jacksonianmarch

Hugh, Perez is the guy I want the Yankees to select. Up to that point, I wanted a college power arm like Sheffield or Quantrill, but when a guy who could go #2 drops back on a failed drug test, I want that guy to move to the top of the draft board.

The most maddening thing about this team has to be Michael Pineda. Last night, he threw a solid 7IP with 3ER (all in one inning with a YS HR in there) and one of his final pitches was 97mph. He has an absolute wipeout slider as well. He is just so inconsistent. He can hold his velo late into games, he throws seeds and has a plus secondary pitch. Why, oh why does he look like a f***ing Pinata half the time he pitches?

The average age thing is very misleading. Most of the other sports draft right into the big leagues. Baseball has at least a three year minor league stint even for the best players. Also, baseball has the highest crap out rate due both to ineffectiveness and injury. The guys who come through are usually pretty healthy and are already good at what they do. Their on the job big league training is typically small.

As a collegiate baseball player followed by a summer league and fall league player, I can tell you that the grind of the season is as taxing as anything I have ever done. No, a single game is certainly not as taxing as a football game. Anyone comparing a single game of each is foolish. But I have played 140 games in a season before. By the end, everything hurts, your arm is dragging, your legs have no life and your core is beat up beyond belief. And I did this as a 21 yr old. I couldn't imagine doing it now at 34, let alone at Papi's age of 39. I also hit the gym a fair amount and nothing actually makes me sorer than a softball game. Old man softball does it more than 90 minutes of weight lifting or cardio. There is no real way to simulate throwing a ball or swinging in anger than actually throwing the ball and swinging in anger. I have also heard the whole unnatural thing about throwing a ball. There is nothing "unnatural" about throwing. It is how we ate when we were living in the woods before the dawn of civilization. But we didn't throw our spear 120 times in a 2.5 hour period every 5 days. That is the unnatural thing about it Baseball is a lot of quick bursts with small muscles. The muscles in the feet, the hands, the wrists are put through insane stress. Even the pelvis and the core, those muscles are much larger, but there aren't many sports out there taking those muscles from absolutely nothing to absolutely everything in a twisting motion and back again like baseball.

Exactly. Tells me either he isn't strong after the injury or there is something physical/mechanical sapping him of his power. Either way, a kid used to humping it up there at 95 is going to see some performance drop with a 3mph loss of speed

Ankle injury. Rotoworld is reporting that he might miss the rest of the season, suggest significant ligamentous damage. Re-eval in 2 weeks will determine

Pal, Miller signed for 2 more years should get an elite prospect. Chapman is also an elite closer, he should return an elite prospect. Nova is a big ? for me. I want to see how good he is as he goes forward. I'd look into extending him, since, when healthy, he has produced well in NY and he'd be there when we eventually rise

It is time to consider opening up shop. I have advocated that before, and I get that it is early. But the big thing about this team is that there is no easy fix on the horizon. There are no "big 3" coming onto the market. There aren't any franchise players available and with Strasburg locked up, there's no pitching to be found. Hence, I feel that any FA or acquisition made either during this season or in the offseason needs to be looking towards 2018. I am looking at MLBTR and they have their FA top 10 updated right now. 1 is Cespedes. Yes, he would offer big power, but he is also set to be 31 yrs old, offers no plate discipline and is a COF who would likely be getting a 6-7 yr deal. This isn't the type of talent you land for that money 2 is Bautista. Absolutely would have been in on him 4 years ago. As a soon to be 36 yr old, he isn't the kind of player we want. 3 is Reddick. He might be a guy we look at. Just turned 29, offers left handed power and plate discipline. Perennial 2.6-4.5 WAR guy. 4 is Jansen. Don't need him 5. Encarnacion. We don't need another DH 6 is Fowler. Pretty good player having a career yr. Turns 31 prior to the season. An option, but we already have 2 guys with his skill set under contract 7. Chapman. See below 8. Neil Walker. A lot better than I thought he was. Possible fit if he converts to 3b 9. Rich Hill- NO 10. Mark Trumbo- we don't need another DH So looking at the above, the only guys we could be interested in are Reddick, Fowler, and Walker with Walker and Reddick being the top 2 far and away. To be totally honest, I would be fine without either as I don't like throwing a year of a contract away on a team that isn't set up to compete. In terms of the deals I would look at right now.... 1. I would start taking calls on Chapman. Aside from his hiccup today, the guy is an elite closer at an elite age and he is left handed. No contract for next yr, but he is also relatively cheap. Contending teams need dominant pen work. And I would open up business to ALL teams, including in division and in Boston. That being said, I keep hearing the Nats are going to be going hard for Chapman if he comes available. With the return on elite relief, I would basically tell them it is Trea Turner or nothing. If Ken Giles can return Velazquez and Appel, then Chapman can return Turner. 2. I would also take calls on Miller. I love Miller, but he is somewhat injury prone and entering an age where he will start his decline. Sell high with the 2 yrs left on his contract being a big boon. I would call Texas and tell them that Gallo is the price 3. I would offer to eat money to move CC. With how much of a competitor CC is, I think he would waive his NTC. CC is quietly having his best season since 2012 and has the lowest ERA he has had since 2008. He's finally mastered the velocity change and could be a solid #2 or #3 on a playoff rotation if he can keep this up. If we eat money, we should be able to get a top notch prospect as CC right now is probably the second best pitcher on the market next to Hill. I'd look at a team like Pittsburg, who has Cole and nothing else. I'd see if I could pry Taillon, Glasnow, or Meadows from them. Although it is entirely possible a deal around McGuire, Hayes, or Bell is what they are able to make. 4. I would offer to eat some money and move Beltran. While he has lost a bit in the walks department, he still has an OPS over .800 and can hit for a lot of power. I'd look at teams with no production out of their DH spot. 5. I would offer to eat some money and move on from Headley. He has heated up of late and has seen his average come all the way up to .245. He's still a good glove man and if he can find it again, he could be a steal. But he doesn't fit on a team on a 1.5 yr rebuild. 6. I would also deal away Gregorius. I like him. But he isn't much more than a glove man. His best possible production was probably last yr. That can fly on a team with a good offense. With a rebuilding offense, a guy who can barely hit his weight isn't worth it anymore. This would leave us with a lineup for 2017 as follows C- McCann 1B- Bird 2B- Castro SS- Turner 3B- Gallo LF- Gardner CF- Ellsbury RF- Refsnyder/Hicks DH- f***Rod It isn't a playoff lineup. There would be growing pains. But it would be a build to the future

Well, that sucked. Blew chance after chance then saw two of our three headed monster blow a lead. Awesome. This team cannot hit. And it relies on our rotation and pen to be perfect. Well, they wont be. CC was okay today, no runs, but 6BB in 5IP and 110 pitches. Betances leaves 2 on when the rains come and Chapman gives up two seeing eye hits plus an Ells error and we are down 2 without much of a shot to win.

If we are to rebuild the right way, we must start by dealing off Chapman. We dealt away two guys to get him, the best of which hasn't hit at all and the pitcher has a great AAA ERA but 18K in 38IP. Neither look to be real big league prospects. Now Chapman is beyond his suspension and has been lights out. He's the top of the line reliever on the market and should fetch a huge return. Sabathia has been awesome this year and his vesting option for next year is looking rather palatable. Should we be willing to eat some money, we might have the top rotation arm on the market too. Should we be willing to move Miller, we could get even more as he's got two years left of control. If we are to do this right, we have to plan for next year to suck too. The FA market sucks after this season and our minor leagues have been hit by injuries as well.

Tex looks to be out for the year.

Man UN, you and I are agreeing more than usual now. Sign of the times. Shields has an unpalatable back loaded contract paying him at an ace rate. He's not an ace anymore and adjusting for park factors, he's more a 3 right now. Upton is vastly overpaid and his production is starting to wane after a hot start. If the sox ate both contracts, they'd get Rodney as a throw in and would need to send back a B level player at best.

Yes, the Royals won a WS with a pretty roughshod rotation. But they had a dominant pen with 3 guys who were lights out dominant. Kimbrel is a good start and Tazawa is pitching well, but we have seen that narrative before. Uehara has been awesome or terrible based on his velo and splitter location this yr. You would need 2 lockdown upgrades in the pen for this yr to come close to their pen. They had Madson, Herrera and Davis.

You guys lack high upside arms aside from Espinoza, and he's far away. Moncada is a 2b, SS, CF type who is taking the slow route, but will probably be big league ready mid season next yr. Urias is ready now. He would probably take more than Moncada to get.

You have the goods to get a top of the rotation starter without Bradley, Betts or Bogaerts. It might hurt. At the same time, you have long term players all over the IF and in two spots of the OF. Time to cash in some prospect depth for the severe lack of pitching throughout your system. Moncada and Devers (who are both blocked), could probably get you into the mix for anyone on the market

Unfortunately for the sox, most teams aren't open for business yet. The need for another starter has been there since day 1.

And Swihart is just being showcased. He's a placeholder in LF for Benintendi.

Evans, Lynn, and Rice. Lets not overrate Swihart right now

Pinata is appropriate, lol. For now, he is in the rotation. I think he gets one more start. If he sucks again, I don't see any other option than to phantom DL him or option him and bring up Green. Green is dominating AAA and needs to move up and Pineda has sucked donkey dick. The thing that is so disconcerting with Pineda is that his stuff is the same. His location has been abysmal and when he gets guys on base or a team gets him in trouble, he turtles like a little bitch. This is why his xFIP and FIP look so much better than his actual ERA. His stuff is there. He is still striking guys out and limiting the walks. His BABIP is .390. But he has earned that. Too many cockshots in big moments. He and Severino need to go to AAA and rebuild themselves for later. I like the other 4 for now

We never hit Estrada.

Back on topic. Suckholz actually looked good in his inning. Sharp curve, 93 or so on the heat. Might not be a bad thing for you guys to have him out there

I am intrigued by Suckholz out of the pen. I bet you see a velo bump

No Kimbrel, no win. Smith would have been in for that AB

Eovaldi was dominant today. 50 pitches of 95+ and got out of two jams. He's starting to ramp up the K numbers as well. His stuff is top notch. He keeps this going and he's going to be quite the shrewd acquisition

Uehara was on 3 teams in 5 years and his lack of durability basically had him paid akin to a middle of the road reliever.