jacksonianmarch

And Girardi confirmed that the Yanks will be employing the dreaded "closer by committee" to start the season. The article confirming it agrees with my position that the job was Betances' to lose in the spring and he lost it. Should he regain his dominance, we will end up seeing him close

Craig has been a shell of himself for a year plus and hasn't shown the same power he had in StL. Nava is a no power COF who plays s*** defense and takes a walk. Castillo is the better player by far.

Castillo will benefit from playing every day. He did miss some time for his journey, so reps are important for him. I know a lot of rosy glassed people out there are thinking the sox are playoff bound and for some reason the pundits think so too, but this move is not in keeping with a "best player for the roster spot" decision. This is clearly a showcase for two guys who are on the outs with the hopes that they recoup enough value to get something back in trade

So, it is about to begin. Some injury concerns to note and new faces. Ellsbury played in a minor league game and said he should be ready for Opening day. Brendan Ryan is out for awhile, which prompted the NYY to go get Gregorio Petit. I thought with a good defensive showing, Pirela and Refsnyder would allow NYY to drop Ryan, but Refsnyder had a rough defensive spring (albeit a strong offensive one) and Pirela got a concussion. Gregorius has a sprained wrist, he says he'll be ready for Monday, Girardi was non committal. For now, it doesn't sound like they'll DL him, but there is a chance Refsnyder breaks camp in NY as the 2b with Drew shifting to SS for the short term. Capuano is out until May, which allowed Warren to take the #5 slot. I honestly think Warren will hold that spot for the season. He's got great stuff and showed durability as a starter in the minors. If Capuano comes back to the rotation, it will likely be replacing an injured player rather than Warren

My wife is technically a Red Sox fan, but she hasn't watched a game on TV intently in years. My bet is she can name maybe three players on the team. If she were a die hard, it would be tough to handle

It will be interesting, that is for sure. We've got 3 guys at the back end right now who have the stuff to close. We just need to see if they can do it

Hanigan is capable for now. There will be other veterans out there, especially once 25 man rosters are finalized next week. My assumption is that a Jose Molina type will be on the way to Boston. Vasquez wasn't an offensive catcher at all, and he profiled as a D first starter with limited offensive upside or a solid backup. Those guys, especially as rookies, aren't difficult to replace.

He won't be Wally Pipp'd, at least for now. The sox are apparently thinking of carrying Swihart as the backup? That sounds really dumb. Young catchers need reps, and Swihart hasn't even gotten anything at AAA to this point, has he? He needs to play every day, handle the grind, learn to call the game, etc etc etc. I think only the higher of homers thought Vasquez was going to be a long term solution at C. I always thought the sox would have a veteran catcher this year as a crutch for Vasquez. Now the veteran will be the starter and the sox will likely have another veteran be the backup. Next year, you can sign another defense first starter, have Vasquez play for a bit and bring up Swihart when he is ready. There is absolutely no point to rush a catcher. They need probably the most time in the minors of all positions to really learn it to a degree to where they'll be successful long term

Don't forget the 20X All-Star Lars Anderson. I am so glad I have his rookie card

Next year isn't in question, at least is shouldn't be. Non pitchers usually recover in 8 months. Wieters is an outlier

We got a draft pick while making what they think is a lateral move with $8 mil less guaranteed

I think Betances would have won the spot with a good spring, but it might be best for him if he didn't. Give him an extra season to prove he can repeat his dominance (although I doubt he is ever as dominant again as he was the best reliever in baseball last yr).

The guy has been battling a hand injury and a foot injury the last 3 years or so. He says he's healthy. He's on a long term deal that is currently untradeable. If you move him now, you're gonna get pennies on the dollar. When he's on, he's one of the best in the business. You gotta ride it out this year at least.

The sox have some serious depth when it comes to the OF and 1B. That being said, that depth all cannot be optioned to AAA. My bet is JBJ is in the minors and Castillo very well may end up there as well with Nava and Craig making the team. That would allow the sox to build their value for a potential deal, or if the sox are in playoff position, keep the status quo

I had seen the last mock have Cameron falling to NY at 16

The sox have a top 10 pick. NY has picks 16 and 30. And probably the best player available in the draft, Brady Aiken (last year's #1 overall picks who didn't sign) just has TJS yesterday. He's gonna slide, the question is, how far? Would the sox be willing to draft an injured player? If he falls to the Yanks, would they be willing to draft another TJS recoveree. Their last venture here didn't end well (Brackman). Either way, should be interesting

I don't know what it is with him. Like I said before, he did this in the minors, especially when he was a starter. He'd have month runs at a time where he would throw shutout after shutout (6IP performances usually as this was the minors) and then have 2 or 3 start stretches where he'd allow 6 or 7 runs with 8 or 9 walks and his velo would be in the shitter. Could it be injury, possibly, but with him, it is usually mechanical or where his head is at. If he is going through one of those spells, we might be better served sending him to SWB to get his head out of his ass for a month or so. We have the pen depth. Oh and BTW, Adam Warren is expected to win the 5th starter spot. The kid was a good starter in the minors and is a horse. I actually have my suspicions as to whether Capuano will reclaim a rotation spot. Well, whether he reclaims it from Warren (there's a good chance he gets one due to injury)

Realistically, any of the kids being part of the pen would only happen at the end of the year after they put their work in

Kimmi, I think it was Betances role to lose and I think he is losing it. He did this in he minors a few times. He'd have runs of being absolutely lights out dominant followed by runs of loss of command and some velo. It's almost always mechanical with him. And with him, he can lose his mechanics based on how tight his head is screwed on.

Betances sounds like it's all in his head. Glad we got Carpenter and Miller. I would rather they close than Dellin at this point, or at least until he pulls his head out of his ass

Pineda and Tanaka were awesome in the time they were on the mound in 2014. Sabathia is sitting low 90s again and topping out at 94. Eovaldi has been untouchable. How am I skewing their performances and stuff in ST thus far? The top 4 have shown sheer excellence with top line stuff. And I am discounting the sox staff because none of the bounce back guys have looked good this offseason

UN, I am all "roses" about our potential. I am realistic about our injury chances. If the rotation stays healthy, it will be one of the best in the AL and will propel us into the playoffs. I say the chances of that happening are less than 50%

Steinbrenner was a showman and a businessman. While he definitely made it less affordable to go to games, he grew his business by leaps and bounds, which I can respect. Ogden, if you were in his shoes and could increase your investment 1000 fold, you probably would do it as would I. The market ended up dictating the cost of going to games and people pay it.

Pal, Uehara had a season for the ages. He had one of the best seasons in the history of baseball for a closer. Since then, he has been injured, has gotten older and has lost his splitter. Expecting a 2013 return for him is unlikely. Breslow also pitched out of his damn mind in 2013 with a 1.81ERA over 59.1IP. He has dealt with some shoulder issues and isn't the same player. Miller gave you 30IP, but his K/9IP and ERA were dazzling. He was a bigger cog last year for sure. Losing him doesn't help. Tazawa has been the same guy for the most part. Your 2013 team had 202IP out of Koji, Taz, and Breslow with an aggregate ERA near 2. If that happens again, you can have my sig for a month. Also, you added to your depth last yr with Badenhop and Mujica. Badenhop was actually really good for you guys and he is gone. Mujica is hit or miss. In terms of 2013 to now, Breslow and Uehara aren't the same guys and you effectively dealt Miller for Mujica. Also, sk's inference is absolutely spot on. You got a lot of innings out of Lester, Lackey, Dempster, Doubront and the combo of Buch and Peavy. You're staring at a bigger workload for a reduced pen. Usually that isn't a good recipe for success

Ogden, Eovaldi has the stuff to be a front line starter. CC, if he is in the low to mid 90s again, will be a force should he stay healthy. And Nova should come back some time this year. If we are healthy, this pitching staff will be something to see