mil. If he does well, you need to keep the option from vesting then re-sign him for $5 mil on a 1 yr deal for next yr

Spring Training for Miami will continue through September. They're in the process of gaining experience for their players. They don't give a crap about rotating and finalizing, they know their team will suck. The Yanks are trying to fill out a roster, hence they need to give guys their looks while also ensuring their starters see enough time. This is much harder

You'll make the playoffs, but we will take home the AL East. Book it!

I don’t understand it. Swihart is a catcher. Get him experience where his value will be best. He won’t be a good 3b. He was a terrible OFer. Groom him to catch, clearly nobody has a hold on the catcher position

Carrying a third catcher who has no other utility is stupid. He’s a minus OFer and with your DH also being an OFer, that’s redundant. You’ve got Hanley and Moreland for 1b. If you carry 12 pitchers and Pedey starts the year on the DL, you’re 13 offensive guys are Vasquez Leon Hanley Moreland Nunez Bogaerts Devers Martinez Bradley Betts Holt SS capable UTIL (Marrero?) Backup OF Maybe Swihart wins that last spot and is a DFA candidate when Pedey comes back. Either way, it’s redundant and not a path to playing time

It’s a negotiated portion of the CBA and if the player doesn’t like it, he has no legal leverage. Coming out of spring, you want to keep all your options open, hence a player who may have a future with your team who is out of options will stick while a better player with options will go. That might happen with Swihart, although I’d be very surprised if he supplants the better player. Swihart’s value is tied to his position. If he’s a catcher and he can hit a bit, then he’s got significant value. This is where Ben et al screwed the pooch. Swihart never should have been in the OF. His offensive ceiling was that of a replacement level LFer, it was fitting a square peg in a round hole. Now that most organizations maximize a player’s value, I anticipate that won’t happen again. Swihart should have been in AAA as a C and not in LF hurting an ankle. Now he’s out of options, lost development time and is still far from being passable as a big league catcher. I think he gets DFA’d and someone takes a chance On him only to DFA him again in the hopes of sneaking him into a AAA roster. His only hope of being a productive big leaguer is spending a healthy 2018 in AAA catching full time

Price and Sale are pretty similar in terms of stuff. If I was Cora, I’d slide in a righty between the two so you don’t have similar looks. Also, if you’re facing the same oppponent, letting their RH complements to get two consecutive starts doesn’t help either. If I was Cora, I’d have Sale-Porcello-Price-Pom-whomever Pom and Price are very different so stacking them isn’t a big deal.

Cobb would be an absolutely awful fit in Fenway. Cobb came back from TJS with terrible strikeout numbers and a career high HR rate. His ERA was all smoke and mirrors as his BABIP was down to .282. Most measures saw him as a low 4's ERA guy. If he went to Fenway, he would be a big time HR liability

He’s not the same level prospect. He had a serious injury and came back noticeably diminished. He was a bad defensive catcher to begin with and now he’s coming off a major injury and significant lost development time both due to injury and due to ridiculous attempts to find a place for him elsewhere on the field. He doesn’t have a special bat. His upside might be a guy with mild pop and some hit and walk ability. That works at catcher. That doesn’t work as a 1b or LF

I highly doubt the sox keep 3 catchers. Swihart isn’t a MIF. He’s not a 3b either. He’s a not so good bat with no good position. I know everyone loves him from his prospect days, but if he cannot catch reasonably well, then he’s a useless big leaguer

Lind released. Bird has been healthy albeit not terribly productive this spring. Last spring he was on fire and sucked in April, so here’s to hoping for a reverse of last yr.