jacksonianmarch

Then you're probably not getting Zimmerman. IMO, if they are moving on Scherzer, they probably already have a taker for Zimmerman. You don't commit the kind of cash you will need to commit to Scherzer if you don't have a suitable deal in hand for one of your starters.

I saw on mlbtr that they were talking about dealing Strasburg. Imagine the return theyd get for that kid

Scherzer would cost you a fourth rounder. Hanley and Pablo cost you your 2nd and 3rd and your 1st is protected

Where will you put him? Zobrist is a very good player, but he's also not a top player. He is like Prado, his versatility makes his value shoot up. But think about where your need are. Zobrist is best served as a 2b. Well, he isn't playing there as Pedroia is under contract until Zobrist will be an old man. He also is well served at 3b. Well, same with Sandoval. He can play LF, but Hanley is there. And he can play RF, but you have Betts and Victorino over there. He's not a good SS, so unless its an emergency, he doesn't belong there

Also, Refsnyder or Pirela could be a platoon partner with Drew. He gives us an option up the middle, although who knows if he's gonna be good. I'd rather ride with the kids to be totally honest

A lefty bat with power in the middle of the diamond is a boon. That being said, they're saying this is a move to give Refsnyder and Pirela some time, but I think he's an insurance policy for Gregorius

Delgado didn't even get enough to stay on the ballot. The guy hit 473HR and had a career OPS over .900. Seriously, how did he fall off the ballot?

He couldn't be worse than what he was a year ago, could he?

Yankees sign Stephen Drew for 1 yr $5 mil. He is expected to compete for 2b.

Lol, we started a thread simultaneously

Hell of a class. More deserved to get in.

Now by the end of the season, you're gonna have another addition, though. My guess is Henry Owens comes up in June and pitches well. I think this rotation is built for additions. The rotation was built with the guise of contention. Should they all rediscover lost years, then they roll with it. Should they s*** the bed, it can be dismantled quickly without big commitments. Should the sox hit the bottom of the division comes June/July, there are no current starters off limits. Porcello is a prime trade candidate since he isn't signing prior to FA. Miley is still cheap. Buccholz and Masterson are on short term deals.

Prior to 2013, you definitely had the makings of a bad rotation. That being said, you still had players in their prime coming off bad seasons. Lester was an ace right up until a bad 2012. Buccholz was great when he pitched, until a bad 2012. Lackey was hurt. And the fact that three underachieving guys all out in ridiculous performances makes the likelihood that it happens again really low. Let's take a quick look at how things differ... 1. Your 1 is Porcello, a kid on the rise. He's not an ace, mostly because he relies on contact pretty regularly, but with your offense, he's probably a lock to win 15 games. So even though he's not a prototypical shutdown ace, he's not a bad headliner. 2. This is where it gets messy. Your 2 is probably Wade Miley. Miley is a guy who gives up a lot of home runs. He's durable, but last yr, pitched like a 4-5. His rookie year was excellent, but he's slowly dropped off since then. He will give you innings, but his upside is pretty limited. 3. Masterson- he's had two solid seasons, a few seasons of mediocrity and the worst season of any pitcher in the AL last year. He's has injuries all over his body and his stuff declined. It's harder to return from a bad stretch when your stuff suffers (Ask CC). 4. Buccholz- see Masterson 5. Kelly- couldn't stay healthy in STL, not likely to stay healthy in Boston. Stuff is there, strikeouts are Dow, walks are up. He has the best shot to take the next step because he has such good stuff, but his mix of poor health and poor control makes me think he's ticketed to the pen in the future So let's just say that your #1 is a contact pitcher. And how many people were saying Chien Ming Wang was an ace for us a few years back? Your number two is a durable flyball pitcher coming to Fenway. Your numbers 3 and 4 have seen injuries derail a promising career AND most importantly, their stuff has fallen back significantly. And your #5 is an injury prone wild pitcher who still has good stuff. This rotation has the upside to be okay and the downside of being the worst in the AL

If things stay as is, our pen is gonna be lights out. I think in watching the World Series, you could see the value in a deep and powerful pen. We're gonna have a 7-8-9 inning role filled with pitchers who regularly run it up there over 95mph and all have plus to plus plus breaking pitches. Add in the power from Shrieve and Warren and you've got the makings of an abnormally powerful pen. We also have no less then 5 prospects in the high minors who have the looks of dominant pen arms in the minors. This is one area where redundancy can really be a boon, especially with our rotation having so many injury questions.

I think Cashman finally got the reigns and is being allowed to rebuild the roster on the fly. Adding significant payroll will put us up over a quarter billion dollars in salary and that isn't something that is feasible long term, especially since our problem currently is dead money with players who don't belong anymore. I am happy with the approach, but I am sure I won't be happy with the results after the 2015 season is over

It's more a statistical anomaly than anything else. You would think there'd be some jump in HR allowed when he pitches outside of Turner Field, but he only allowed 1HR away from the friendly confines. His BAA was .310 on the road last yr, and that was with nearly a strikeout per inning, so his BABIP was abnormally high. In 2013, his away numbers were a WHIP of 1.04 and an ERA of 2.08. So I would hardly say he cannot pitch outside of Turner. Also, his stuff is really good. High 90s fastball with a plus slider and good command. That's closer stuff.

And he proceeded to put up monster numbers in Atlanta. I'd be more suspect of this kid if it wasn't for his stuff. He's got closer stuff. It's gonna be interesting to see that back end of the pen. Nobody with closing experience but a bunch of closer arms. Our pen as it stands... CL- Betances SU- Miller SU- Carpenter MR- Shrieve MR- Wilson MR- Warren (for now) There will be some serious competition for the final spot or two in the pen. Also, with the acquisition of Carpenter and Shrieve, we're likely bringing Warren to camp as a starter

This also is slightly puzzling since they got rid of a guy who was going to start in AAAA for two relievers. Our starting depth is a bit thin. Makes me wonder if Gary Sanchez is the next to be moved for a starter

Carpenter was lights out in the back of that pen and has a 99mph fastball with a lights out slider. Shrieve is a lefty who experienced a velo bump last yr and did well in a short stint in the bigs. They got two guys who are likely to have big roles in the pen. Banuelos was destroyed by our medical staff. After dicking around with and elbow injury through 2012, they finally performed TJS Oct 2012. He missed 2013 then has a various array of injuries in 2014. Also, when his velo spiked in 2011, he lost his impeccable command. The parts are there for a frontline starter. He's just made no improvements over the last 3 yrs due to injury. If Atlanta gets the 2011 ManBan, then they're gonna be pretty happy.

I forgot about Young. Well, there goes that part of the theory

It's hard to really pinpoint Jeter early on as the UZR/150 was introduced in 2003. From that point on, Jeter posted one plus number in 2009 of all season. For the most part, he was a minus player, with 5 seasons of being -10 or worse. Jeter had miserable range, but made all the plays that he could reach, which is why his UZR/150 didn't look as bad as it could have. Bogaerts also lacks average big league range yet he also doesn't make all the plays. I would say you've got a guy who likely is going to be a minus defensively at the position. But if he can reach his offensive potential, you wont give a s***. ARod is also a guy we cannot really quantify because he's been roiding his balls off since he was in HS

He absolutely could improve. But in all honesty, how many large framed SS get better defensively as they age? Usually the offense kicks up and the defense kicks down. And this isn't meant as a knock on Bogaerts. I think he's gonna be an All Star caliber SS in 2015, just not defensively

I liked Kelley. He had significant strikeout capability and his xFIP and FIP outplayed his bad ERA. One more year to mature and you probably have yourself a solid middle relief and pinch closer option. Dealing him is one thing, but getting back a guy who needs TJS is another. Granted, the kid we got looks like a future setup man or closer, but anyone who is brought in knowing they need TJS is a bit of a concern. We do have a LOT of options in the pen. That much is for sure. But Kelley brought a veteran to the fold, where a lot of what we're throwing out there is young. Also, I don't think this is purely a payroll move. I think this is an acknowledgement that we have a team that kinda has to stay as is. We are tweaking parts of it and I can tell you right now, we're gonna test our minor league system. We used the maturation of Greene to get an up and coming SS prospect in Gregorius. We used a boom or bust quasi C prospect to get Prado then moved him along with a #5/6 to get a kid with enormous promise in Eovaldi and a top notch prospect in German. We move a middle reliever for a closer type, albeit one who needs TJS. By moving Prado, we're pretty much guaranteeing either rookie Rob Refsnyder or rookie Jose Pirela start the yr at 2b. We drop Ichiro, pretty much assuring our 4th OFer is a rookie as well. By moving on from Cervelli, we get younger at 2nd catcher. By moving Kelley and not getting another middle relief option, we open spots for our pen depth. We are testing our minor league system for sure. I think that's the plan. Test what is in house, ride out these horrible contracts and go for a true ace level pitcher next offseason if s*** hits the fan

Can't you just admit you're wrong here? Yes, shifts are more prevalent now. But the LH shift usually leaves the SS all alone on the left side of the diamond, which will only exacerbate the problem should a ball get hit his way. You are telling me that the shift negates the fact that XB is a minus defender? Are you now saying that they'll be shifting to cover his lack of skill on defense? Shifting to cover for XB will leave holes elsewhere in your defense. Like I have said before, you have a staff led by a groundball pitcher. Said groundball pitcher has a bad SS behind him. There is no shift that fixes that.

Guys, Heyman is a Boras schill. Remember that. He always is the one to "break the news" of any signing, but he also allows Boras to use him as a whore all offseason until agreements are made. There is a reason why he's pounding the drum in the direction of NY and Boston. He wants them to enter the bidding and go after each other. Boras is in an interesting spot with Scherzer. All the big money teams have publicly said they're out and Detroit hasn't had any contact with him. Either someone is gonna go after him in desperation, or Boras will have to tuck tail and go back to Detroit to get the offer the started the year off with