jacksonianmarch

Absolutely, UN. Relievers are the guys you don't give long term deals to, unless they have absolutely ridiculous stuff. Then you have to pay the price of admission. For years we have been too right handed in our pen. We had Boone Logan, but he was serviceable. Thornton sucked. Myers was a disaster. We haven't had a true lock down power left handed reliever since Stanton. Miller has been excellent since converting full time to relief in 2012. Last yr was his first full, healthy season and he broke out in a big way. We are hoping that he has found himself and can put up 13K per 9 and match up with Betances at the back end of the pen. I have advocated for this move from the beginning of the offseason. No draft pick comp, it allows us to pick up the pick with Robertson and allows possibly the best reliever of 2014 to ascend into the closers role. It also allows us to finally lock down lefty power in the later innings in our own stadium. I like the Miller move. Jury is out on the Greene deal. So far, I cannot complain with the plan set forth by Cashman....so long as he doesn't go get Scherzer while not chasing Lester

Miller, Warren, and Betances in that pen will be dangerous

IF they go big money, they better be getting Lester. This would be our highest draft pick in decades and I'd rather keep it and get an ace than sacrifice it to get one

The one thing that bothers me a little here is they sold high on Greene and bought low on Gregorius. I thought they could get more for Greene, to be totally honest

Greene was interesting. He was a recent convert to pitching when we drafted him, but his stuff was special. He never really dominated at any level, a la Ivan Nova and then put it together all of a sudden when he was promoted. He's old for a rookie at 27, but he showed he deserved a spot in the rotation. The fact that they're dealing him says to me that they're definitely adding to their rotation via trade or FA.

Not expecting Tex or Bitch Tits to play like its 2009 again. I meant Prado, Ellsbury, and McCann and to a degree Gardner. Our entire offense went dead last year. Tex played too much. Beltran was hurt the whole time. Bitch Tits will likely suck. I'm just saying that due to contractual obligations, we don't have much room. And because we overpaid for those players, we kinda have to ride with them since nobody will take them off our hands. That being said, Gregorius is a young player known for his defense. At the very least, he'll be a major defensive upgrade over last yr and won't have to do much to be better offensively. Let's see how he does when the job is clearly his. Don't like having to give up on Greene, but if Gregorius is our SS of the future, it's worth it. Not sure if he is, but we have to see what he can do with a change of scenery

I am pretty sure we are in on Lester. The lack of a draft pick attached and the fact that he is left handed in our stadium is huge. He should be donning the pinstripes, IMO. As should Miller. To be totally honest, aside from adding Lester and Miller, we shouldn't really be doing much else. We are stuck with the team we have. You roll with Tanaka and Pineda and CC and hope the rotation can stay healthy and that our offensive players perform to the backs of their baseball cards

Markakis was a consistent, above average RFer. He plays tremendous D, has a little pop, can hit for average and gets on base. This is about right for what I expected, and if we hadn't foolishly signed Beltran last yr, I would have loved to have seen him in NY

Cespedes isn't going to fetch Porcello. Porcello put up 4WAR last year with 204.2IP on a team that is losing Scherzer. You aren't getting him for Cespedes. They would need pitching in return

Looks like Headley is gone. He's looking for a five year deal now, and that's just not feasible for NY. Prado will be our full time 3b and Refsnyder and Pirela will battle for 2b. Still interested to see what happens at SS.

I'm sure he's interested in returning Fred. Just not on a discount. He's going to the highest bidder

Don't call it a greed tour seabeach. You'd do the same thing, as would I. Lester gave the sox every chance to sign a long term deal. He said he'd give a discount and he was offered a pittance compared to what he will make. There is a difference between a discount and foolishness. I think once that offer came across, he said, "f*** you guys, I'm hitting the market." As he should have. He is going to get in the neighborhood of $150 mil guaranteed on the market this yr. Henry offered him less than half that.

I think Miller fits for us. We have a lefty flamethrower in the minors who we just drafted, but signing Miller allows us to hit the pause button on this kid and let him develop (Lindgren). The cost will be a lot, as it should be. But having a 1-2 hammer of Betances and Miller at the back end with a 7th inning rotation of Kelley, Warren and the others coming up the pipe makes sense. There was no point in bringing Robertson back at big money. He has been great, no doubt, but adding in the cost of the draft pick, plus the fact that we have RH relief prospects coming out of our ears makes it an easy call. In terms of lefties, it looks like Lindgren, Patsos and Webb are our big guys in the minors and the only one who looks can't miss is Lindgren.

Also, as much as I LOVE Fat Panda in your lineup for the next 5 yrs, I am not so thrilled that Bogaerts is on your team for years to come. I think he shakes off his rookie season and becomes a productive big leaguer. He'll be a minus defender, but he's probably going to be a .275-.290 hitter with 15-25HR a season.

I think Marrero stays put unless a SS needy team has pitching to burn. I thought XB was your 3b of the future and Marrero would end up at SS as a light hitting, slick fielding guy. But with Pablo in the fold, it looks like XB is option #1 with Marrero as the fallback option

He seemed to be placed in a producer's part of the batting order. Usually, when a kid comes up, you pull the pressure off him and bat him low until he proves he can handle it

No, because you sign with the Yankees because they offered you money. Bitch tits doesn't play into this

Don't worry, the sox and the Yankees will be sharing company in 2015, the company of the bottom of the standings. I'm not optimistic about our 2015 at all.

Guess what Sandoval's average UZR/150 is the past three seasons? -0.4. That's about as average as you get. And yes, Hanley loves Ortiz. But a malcontent is a malcontent. And the Dodgers had the best team entering the post season the last two years and crapped out early both times. He's a coach killing loser

The sox did the unthinkable in 2012, and dealt off the heart of their club, or so we thought. They actually dealt the decrepit Apple core of a rotting team and filled the team with good baseball guys. Their 2014 problem was that they lost 2 all star caliber talents, replaced them cheaply and expected the career years of 2013 to resume. Instead of making shrewd moves, they go long term with a fat 3b who is an average hitter and defender and sign a SS to play LF at huge money who is known as a loser and a malcontent. Seems like they're repeating 2011 all over again

I don't see a spot for Nava period. You have Hanley, Rusney and Betts as your projected starters with Victorino and Cespedes under contract. Right now, Nava is at best your 6th OFer, and that doesn't include Craig. I think Nava is on the A's next yr

If I were a sox fan, I'd be looking hard at Headley. The guy is a damn strong defender who's bat is better than Sandoval's. He comes with less of a commitment in years and money and he didn't cost you a draft choice

They're gonna have Prado play 3b and Refsnyder start at 2b

He had a .739 OPS last yr and was an average defender. Not sure where the near $20 mil AAV is coming from. I will enjoy this move for awhile

One WAR may be worth $6 mil or so, but you are expecting him to be worth 3.3 WAR a year for the next 5 yrs. Plus, he's been declining for 4 years AND is extremely overweight. I would be shocked if you got 3.3 WAR per yr over the life of the contract. He also put up that WAR while missing 110 games the last 2 seasons. He's played 140 or more games once since 2010. He also has never played LF before. He also turns 31, and hasn't exactly been lighting the world aflame of late. The last time he put up a full season at or above his career OPS was 2009. He had one outstanding half season in 2013, but only played 86 games. Aside from that, he was good, but not great in 2014, terrible in 2012 and miserable in 2011. That, plus the fact that every team he has played for hates him and he never wins anywhere. Lester hated him. His managers hated him. The sox dealt him because they couldn't stand him. He's still a dink. This is absolutely and totally against what won the sox their title in 2013 and he is currently your highest paid player by AAV. That's a joke. You also had Big Juicy hitting like it was 2005 again. Pedroia hit over .300. Your catcher launched 20 bombs. Your CF was worth 5 wins. Your RFer was worth more. Your SS picked everything and had a near .800OPS. Needless to say, comparing anything to 2013 doesn't really work, even if it fits your argument It is an upgrade offensively, that much is for sure. An upgrade on a last place team who dealt away its only useful pitchers. The question is, how much of an upgrade is it and how long will it stay that way? So they say, but they also say they want to stay below the cap. That leaves little for Lester, and if Lester is the big ticket pitching signing, who else do you get to pitch? Lester makes you better, but the next 4 in the rotation suck ******* And how many people are going to line up to deal their better pitchers for a guy who is painted as a malcontent who no longer has a spot in your lineup? His value fell 50% today Says who? Your pitching is far worse than it was at the beginning of 2014 You do have a good farm system, no doubt. But 2014 wasn't kind to your MLB debuters and other young big leaguers. Bradley, Bogaerts, and Middlebrooks lost value. Betts is the only one who gained We have our own problems. But you just shot yourself in the foot