jacksonianmarch

But these guys aren't signing to be #7, they're signing to crack the top 5. There's no chance that happens in Boston. There is a chance it happens in NY if they beat out the other kids for a spot

Guys sign MiLB contracts for two reasons. One is opportunity. Guys who are signing minor league deals now are picking spots where they might be able to produce. Second is desperation. Once those teams with the apparent opportunity dry up, a player will sign with whoever wants them. We are in the opportunity phase. Speaking of which, I'm surprised more guys like Kendrick haven't migrated to the Bronx. While we're definitely going to give the kids a look, it isn't unreasonable to think that a veteran could get hot and snag a spot in the rotation

If he doesn't need to be protected after 2017, then they won't promote him for a cup of coffee. They'd promote him if they thought he could help

Slav, the problem with that is we'd be giving valuable playing time to a veteran rather than developing a rook. We have Austin and Bird for 1b and to spell Holliday if he's hurt at DH. We have Judge, Williams and Frazier likely to have a lot of PT in the OF, especially with the fragility of Ells and Gardner. Torres is going to start the year at AA, which means he isn't too far away either. Even our catching depth is solid with Sanchez and Romine in the bigs and Higashiika waiting at AAA. For the rotation, we have 3 proven big league starters. Then we have Cessa, Green, Severino, Montgomery, Mitchell, Lail and Adams all big league ready now. Then you have to consider that our AA rotation is absolutely stacked with Acevedo, Kaprielian, and Sheffield. Even in the pen, we have a lot of hard throwing two pitch guys waiting for their shot in the majors. So adding a vet for the purposes of trading doesn't make any sense, especially with the fact that we already landed Holliday.

slav, I am intrigued to see how we perform this year. And Meh, I honestly don't think Severino wins a job out of ST. I think the kid needs to build his confidence again in AAA. Chad Green has a really strong chance to win the job out of ST if he isn't hurt. We have a lot of others guys capable of starting as well, including Jordan Montgomery and Bryan Mitchell. One thing is for sure, aside from CC and Shreve, about everyone who will take the mound for us will have power in their arm. Even Tanaka can run it up there into the mid 90s when he wants to. This is a shake out kind of year for us, and if we break right, we could be really good. I think the likelihood is that not everything shakes out well and we have a so-so non playoff season. I think our offense will be an improvement. No more forcing ABs onto two guys in power spots who put together a -2.3 WAR. Also, Sanchez for McCann looks like an improvement as well. Beltran down to Judge is a dropoff in offense alone. Who knows with the rest. I think it will be interesting to follow them. I predict this team to be on the fringes of a WC spot all year and finish about 2-3 games out by end of the season. I see another mid 80s win season, probably 84 wins

Slav, all you need to know about Price's PO failure was in his twitter feed on his trip to Hawaii. He said he couldn't lose a playoff game there. It's in his head. Until he proves he isn't a total lemon in the PO's, he's a liability

He let Pedro go, and he got hurt. Jason Bay he let walk and he plummeted. Johnny Damon was really good as a Yankee. Who else of note did he let walk?

Could be physical. Could very well be mental. It could also be lack of adjustments. One big thing about playing at a high level is that weaknesses get broadcasted and exploited. If you cannot adjust, you'll fail. When I played, I could hit most any fastball or curveball. Pretty good on change ups too. I batted down in the order and saw a lot of those. For two years, I ripped apart the league, D2 mostly but great times against some D1 teams as well. My senior year, I started seeing a lot of cutters and sliders. Couldnt make the adjustment. Just couldn't see them out of the hand well enough. That caused me to think every pitch was a slider and I then couldn't hit the fastballs and was still to fast for the change ups. Fell down to earth with a thud and eventually was demoted to the bench. Big league ball players don't have those types of holes. But they might have a sequence issue. "Change his eye level, then throw the slider low and he can't hit it." Something like that. And as a hitter, when you're protecting a weakness, you lose your strengths

Shouldn't be too boring for you guys. You did make the biggest splash of the offseason and enter the season the prohibitive AL favorites to head to the WS. Enjoy the slow buildup. You could be ready to watch a full season of kids make or break it like I am

Craig's 11mil does count as does Rusney's contract. You don't get out from under those contractual lux tax implications by outrighting someone.

Carson Smith had his surgery in the spring last year. Don't expect him back til the ASB and he still might not be himself until 2018. But if he does come back as himself, the back end looks good

You've got Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod, Wright and Pomeranz. You don't need a seventh starter of note. A AAAA guy will suffice for now

I wouldn't say ERA is the worst stat ever. It's the most important stat, but it has many variables and lots of luck involved. How many runs you allow per 9 is the ultimate stat because the game is decided by runs. The problem is, the stat can be influenced by luck, fielders, ballpark etc. that's what the secondary stats are for. Those help reaffirm the ERA or cast doubt on it. If you have a low K rate pitcher on the market with a low ERA but a much higher FIP or xFIP, you'd be leery about giving that player money. Guys with better peripherals seem to get paid better than guys with low ERA, but there are a lot of pitcher who continually put up s***** ERA's with great peripherals and secondary stats. Those guys aren't worth money either

The high K rate pitchers leave less up to chance. Thing is, BABIP is effectively an average across all players. There will always be guys below and above that mean. There are some truly special pitchers able to induce hitters into weak contact and hence command a lower BABIP on a yearly basis. For a guy like Wright, you don't have a track record to cling to and say he's a guy whose always below the mean. And he's the most chance determined pitcher of all, as he flutters a ball up there at BP speeds and hopes the lack of rotation induces weak contact.

That's assuming you make no further pickups from now until the end of the year. And I don't think they're accounting for arb raises

That's for the new CBA. Old rules exist this year. New CBA works for next year.

I think Joey Bats makes more sense than EE. One year pillow contract and you lose one of the lowest draft picks you've had in years. If he does well, you get huge performance for a year and can QO him next year to recoup the lost pick. If he sucks, it's just one year. Also, I'd have him at DH exclusively.

ERod is your #4. I know everyone looks at the overall numbers, but he was your second best starter once his health returned. That kid is going to be a good pitcher.

Gomes is done

thank you

You're talking about making sure you are financially set when you retire. That has absolutely NOTHING to do with a baseball team mostly because a single world series title is enough to live on in immortality. Doing a really good job on a company tax submission or balancing a previously unbalanceable budget doesn't allow you to live on in immortality. Also, your career typically starts slow and finishes at the apex. That doesn't happen with baseball teams. There is an ebb and a flow. The analogy is like comparing apples to *******s

That is an incredibly stupid analogy on many levels

What I meant was, as a juggernaut, you don't have to rely on your farm to replace your departing players. You can now use your farm to get a now need

Right now, you guys can have a f*** it approach to your farm. You've got a young, probably dominant big league team with depth in your rotation and pen. Your OF is dominant 1-3 with a great platoon guy fourth. You have an infield with a 30 HR 1b, a former MVP 2B, a future $25 mil a year player at SS and a wild card at third with a former All Star backing them all up in Holt. Catcher is the only weak link, although a top prospect could reclaim the spot. Right now, you have proven production and redundancy. Unless Ebola circulates your clubhouse, the only thing you'll need your farm to do is be ready for a deadline deal as most of those guys won't have an opening to slot into. This is a juggernaut, and when you have a juggernaut, you don't have to worry about a farm in terms of future big league performance. You look at them as to how can they deliver a return that helps you now

That deal sounds awful