jacksonianmarch

So you are buying the coach speak? They came out and published when Kelly would return and now he hasn't returned, but he's gonna throw when the cameras are off, blah blah blah. Farrell is smokescreening you right now. You don't come out and say he will start a game and talk down his injury then have him miss the start unless he isn't progressing

The sox are putting a whole lot on Uehara's plate this offseason. Last year, you had Miller back there with Tazawa and Uehara. And even though the offense and the starters kinda s*** the bed, the back end was solid until the trade deadline. Now, Uehara looks his age and is hurt and Tazawa, IMO, isn't a closer type. I could be wrong. If Uehara doesn't come back and own it again, the sox entire staff is going to be completely f***ed. I get that offense is limited now, but completely forgoing any pitching upgrades and dealing for/signing short term or salvage guys does not a good staff make. All 3 of their title teams had nasty rotations and lock down pens. This team has neither

I could see Betts getting dealt only if a generational top of the rotation talent comes available, and as good as Hamels is, he isn't that. If a guy like Bumgarner hit the market for some reason, I could see the sox selling on Betts to get that guy. The fact that he is murdering Rusney Castillo in the spring competition and the sox are already looking to lock him up long term tells me their org view is sky high when it comes to his value. I thought Betts would be in any talks with Hamels, but to be honest with you, the way they are approaching him is almost as if theyd deal Bogaerts before dealing Betts

To this point, I think our spring has gone quite well on the pitching front. The only notable rotational loss is our #5 guy that I didn't want on our team anyway. CC has shown lost velocity and to this point has been healthy. Tanaka has looked awesome in his two starts. Eovaldi is showing command along with the development of his splitter, which is a relatively new, but devastating pitch, and Pineda has been solid and healthy. This doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of their capability to endure the workload of an entire year, but it definitely bodes well for us to start the season. I have said it probably 100 times. If our rotation stays healthy, we are in the playoffs

Bellhorn, why would he have cared about the Yankee future? He wanted to extend the shine until he died. In the end, he did that. We missed the playoffs once from 96-10 when he died. And that missed season (2008) was followed up with a title. Also, by the end of the 00s, Stein was frail, old, and demented.

Offseason moves are an organizational thing. At least they used to be. This offseason definitely had a smaller market feel. Yes, we re-signed Headley, but even though pitching was available, we went out and fortified the pen and dealt for a high upside young starter. The past 10-15 years, press conferences in the bowels of YS in January were a right of passage. This year, Cash stayed away from that pattern, which I like. That being said, I do expect us to get one stater this offseason depending on how our staff stays together

And Ogden, our first rounders had included guys like Cito Culver and injured players like Andrew Brackman. In 2013, it seemed like they topped their drafts with guys in the BA top 100 draft prospects and lo and behold, the three first rounders selected that year are all in our top 10 with the big guy, Judge, looking like a future all star. I think the system tried to be Belichickian in their drafting, finding diamonds in the rough rather than drafting best available with our top picks. I hope they learned their lesson

Cashman has been hamstrung with these contracts for years. Big splashes in the offseason and pretty significant fixes during the season. Last offseason saw us nab Tanaka which looks like a good move talent wise, but the signing of Ellsbury had mixed reviews and the first seasons of McCann and Beltran were pretty ugly. But what Cashman has done on the fly sets him apart IMO. He parlayed Solarte into Headley, dealt nothing for McCarthy, got Prado for an all power DH prospect who plays a little catcher and a few other moves which all actually worked out. I think Cash pushing the buttons is good for the org. Our minor league system need a revamp. I was glad to see Newman gone, but I wanted Oppenheimer out as well. Our first round draft picks have been abysmal over the past few seasons before 2013, and even though we did find value later in drafts, your top picks should have some success. I agree that I would have liked our minor league system to be run by an outsider, preferably one from STL or ATL as those places seem to always fill their squads with big league ready minor league talent on a yearly basis. That being said, what we did on the INTL stage is substantial. By signing 9-10 of the top 20 prospects coming out of the IFA period, we have pretty much created a wave which we should be able to ride once these kids start blossoming, which will likely take 3-4 years. And while our first round picks have mostly been abject failures from 07-12, the guys found after the first round have provided us with a multitude of options as they come of age. I think our farm actually has the talent. I just hope the new guy running it can get the most out of it

Spud, here is what I hope. I am hoping that we can actually have a true schism in the Yankee front office. I honestly think Cashman is the right man for the job. He was here when the Boss was around and George'd deal any prospect for a win now any day of the week. There was good reason, the old f*** was dying as it turned out. Now, they have two owners who are probably going to be alive for awhile. Hank has stepped to the background and Hal is the managing partner. That being said, with George out of the picture, we still had the ridiculous moves of signing ARod and Rafael Soriano, both of which Cashman was against. The problem is, agents have classically gone above Cashman to get a deal done. With the most recent contract negotiation, I think Cashman has finally wrested roster control from Andy Levine, something that should have happened years ago. Cash wants to get younger. And when you get younger, you usually get cheaper. I hope in the transition, we can stay competitive. We haven't had the young talent in our current rotation probably since well before the dynasty years. The problem with our young pitcher is they are all injury risks. We haven't had the immense depth in the farm system in years as well. And while the position player depth is a little light in AAA, we are starting to see a lot of solid prospects reach A, A+ and AA. The system is about to be very good for a very long time. But in order to get very good, you have to avoid dealing away every potential star for a flavor of the month. I hope we can get under the cap, not because I don't want us to cheap out, but because staying under the cap means we give some of the kids a chance. I think Cashman also sees the trend in major league baseball. In the roid era, careers were 15 years long or more. Now, after roids and greenies have been banned, the contracts are still being doled out as if guys can play into their late 30s, even though the guys are losing it 3-4 years earlier. So if we are over the cap after 2016, it is because we have returned to the errors of the past. And since we really started flexing our financial muscle (started with Mussina in 2001), we have one WS title to our name (2009). And looking 200 miles northeast, you see 3 titles, with the last two being generated significantly from guys developed in the system. And with teams having extra money due to revenue sharing, teams are locking up their own players until they are towards the end of their prime. So the guys on the market are either about to turn into s*** or are gonna go for absolute top dollar. Those aren't the players you build a team around. So in short, I hope Cashman has the power, I hope he can retool quickly and then use his money wisely to turn this team from an aging behemoth to a juggernaut capable of dominating for years to come. If we are far over the cap after 2016, we are following in the errs of the past

Beckett was also made of glass and seemed to be on the rag every other season

Wait, Kelly is healing slower than expected? Color me surprised!

It will be hard to stay ABOVE the $189 million as it stands right now. We have so much money coming off the books that we'd need to try and make asinine signings to stay above it. Think about it... After 2016, Sabathia, Teixeira, and Beltran come off the books and depending on Tanaka's health, he might too. That's an AAV of $63 mil if Tanaka stays and $88 mil if he goes After 2017, ARod comes off the books as does Gardner. That's another $40 mil AAV We are expected to have a salary figure of around $210 mil. After removing our #4 starter, bum 1b, bum DH/RF, bum Roid user, and good LFer, we would be down around $100 mil. I know we're gonna spend, but in the post roid age where FA's turn into pumpkins, you would be hard pressed to see NY go over that threshold without being f***ing stupid, especially since our minor league system should be f***ing loaded by then

Wow, Olney read my mind, lol. The sox rotation sucks donkey balls. Masterson has looked terrible. Buchholz is trying to show everyone he can be an ace, and he's showing the opposite. And your best reliever looked awful again and is currently hurt. You guys are coming out of the gate looking like the Rangers back when they had ARod. Lots of O, no pitching to be found

B would have some massive growing pains. A gives you your best chance to win this year, but probably not much better

Oblique strain. He should be back by opening day

Kelly is as fragile as they come

Porcello and Miley were the only ones to reach 200IP last year, and that was the first time Porcello has done it. Masterson looks done, Buchholz has been miserable and fragile for awhile now and Kelly is already hurt. You have a better chance of nobody reaching 200 than you do of all 5

Sabathia worked in the low 90s yesterday. Promising

Our offense has Headley for an entire season and Stephen Drew without a 3 month sabbatical. Like I've said before, we've got 6 of our 9 starters 31 or younger and nearly everyone underachieved to some degree. We aren't gonna be #1 offensively, but we won't be bottom of the barrel again. It comes down to SP. If Tanaka and Pineda stay healthy, we're gonna make the playoffs

Lee needed surgery last year. Rehabbing the injury once is fine. The fact that he shut it down twice last year is enough to say, f*** it, fix it. Now, it is the third time in less than a year he is shutting it down. Fix it, take the gigantic buyout from the Phils and sign an incentive laden deal next offseason

Yanks apparently the closest to getting Hamels. Not sure if I would like the price we'd have to pay to get him, but he'd make things a whole lot more stable in our rotation. Also, I like lefties in our park better than lefties at the fens due to death valley

The more I hear of the NY circus surrounding ARod, the more concerned I get. Without a lot of health, we could be a last place team.

Moncada isnt on the 40 man. He doesn't even need to burn an option to go to the minors

Hanley has to get a guarantee. You don't drop $88 mil on your new LFer and put him on the bench. Also, your paying Castillo over $10 mil this year as well. He isn't gonna go to the minors on that coin. My guess is that Castillo and Hanley are opening day starters. If Vic is healthy, he's gonna start too. Betts will be sent down as will JbJ. JBJ doesn't belong. But sending down Betts might allow for another year of control

Swish was coming off a season where his BABIP was insanely low yet his BB rate and power was still good. He provided good value because we essentially gave up nothing to get him