jacksonianmarch

Are we surprised that Hanley is blaming others? He has been a prima donna since he was signed out of the DR.

The draft takes place in a week. Sox with the 7th pick, Yankees with #16 and #30. Sox without their 2nd and 3rd due to FA signings. SI's most recent mock has the sox taking OF from Arkansas Benintendi. He's a speed/power guy who has Ellsbury type upside out of a slight frame. They have the Yankees selecting Funkhouser and Matuella with their 2 picks. Funkhouser is a RHP with a plus fastball and slider combo with improving but average at best command. Matuella is the total package with a high 90s fastball, gigantic frame, plus slider, above average curve and changeup. Had he been healthy, he'd have been a top 3 draftee, but he isn't. He has a back condition and is recovering from TJS. Reminds me a bit of Andrew Brackman who was a huge bust. But at #30 you take the chances you are given, especially with a talent as big as this kids. The mock has Aiken falling out of the 1st round altogether, which I don't believe is going to happen, and if I had my preference, I'd rather Aiken than Matuella. Outside of the top 60 or so guys in this draft, it is relatively thin.

The most recent mock has us getting Funkhouser and Matuella and Aiken falling into the second round. No f***ing way that happens. If Aiken falls to us in the first round, we're gonna take him. Matuella might have the better raw stuff, but he has a chronic back condition as well as TJS. Aiken had an abnormally small UCL and now is recovering from TJS, problem solved. Kid will be throwing in the minors in 2016. I like the Funkhouser pick. I would welcome the Matuella pick if Aiken is off the board. Regardless, with our purchase of basically the top 10 from the INTL ranks last yr and all of them being position players, we need to add to our pitching depth. With Clarkin missing time with elbow trouble and a bunch of other guys either recovering from or needing TJS, we are short on options, especially from AA to A ball. Some college arms or a recovering top notch prospect who can start in Charleston next yr would be welcome

LOL. I heard reports that the mound was an issue and they had the grounds crew working on it a bunch. Regardless, his velo yesterday was way down compared to his prior start. Not sure what is up with that. That being said, his next appearance in the minors should be home. No excuses. If he goes out there and is throwing 86mph again, he's gotta get operated on. And with Tanaka being far from a sure thing to return and Nova at least a month out, we gotta look for a top of the rotation type pitcher. Love what we are seeing out of Pineda. Eovaldi and Warren were lights out in their most recent turns, and I don't want to see them out of the rotation. But CC and Capuano have been boiling cesspools of human decay. I would love to see what Mitchell could do. He's got Eovaldi's type stuff with a huge fastball and a good curve, but he lacks Eovaldi's command. Then I would like to see some acquisition. In a perfect world, it would be Hamels. But in the real world, it could be a McCarthy type acquisition from a non contending team.

A few years ago, Ortiz did the same thing. I don't have the numbers in front of me for this ur, but his bat is slow. Ortiz in his prime demolished fastballs out over the plate. He didn't like the heat up and in and that was about it. Now, guys are getting him on fastballs out over the plate, which never happened before. He might finally be slowing down

Hilarious. We suck vs a bunch of terrible teams and sweep the best team in the AL easily. Lol

Pelfrey was pounding the zone with fastballs and Ortiz couldn't hit them fair. Cockshots down the middle and in his power zone and he was just a tick late

The sox offense is predicated on needing Ortiz to be a big bat in the middle. I hadn't actually watched a full sox game in awhile, but I was very surprised at how slow his bat looked. Palfrey was going after him with fastballs and he couldn't seem to catch up to them. And before you correct me with the "double", the LFer fell down on a ball he should have caught. I think the league is finally recognizing that his bat has slowed and they've stopped going after him with off speed stuff.

I think their off season plan included the possibility of nabbing a guy like Hamels or the fact that the division looked so weak that they were one acquisition away. That's the thing that f***ing burns me royally with NY and I assume burns some of you guys as well. If everyone knew the division was gonna be weak, why didn't one team go out there and just go nuts to the wall and separate themselves. It seems like all 5 teams in the division are colluding to be average. I don't get it

I guess the question is, what was the plan with the rotation? Was he trying to bridge until a better FA period next year? Was he biding time until Owens and Rodriguez are ready? Does he have a trade partner he is waiting for? I know that there were a TON of risks in the rotation, but for a team that invested such capital in offense, what was the plan for the rotation? Masterson is not a long term solution. Buch is basically in his final year. Kelly was a crap shoot. Porcello is a legit big league starter. Miley is probably a #5 in the AL East. I doubt Ben is without a plan and I doubt these 5 are the end game for the rotation for this year.

Developing top tier pitching is difficult nonetheless. You're either trying to develop a 16 year old crap shoot out of the DR or having to draft an ace, which is hard to do when you're consistently in the bottom half of the draft. That being said, dealing Lackey for the two stiffs you got was a ridiculously bad deal in hindsight. I think you have to move Kelly to the pen and see what that arm can do in 1 inning stints. Craig is a lost cause. Now you need to plug two spots. I know you don't want to burn kids at this point, but Owens and Rodriguez should be up. You have a need, bring them up. If they suck, then you Give them big league experience in a season that would be a lost cause anyway. If they keep you afloat, then you have a ton of options

Slade showed no power in the minors and he slugs the ball in a short stint here. I like his tools, but he's more rookie Gardner than Ells. I wish they'd give Pirela more run. And I'd like to see Refsnyder up ASAP. I know Drew tagged a meaningless homer, but he's been abysmal. Gregorius has been a disaster as well.

We fell off a cliff

I'm reading the Farrell rumblings as well. Since catching lightning in a bottle, he has really not done the best job. Funny thing is, Girardi hasn't had any rumblings around him. I get that it's early, but this dumpster fire of a ten game stretch would make any manager check the temp of his seat

Have the Yankees and Red Sox ever fired their managers and GMs in the same season? Cause it might happen

We have a -36 run differential in our last 10 games and that includes our lone win by 4 runs. In our last 9 losses, we have a run differential of -40. And that doesn't account for the fact that we gave up 10 runs yesterday but somehow managed 9. We were doing well with our full team. Tanaka goes down and we start to stumble. Ellsbury goes down and we fall down the f***ing tubes. There are gonna be some heads a rolling here

And the Greene for Gregorius deal might cost Cash his job. If he doesn't find another Brandon McCarthy level jewel, he's gonna be on unemployment

Our pitching just got buttf***ed. Our defense has been atrocious. We can't hit until we're down. This team is in a free fall. Tanaka and Nova might come back to a lost cause.

Legitimate shot this year

They have okayed rosin, which is kinda ridiculous since rosin plus a lot of sweat creates a slippery substance over time that is nearly impossible to remove. I loved rosin on 75 degree days where I'd sweat from pitching but not be drenched. The 95 degree days, I rather not use it at all. I'd allow pine tar to be honest with you.

I'm not the one playing and I love the game. 162 is fine with me.

I like Kaprielian and Bickford. I want a college flame thrower with pick 1.

So I have a theoretical for you guys. You have the option to deal for a middle of the order power hitter or an ace. Let's put this in a bubble and consider salary, length of contract and trade pieces the same. Which trade do you pull off?

It is incredibly hard to win when you have a lot of new blood up the middle. When your SS is a 2nd yr player who struggled in year 1 and your catcher and CFer are rookies, you just wont win consistently. Baseball has proven that success up the middle is imperative for a team trying to win a title.

Jackie hasn't been given a legitimate shot, but at the same time, he has shown no capability to handle the spotlight. He got a full year last yr and instead of improving, he turtled. I think Farrell is using him as he feels he is best suited, as a late inning defensive replacement and 4th OFer. My bet is that the sox deal JBJ for something of value to try and make the POs as every team in the AL East has sucked for the most part and the division is wide open for the taking. And depending on the spot, JBJ should thrive. If he was dealt to TB or Philly where the expectations (or the fan base in terms of TB) just aren't there, he should play well. I think I said when he came up that he was probably a bottom tier starting CFer as his upside. Not a lot of power. Solid defense. Minor league solid hit tool. Not a lot of speed. He's a young Melky Cabrera with better D and worse power.